ARGENTINA: Athletes ran and rowed the Olympic torch through the streets and docks of Buenos Aires yesterday as police kept small groups of pro- and anti-China protesters apart along the 13km-route (eight-mile).
Chinese guards running in formation around the torch deflected at least one water balloon thrown at the flame from crowds of flag-waving protesters. Activists opposed to Chinese rule of Tibet, and groups supporting the Chinese government, gathered with flags and banners at the square in front of the pink presidential palace and at the park around the obelisk monument downtown.
Activists protesting China's rule of Tibet had pledged peaceful demonstrations but said they would not try to put out the torch during its Buenos Aires relay.
The torch, touring the world ahead of the Olympic Games in Beijing in August, has been a magnet for protests over China's policies, in particular its crackdown last month on unrest in Tibet.
In Buenos Aires, Olympic medallist Carlos Espinola, a yachtsman and windsurfer, was the first of 80 people scheduled to carry the torch on the Argentine relay.
After the first stretch through the streets of a riverside neighbourhood, torchbearers carried the flame on to a shell and rowed it down the Puerto Madero docks, which are lined with expensive restaurants and bars.
There were no clashes and police moved quickly to keep the two sides apart despite some shouting between pro- and anti-China groups before the relay started.
"It's not China that is organising the Olympics, it's the the Communist Party, to show a harmonious country, to say that all Chinese are happy, that they respect human rights. But it's exactly the opposite," said protester Alberto Peralta.
Buenos Aires had braced itself for possible violence after intense protests in San Francisco, Paris and London over the past week. Some 1,500 coast guard officers, 1,200 police and 3,000 city workers were set to help keep order.
Argentine pro-Tibet activists promised non-violent "surprise actions" during the day, but said they would not try to snuff out the flame as protesters in London and Paris did.
Beijing, which views the Olympics as an opportunity to showcase its growing emergence on the world stage, has strongly condemned the torch protests, blaming Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and his followers.
"The protesters are a political group that want to destroy [ China]. The [ games] are not for protesting, it's something nice for everyone. People shouldn't oppose them," said Lin Yonggui, a 25-year-old Chinese citizen who has lived in Argentina for 13 years and was among the pro-China groups on the street.
Alicia Moreau, vice-president of the Argentine Olympic Committee, said, "I'm absolutely sure that city residents will support us and nothing is going to happen in Buenos Aires. It's going to be a party." Tennis star Gabriela Sabatini was among athletes due to take part.
After Argentina, the torch heads to Tanzania, where Kenyan Nobel peace laureate Wangari Maathai announced she had pulled out of the relay, a decision made in protest of China's human-rights abuses and destruction of the environment.
Ms Maathai, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her environmental and political activism, said she had notified organisers of the torch run that she would give up her spot in the relay, joining in the growing international protest.
She also echoed Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu's call for heads of state to boycott the opening ceremonies in August.
Beijing Olympics organising committee chief Liu Qi said yesterday that organisers were working to avoid more chaotic scenes in the remaining legs of the torch relay.