SANTIAGO, Chile Talks on free trade and global security are under way in Chile at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
Top government ministers from 21 Pacific Rim nations are discussing issues ranging from fighting terrorism to a proposal to create a free-trade area that would link the Americas to Asia.Secretary of State Colin Powell got to Santiago last night. President Bush is set to arrive this weekend.Protesters are gathered miles away but several hundred demonstrators who tried to gather in downtown Santiago were confronted by riot police, who doused them with tear gas and used blasts from water cannons mounted on trucks. About 120 protesters have been detained and released.APEC represents the U-S, Canada, Japan, Russia, China and most southeastern Asian economies. It makes up more than half of all world trade.
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