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Priests to purify site after Bush visit
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| LazFX |
Maybe we can get them to come to Austin since he was here too!! :)
but for allot longer :(
| quote: |
Priests to purify site after Bush visit
By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA
Associated Press Writer
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) -- Mayan priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate "bad spirits" after President Bush visits next week, an official with close ties to the group said Thursday.
"That a person like (Bush), with the persecution of our migrant brothers in the United States, with the wars he has provoked, is going to walk in our sacred lands, is an offense for the Mayan people and their culture," Juan Tiney, the director of a Mayan nongovernmental organization with close ties to Mayan religious and political leaders, said Thursday.
Bush's seven-day tour of Latin America includes a stopover beginning late Sunday in Guatemala. On Monday morning he is scheduled to visit the archaeological site Iximche on the high western plateau in a region of the Central American country populated mostly by Mayans.
Tiney said the "spirit guides of the Mayan community" decided it would be necessary to cleanse the sacred site of "bad spirits" after Bush's visit so that their ancestors could rest in peace. He also said the rites - which entail chanting and burning incense, herbs and candles - would prepare the site for the third summit of Latin American Indians March 26-30.
Bush's trip has already has sparked protests elsewhere in Latin America, including protests and clashes with police in Brazil hours before his arrival. In Bogota, Colombia, which Bush will visit on Sunday, 200 masked students battled 300 riot police with rocks and small homemade explosives.
The tour is aimed at challenging a widespread perception that the United States has neglected the region and at combatting the rising influence of Venezuelan leftist President Hugo Chavez, who has called Bush "history's greatest killer" and "the devil."
Iximche, 30 miles west of the capital of Guatemala City, was founded as the capital of the Kaqchiqueles kingdom before the Spanish conquest in 1524. |
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| Arbiter |
They hate him, and in so doing they give him the power to influence them. Now his actions (visiting the site) determine their actions (then they have to purify it).
How tragically characteristic of mankind. |
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| DJ Shibby |
| quote: | Originally posted by Arbiter
They hate him, and in so doing they give him the power to influence them. Now his actions (visiting the site) determine their actions (then they have to purify it).
How tragically characteristic of mankind. |
I think you've misinterpreted what "religous rituals" involving "insense and herbs" mean for south american cultures.
It basically translates to eating loads of mescaline and tripping balls. :D |
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| LazFX |
| quote: | Originally posted by DJ Shibby
I think you've misinterpreted what "religous rituals" involving "insense and herbs" mean for south american cultures.
It basically translates to eating loads of mescaline and tripping balls. :D |
ummmm mescaline....the only way to fly ;) |
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| DJ Shibby |
| quote: | Originally posted by LazFX
ummmm mescaline....the only way to fly ;) |
Amen brotha!
I've got a phat greenie growing in my living room, just waiting for a religous ritual! :haha: |
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| star-traveller |
| quote: | Anti-Bush protests in Mexico City
Many people were protesting against the war in Iraq
Hundreds of demonstrators have rioted outside the US embassy in Mexico City, in the latest protest against President George W Bush's tour of Latin America.
Protesters burned US flags and threw stones at police guarding the building.
Tear gas was used to disperse the crowds. Several people were injured, including a number of police officers.
The violence came hours after Mr Bush pledged to reform controversial immigration laws, during two-day talks with Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
Mr Bush made the announcement on Tuesday at the start of talks with Mr Calderon. The two leaders are also expected to tackle the issue of drug trafficking.
There have been protests at each stage of Mr Bush's trip, and verbal attacks on him by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, who is on his own tour of the region.
The US president has visited Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia and Guatemala. Mexico is the final stop on his seven-day tour of the region.
Angry crowds
The leaders' summit is being held in the eastern city of Merida. Correspondents say that without a president nearby, the rioters in Mexico City turned their anger against the US embassy.
Reports say hundreds of people were involved - most were protesting against the war in Iraq rather than President Bush's policies on Latin America.
There have been some small-scale protests in Merida.
Earlier, President Bush promised to work hard to achieve a more sensitive and "comprehensive" immigration policy involving Mexicans.
The US is planning to construct hundreds of kilometres of fencing along the border to try to prevent the flow of illegal immigration from Mexico - something Mr Calderon has strongly criticised.
Mr Calderon repeated his criticisms of the plans on Tuesday, saying that migration could not be stopped by building a fence.
President Bush is unlikely to offer more concessions other than his already stated desire for a guest-worker programme for Mexicans living illegally in the US.
The BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Merida says that after a week travelling through five countries Mr Bush's visit is being judged to be more of a symbolic success than one involving new policies or additional aid.
But with his agenda crowded by the events in the Middle East, the president will probably be satisfied with that, our correspondent says.
Rival tour
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has used a parallel trip to speak out against what he calls the interference of the "American empire".
Mr Chavez' last stop was Haiti where he signed a deal granting the island 14,000 barrels of crude a day as a beneficiary of Venezuela's PetroCaribe initiative, which offers regional governments discounted oil supplies.
In a joint press conference, Haitian President Rene Preval also said his country had signed a three-way deal with close allies Venezuela and Cuba on health care, energy and oil.
Mr Chavez began his tour in Argentina last week, where he was the main speaker at a huge anti-Bush rally, and has also visited Bolivia and Nicaragua and Jamaica. |
Anti-Bush protests in Mexico City |
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| star-traveller |
Some pictures depicting Bush visit to Mexico:
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| venomX |
| Terrible resemblance to the middle east and it's in the US' backyard! Oh my, it's only a matter of time before Venezuela has WMD's :p. |
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