James
Bond has new nemesis: irate Chilean mayor
Wednesday April 2 11:46
AM ET
There's an unlikely
new villain in James Bond's life. Carlos
Lopez, the mayor of a remote northern Chilean town, burst onto the
film set of the latest installment of the fictional super-spy's
adventures, "Quantum of Solace," on Tuesday and was detained by
police.
"He got angry,
entered into a private enclosure ... and caused public disorder and
was detained," a police official said by telephone from Baquedano,
declining to be named. "Now it is in the hands of the
prosecutor."
Lopez said he drove
onto the set between the cameras and Bond actor Daniel Craig, interrupting filming, because he was angry
at what he called an excessive police presence in the small town
because of the filming and the fact Chilean soil was being used to
represent neighboring Bolivia.
"For a town that has just 1,000 residents, sending in
special forces and water cannon, preventing people from walking in
the street, reminded me of the worst of the Pinochet years," Lopez
told Reuters by telephone from Baquedano, referring to Augusto Pinochet's 1973-90 dictatorship.
"I also disagree
with national territory being used as locations (to represent)
other countries," he said. "Even in a fictional film, unfortunately
friendly, neighboring countries use decisions like this to make
unjustified claims."
Chile annexed the region around the
northern mining center of Antofagasta in a
war in the late 19th century, depriving Bolivia of its only
maritime border -- an issue that continues to deeply divide the
countries politically today.
The film will be
released jointly by Sony Pictures
Entertainment's Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. It is scheduled to open in
Britain on October 31 and on November 7
elsewhere.
(Reporting by Simon
Gardner; Editing by Bill Trott)
