A quiet vigil was marred by police blocking the projector beam. No law had seemingly being broken, and questions as to their authority to do this were met with silence.

Robbed of the opportunity to mark his murder in a peaceful way the samba band pumped up the volume and a more upbeat mood was established.

But as ever more police arrived and lined the front of the embassy a confrontation was inevitable, and appeared to have been started with a co-ordinated push of the band away from the kerb. At least four people were then arrested, two of them violently thrown to the ground.

Embassy staff meanwhile stole looks from darkened windows. Prominent in their gaze was a banner bearing the message that will be reaching Mexico's Vicente Fox from all corners of the globe - "The whole world is watching".