Angry crowds hunt Bush as protests mark start of Latin American tour (Tom Phillips)

  · Brazilians take to streets with effigies and abuse

  · Presidents cement alliance that many do not want

  Tom Phillips -- Guardian/UK

  March 11, 2007 -- SAO PAULO -- Some arrived clutching banners telling "Mr Butcher" to go home. Others brought effigies of "The Warlord" dangling miserably from a hangman's noose. A handful dressed up as the grim reaper, while some women paraded through the streets with stickers of George Bush and Adolf Hitler placed tastefully over their nipples.

Fabio Silva had other ideas. He stuffed a sock into his mouth and left it there for three hours. "It means that the Brazilian authorities have tried to censor us - to pretend to Bushy that we don't exist," said the 21-year-old student, using the president's nickname in these parts after briefly removing his gag. "It means that we are remembering the silent victims of Iraq. And it means that the censorship will not shut me up."

  There was none of the famed Brazilian hospitality. Even before Mr Bush arrived in Brazil on Thursday to begin a six-day tour of Latin America the protesters were out en masse. "Persona non grata" read one placard. "Get out you Nazi" said another. In case the message still hadn't hit home, there was one other taunt - this time in English: "Bush, kill yourself."

  Such sentiments are not universal. The promise of economic ties is welcomed by Brazilian businessmen. About 200 energy executives heard an address by Mr Bush yesterday morning in Sao Paulo.

  Others see the relationship their president, Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva, has fostered with the US as a counterweight to the growing influence of Hugo Chávez in South America.

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