My advice to freaked-out tourists: Take a deep breath. Any time that U.S. or Canadian citizens visit a foreign country, it makes sense to learn about the country you are visiting and to talk to local residents. When we visit another country, we aren't entitled to anything. We're visitors.

Protestors are protesting for a reason. Listen to their grievances. If you have to take a boat, or drive the long way around, remember that your inconvenience may be less important than the issues that matter to the residents of the country where you are a visitor. Most protestors are polite -- talk to them. Dialog is good. Try to become allies with people in the community you respect.

Of course, you'll also encounter opportunists and rowdy teenagers as well as polite protestors. But we have those in the U.S. and Canada, too.