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Bush to promote trade in Latin America trip amid protests
AFP
SAO PAULO
Petroleumworld.com 03 09 07
US President George W. Bush is due here Thursday on the first leg of a Latin American tour to promote democracy and free trade, amid protests around the region and a counter-trip by arch foe Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.
Bush, who has been accused by US opposition Democrats of neglecting Latin America, pledged this week to back social justice and prosperity in the region and unveiled new aid schemes for education, housing and health.
But the US leader faces a region that has recently elected or re-elected leftists who oppose his views, including in Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela, where
Chavez has called Bush everything from a "tyrant" to the "devil."
Chavez will visit Argentina Friday and Bolivia Saturday, and although he has said the simultaneous trips were a coincidence, he will take part in an anti-Bush protest in Buenos Aires.
When Bush visits Uruguay Friday, Chavez, the closest ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, will headline an "anti-imperialist rally" in a 40,000-seat Buenos Aires football stadium while protests are planned in Venezuela.
Protests already took place in Brazil and Colombia Wednesday, and new demonstrations started in Sao Paulo Thursday before Bush was to arrive.
Bush downplayed the Buenos Aires protest in an interview with Latin American newspapers this week.
"I go to a lot of places and there are street rallies. And my attitude is, I love freedom and the right for people to express themselves. I bring a message of goodwill to Uruguay and to the region," he said.
The Bush administration took a thinly veiled swipe at Chavez and other leftist leaders this week, with White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley saying there were "a lot of false promises today" in the region.
Bush also took a shot at Chavez's economic policies.
"I strongly believe that government-run industry is inefficient and will lead to more poverty," Bush replied to a question on Chavez's economic model, which includes nationalizations and muscular state intervention.
"So the United States brings a message of open markets and open government to the region," he said.
Carlos Romero, a Venezuelan political scientist, said Bush was a promoter of liberal democracy and open markets while Chavez backs participatory democracy and a "socialism of the 21st century."
"For better or for worse, Chavez and Bush have become opposing poles in how Latin America should develop," he said.
"This debate is not well received by the other presidents, who prefer to remain in a grey area without having to pick a side," Romero said.
Chavez's politically-tinted trip "puts other Latin American presidents who do not want to fall into this polarization against the wall."
In addition to Brazil and Uruguay, Bush will visit Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico during his trip ending Wednesday.
He will meet Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Sao Paulo Friday to discuss trade and seal a partnership in ethanol, an alternative fuel of which their countries are the world's biggest producers.
For Washington, the driving force is cutting US dependence on the Middle East and other external suppliers of oil and natural gas, especially during the US "war on terror."
For Brazil, the leading exporter of sugar cane-based fuel, the aim is to create a "global ethanol market," said Foreign Minister Celso Amorim.
AFP 08 1734 GMT 03 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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