BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina is billing today’s Olympic torch run as an easygoing street fiesta.
But officials are worried enough about anti-China protests to mobilize thousands of police officers after torch runs in other cities caused chaos, and protesters warned of a Buenos Aires “surprise.”
The Olympic flame arrived Thursday under heavy security from San Francisco, where police cut the route in half and sent the flame far from demonstrators, disappointing many who had gathered to see it.
Argentine authorities are deploying 1,300 federal police, 1,500 naval police and about 3,000 traffic police and volunteers — enough to ensure security “without going to the extreme that nobody will be able to see the torch,” said government sports official Francisco Irarrazabal.
Irarrazabal said at the airport that the jetliner carrying the torch and a Chinese delegation had arrived Thursday afternoon as expected and that the flame, kept in a “safety lantern,” was being whisked to an undisclosed overnight location for safekeeping.
Security was so tight that news agency photographers called to cover the torch’s arrival on the runway at Ezeiza International Airport were told just before the arrival that their photo opportunity had been canceled. No explanation was given, and the torch remained out of public view.
Activists were already preparing protests. Jorge Carcavallo unfurled a giant banner along the torch route, near the city’s iconic Obelisk, reading “Free Tibet.” He said demonstrators were coordinating with leaders of the San Francisco protests for “surprise actions” and vowed that today would be “a hot day.”
“A lot of people are going to join the protests,” Carcavallo said. He added that “there will be very entertaining surprises all along the route.”
Falun Gong member Axel Borgia said the spiritual movement banned by China would protest as well.
The torch relay has prompted surprisingly little buzz in Buenos Aires, especially given that it is the first visit of an Olympic torch to Argentina. Stories on the previous stops have been buried deep inside most newspapers, and newscasts have made little mention of the troubles along the route.
Ana Letzner, 66, sold cigarettes from her shop and said she couldn’t understand the fuss. “I don’t get it,” she scoffed. “Thousands of police just to run after the torch.”
