Bush-Chavez Tours Seen from Cuba

However, once he touched down in Brazil, and later Uruguay, Colombia,
Guatemala and Mexico it became apparent that he is virtually alone on
the issue. Instead, most of the region wants to maintain or increase
ties with Cuba and Venezuela.

Fidel Castro’s active participation by telephone in a three-way meeting
with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Haiti’s Rene Preval on Tuesday let
more air out of the White House balloon.

"Fidel was very keen to make sure the trilateral cooperation succeeds,"
Preval told a news conference. The three countries agreed to $21
million dollars of funding from Venezuela to extend medical programs
carried out by Cuban doctors in rural Haiti.

Cat-and-Mouse Ends in Haiti and Mexico

Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and US President George W. Bush ended their
parallel trips in Haiti and Mexico respectively after a cat-and-mouse
stalking around Latin America and the Caribbean that both claimed was
unintentional.

Before Chavez’ last stop in Port-au-Prince he signed new accords in
Argentina to further the Bank of the South project and found the South
American Organization of Gas Exporting Producers; in Bolivia for
mining, telecommunications, hydrocarbons, and lumber, tourism and
cement production projects; and in Nicaragua, to build a large oil
refinery.

In Jamaica, he invited Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller to jump on
the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas bandwagon that promotes
regional integration via mutually beneficial trade and improved social
programs instead of corporate profit. The prime minister noted the
already existing cooperation with Venezuela on PetroCaribe and said her
country would carefully study the offer.

Chavez poked fun at Bush’s belated recognition of conditions on the
continent. "He thinks he is Columbus, discovering poverty after seven
years in power," scoffed Chavez.

Bush Tour Backfires

The trip of US President George W. Bush to Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia,
Guatemala and Mexico was the best opinion poll that money could buy.
Although the leaders he visited have widely divergent political
leanings, the real barometer of support for his policies was out on the
streets.

Bush was cordially received by Presidents Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva
(Brazil), Tabare Vasquez (Uruguay), Alvaro Uribe (Colombia), Oscar
Berger (Guatemala) and Felipe Calderon (Mexico). Worried about his
security and not wanting to upset protocol, the US president’s hosts
did everything possible to keep him out of sight and voice range of the
massive demonstrations that rejected his presence.

High metal security barriers, hovering helicopters, barricades and
thousands of tear gas shooting and baton-wielding riot police were some
of the many security precautions that had to be taken to protect
President Bush at each leg of his trip.

Several US reporters unfamiliar with the Latin American beat were taken
aback by the "welcoming" for Bush. Their colleagues following Chavez
couldn’t help but note the opposite reaction the Venezuelan leader
received.

In Colombia, where President Uribe is considered firmly in the Bush
camp, demonstrations took place in some 20 cities and riot police
attacked protestors at Bogota’s National University and several were
injured. US flags reportedly sold like hot cakes, but for burning
during demonstrations instead of ceremonial flying. The same occurred
days later in Mexico.

The New York Times noted that the US has spent 4.7 billion dollars, the
lion’s share in military assistance, to prop up the Colombian
government since 2000 and the administration is proposing another 3.9
billion through 2014.

In Guatemala, workers protested the recent round-up of some 300
Guatemalans in Massachusetts. The factory workers were jailed and
cruelly separated from their young children. A plea by President Oscar
Berger to Bush for clemency to avoid their deportation was met with a
cold shoulder.

The US president said, "It’s very important for the people of South
America and Central America to know that the United States cares deeply
about the human condition," but he let Berger know that enforcing the
law is above any pandering to illegal immigrants.

In Brazil, Bush told a press conference: "I don’t think America gets
enough credit for trying to help improve people’s lives." However, an
ongoing request from Lula to end US trade barriers on his country’s
exports, including the high tariff on ethanol, has received a flat no.

The combination of a free reign for US corporations in the region and
US subsidies and tariffs to keep out key Latin American export products
is widely considered part of the reason why poverty has dramatically
increased over the last two decades.

In Uruguay, President Tabare Vasquez whisked Bush out of sight to the
Estancia Anchorena retreat near the border with Argentina. Bush relaxed
in the rural setting, and the two presidents avoided discussing any
burning issues, like US farm subsidies and Uruguay’s steadfast
opposition to the US war in Iraq.

To avoid TV images of the anti-Bush protests in Montevideo and nearby
Buenos Aires, the two presidents had a barbeque lunch and took a boat
ride on the La Plata River.

In Mexico, his last stop, Bush had nothing new to offer in response to
a request for a more friendly immigration policy and an end to the
700-mile "Berlin Wall" —as President Felipe Calderon calls it— being
built on the border. Calderon said his country seeks a relationship
with the US of "mutual respect."

Bush said he hopes Congress will pass his guest worker program, but
Calderon maintained that the only way to keep Mexicans from immigrating
north "is to generate jobs for Mexicans here in Mexico."

President Bush was scheduled to fly Air Force One back to the US on
Wednesday afternoon. He is now expected to leave behind the region
where he came up empty handed, and focus on his battle on Capitol Hill
for more funding and more troops for his wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Laying the ground work for a possible attack on Iran also appears high
on the administration’s agenda.

Author: Circles Robinson (www.circlesonline.blogspot.com)