Over 300 protesters from social and student organisations on Friday staged a demonstration in downtown Lima against US President Barack Obama, who is scheduled to attend the 24th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting here this weekend.
Demonstrators gathered along Javier Prado Avenue, several blocks away from the Lima Convention Centre, where APEC meetings are being held all week, Xinhua news agency reported.
Protesters said the Obama administration and its proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a wide-ranging free-trade treaty widely believed to champion corporate profit-making over individual freedoms, goes against the interests of Peru and Latin America.
Asked why they were there, a protestor said: “Because of Obama’s arrival; because they have always deceived us. Obama is the TPP (and) we do not want the TPP here. We want respect for our environment.”
Obama is expected in Lima on late Friday, as are other leaders from APEC’s 21 member economies, for the Economic Leaders’ meeting on weekend, under the banner: Quality Growth and Human Development.