Some 2,000 anti-globalization activists, human rights activists and members of leftist political parties marched to the downtown presidential palace, where activists set a US flag ablaze.

"We are against the war and terrorism, because one cannot answer terrorism by invading a country," said Victor de la Fuente, one of the protest organizers.

A separate march was led by the environmental group Greenpeace, and ended outside the US embassy in eastern Santiago.

"This was a military intervention that had no justification," said Gonzalo Villarino, the Greenpeace representative in Chile.

Anti-war marches were also held in Valparaiso, La Serena, and Valdivia.

Chile, a member of the United Nations Security Council, opposed the war in the face of strong pressure from the United States.

WAR.WIRE