Olympic Torch Arrives in Argentina

11 April 2008 -- The Olympic torch has arrived in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, after a flight from San Francisco.

Argentine police whisked the flame away to a secret location on Thursday. The torch will reappear on Friday morning, when football legend Diego Maradona carries it at the opening of the relay through Buenos Aires.

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Protesters during the Olympic torch relay in Paris: Photo by Greg Daly (CC)

City officials have billed the relay as a relaxed street fiesta - but the city has also announced plans to deploy thousands of federal and military police to guard the flame, signaling concerns about human rights protests like the ones that disrupted relays in London, Paris and San Francisco.

A local group opposed to China's presence in Tibet has announced plans for "surprise actions" on Friday. But the group pledged not to extinguish the flame or to resort to violence.

The group unfurled a "Free Tibet" banner in the city center on Tuesday.

This is the Olympic torch's only stop in Latin America. It is the first time the torch has ever been in Argentina.

During Wednesday's rally, San Francisco authorities changed and reduced the planned route and later canceled the planned torch closing ceremony because of concerns about protests by human rights activists critical of, among other issues, China's crackdown on Tibet.

The flame travels to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania on Sunday. Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai, who was to carry the torch, announced Thursday that she had pulled out, saying that she wanted to show solidarity with the people of Sudan, Tibet, and Burma.

Source: VOA News