Some 6,000 police officers were being transferred to Lima for next week’s summit, in anticipation of protests seen at such meetings before, police said.

“Given the historical precedent, we had to adopt these precautions,” Lima police chief Gen. Javier Uribe Altamirano said. Blockades and detours are in effect May 10-18, throwing drivers on Lima’s congested streets for a loop. Fifty-three leaders from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean — including Germany’s Angela Merkel and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero — have confirmed their attendance at the May 16-17 summit. European leaders have said they hope to persuade Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico and others to join Europe in fighting climate change.

The European Union is also negotiating with several South and Central American trade blocs, including MERCOSUR, and is likely to use the summit to advance trade negotiations.

Peru has proposed its own independent, free-trade pact with the EU, excluding other members of the Andean Community bloc, including Ecuador and Bolivia, whose leftist politics it says are holding up a trade deal.

Peruvian President Alan Garcia has said he also plans to push for a limit on biofuels, which he says are boosting food prices by diverting farm products for fuel.

Police will also provide security for an alternative “People’s Summit,” held by social, labor, and indigenous groups from May 13-16 in a working class Lima neighborhood, police chief Uribe said.

Coordinator Miguel Palacio, an Indian activist, said Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa and Bolivian President Evo Morales plan to attend a closing rally that could draw 20,000 people.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have also been invited.

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