PORTO SEGURO, Brazil (AP) -- Celebrations marking Brazil's 500th anniversary
                   were tempered by violence Saturday as police clashed with thousands of Indians
                   and their supporters protesting what they called Portugal's "invasion."

                   Police used clubs and tear gas to break up the protests, and there were unofficial
                   reports that 15 Indians were injured. More than 140 people were detained and
                   could be charged with disturbing public order, said Gustavo Rios, the local
                   public security chief.

                   "We came to march in peace," said Nailton Pataxo, a demonstration leader. "It is
                   the government that is meeting us with violence. This is the true face of Brazil,
                   500 years later."

                   Huge traffic jams formed as thousands of police with metal detectors blocked
                   access roads and searched people trying to reach the seaside resort of Porto
                   Seguro, where Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral first set foot on April
                   22, 1500. He is believed to be the first European to land in the South American
                   country.

                   President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who stayed on a nearby island overnight
                   for security reasons, cut short his official program because of the protests. At a
                   lunch with Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio, Cardoso tried to appease the
                   protesters.

                   "In Brazil today we have a sharp awareness of the social wounds that are part of
                   our heritage of these 500 years," he said.

                   Sampaio also spoke at the lunch.

                   "There is no longer room for resentments over the historical past, which had
                   moments of greatness and misery, freedom and subjugation," he said. "We are all
                   responsible for the time we were given to live. We inherited the past, and it is our
                   duty to understand it, to transform the present and not reject it with belated
                   guilt."

                   About 330,000 Indians survive today in Brazil, compared with as many as 5
                   million when Cabral landed.

                   Mounted police fired tear gas to break up about 2,000 Indians from all over
                   Brazil who marched from the nearby Coroa Vermelha reservation to protest "the
                   invasion." In feather headdresses and red-and-black body paint, many Indians
                   carried spears and banners in Portuguese reading: "500 years of resistance" and
                   "Who said Brazil was discovered?"

                   Several hundred protesters from black rights, student and labor groups tried to
                   join the Indians but were gassed and pushed back by police. Some were clubbed.

                   "They won't allow any demonstration that disfigures the celebration," said
                   Raimundo Bujao of the black rights group Quilombo Niger Okan. "This is Brazil
                   for all the world to see."

                   Roberio Nunes of the federal district attorney's office said the police had shown
                   "a clear violation of human rights. People have the right to protest."

                   About 35 miles west of Porto Seguro, thousands of landless workers camped by
                   a roadside, saying they would not join the marches because of the police
                   blockade and would protest there.

                   Cardoso was to attend a folkloric dance and greet a fleet of wooden ships,
                   including replicas of Portuguese caravels that set sail from Portugal on March 9
                   to retrace Cabral's route. He was also scheduled to inaugurate the Discovery
                   Museum near the reservation and attend an orchestra concert in the evening, but
                   the foreign ministry said he would probably cancel because of the protests.

                   Across Brazil, many cities staged massive open-air concerts. In Salvador, the
                   capital of Bahia state, tenor Luciano Pavarotti was to perform with local stars,
                   while Brazilian pop star Roberto Carlos commanded the show in Brasilia.

                   In Portugal, flags from both countries were hoisted to mark the date but
                   otherwise there were few celebrations marking Cabral's arrival in Brazil. Leading
                   daily newspapers ran front-page photos of Brazilian Indians, and radio and
                   television stations broadcast long features on the conflict.

                   Brazilian culture is important in Portugal, where soap operas, soccer players,
                   musicians and food from the South American nation are wildly popular.

                   Copyright 2000 The Associated Press.