CALGARY, Alberta - Police expressed satisfaction Thursday that a flexible security plan prevented violence at protests against the G-8 summit in Canada, including a peaceful march through Ottawa, the capital, earlier in the day.
More than 2,000 demonstrators marched in the rain shouting "Free the people, not the market" and "G-8, shut it down."
"It's a march of 1,000 flags of resistance against war, imperialism, capitalism, genocide, and racism," said Lisa Freeman of the protest coordinators group Take the Capital. "It's pro-indigenous, immigrant and refugee rights, and people's right for self-determination."
Police on bicycles kept a close watch on the marchers but never intervened as the protesters were less belligerent than a crowd the day before that hurled golf balls and paint-filled balloons at buildings.
With G-8 leaders from the world's richest countries concluding their talks more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) to the west, some demonstrators expressed frustration with the limited attention the marches have received.
"Each protest is becoming more and more impotent," said a protester who only gave his first name, Dennis. "It's just a symbol of solidarity and resistance — it's all you can do under these conditions of oppression."
The summit was held in the Rocky Mountain resort of Kananaskis, about 65 miles (100 kilometers) west of Calgary, a site chosen for its secluded setting. Rigid security on the lone road to the resort made it impossible for protesters to get close, avoiding a repeat of violent protests at last year's meeting in Genoa, Italy, in which one person died.
In Calgary, dozens of protesters rolled in the mud at a downtown park and sang songs celebrating Mother Earth at a festival-like gathering.
"This has really been a lot of fun," said Terri Kirby, an anti-globalization activist who traveled from Vancouver, British Columbia, on the west coast to take part. "We got our messages across, hung out together, heard some decent music and we're free. No one I know has been thrown in jail."
The lack of violence had police claiming success for their response.
"We need to treat each and every summit on a case-by-case basis," said Staff Sgt. Mike Gaudet of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. "We're very pleased that there's been this commitment obviously from the police, but also from those large numbers of protesters who came here to be heard and seen in a peaceful way."
On Wednesday, some protesters angered by the lack of access to meeting participants — from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States — tried to approach Kananaskis. They were turned back at a police roadblock, with one man arrested for interfering with a peace officer.
Police later allowed a separate caravan of about 100 vehicles from Calgary through some of the initial roadblocks to protest before turning them around.
Also Wednesday, about a dozen people danced nude in front of Canada's Parliament in Ottawa and some black-clad demonstrators threw golf balls and paint-filled balloons that damaged street lamps, a bank window and a police car.
One man was arrested when protesters stopped the police from apprehending another man.
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