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PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH IN LATIN AMERICA: LOW EXPECTATIONS UNMET.

Article Excerpt
US President George W. Bush had a rough time of it during his "social justice" tour of five Latin American countries, a trip with the goal of recovering some of the influence and prestige lost in the region during the past six years of his administration. Protests met the president wherever he traveled. His first stop, in Brazil, was marked by mass marches against his visit, as was his second in Uruguay, where he was additionally hounded by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, who launched a stinging attack on him from just across the Rio de la Plata in Buenos Aires.

It was widely held that Bush was forced into the trip to counter Chavez's growing influence in Latin America, and the Venezuelan readily took up the challenge. As guest of Argentina's President Nestor Kirchner, he said of his adversary just 50 km away, "Kirchner and I don't need to plan anything to sabotage this visit, because we are witnessing the true political corpse." He also told his audience, "We have organized this event to say no to the presence of the chief of the empire here in the heroic lands of South America." He called Bush's predeparture strained comparison of George Washington and Simon Bolivar "heresy and ignorance."

The speech was vintage Chavez in its vituperation but also definitive in laying out the terms of the debate. "He represents that Monroe Doctrine of America for the Americans. Well, we will have to tell him: North America for the North Americans and South America for the South Americans. This is our America."

Subtle rebuffs

Some of the rebuffs Bush suffered were a good deal subtler than the words of Chavez or the crowds in the streets. In Colombia, President Alvaro Uribe, South America's greatest beneficiary of US largesse (see NotiSur, 2007-03-09), greeted Bush warmly, but, scarcely 24 hours after he left, Uribe sent a high-level delegation to Havana to arrange for the use of the Cuban educational model for primary education in Colombia. This, after Bush went on about US aid to the country for peaceful development. The delegation to Cuba was headed by Education Minister Cecilia Maria Velez and included...

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