The Olympic torch, a magnet for anti-China protests, cruised smoothly under heavy guard through Buenos Aires on Friday with nothing more serious than a couple of tossed water balloons threatening the flame.
The uninterrupted relay along Buenos Aires' streets and docks contrasted with the chaos over the last week in San Francisco, London and Paris where protesters tried to snuff out the flame and organizers extinguished or hid the torch to keep it safe.
Email this Page
The torch, touring the world ahead of the Olympic Games in Beijing in August, has drawn protests over China's policies, in particular its crackdown last month on unrest in Tibet.
Image: The first torch runner, Argentine champion windsurfer Carlos Espinola, holds the flame at the start the Olympic torch relay across Buenos Aires on Friday, April 11, 2008.
Photographs: Getty Images | Text: Reuters
Advertisement
