Saturday, 10 March 2007US President George W. Bush on Friday denied neglecting Latin America, where demonstrations and violent protests rocked the start of his five-nation tour of the region.
"The characterization that our back has been turned is not borne out by the facts," Bush said after talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the first full day of his trip.
But protests, some violent, marked his visit to Sao Paulo, Brazil's main financial and industrial hub, and more demonstrations were planned for the rest of his Latin American trip.
Venezuela's firebrand President Hugo Chavez planned to headline an anti-Bush rally in Argentina Friday night, when Bush was scheduled to arrive in neighboring Uruguay.
Speaking ahead of the "anti-imperialist" rally at a 40,000-seat Buenos Aires stadium, Chavez claimed Bush's Latin American visit amounted to "an imperial offensive" and claimed the US president was offering little more than handouts.
In Sao Paulo, Bush insisted the United States did not get enough credit "for trying to help improve people's lives."
He said a key message of his trip was that "the American people care deeply about social justice, that we believe in education and health, that we believe in supporting programs that help lift people out of their current conditions and we want to help."
He also said he and Lula agreed to collaborate on unblocking logjammed World Trade Organization talks but warned others also needed to make concessions.
The two leaders said their talks also focused on cooperation in promoting ethanol, a biofuel whose global production is dominated by Brazil and the United States.
Bush said this would enable the United States to lessen its dependence on oil, but made no mention of Venezuela, which supplies a significant portion of the crude consumed in the United States.
Sporadic clashes between protesters and police took place on Friday as demonstrators burned US flags outside the Sao Paulo hotel where Bush and Lula held talks after visiting an ethanol depot on the outskirts of the megalopolis.
When Bush arrived in Sao Paulo Thursday night, a massive peaceful march was marked by anti-US slogans, while smaller groups of protesters hurled rocks at the US consulate and clashed with police.
In Argentina, which was not on Bush's itinerary, hooded protesters on Friday threw rocks at police and burned US flags outside the US Chamber of Commerce in Buenos Aires.
Protesters and police also clashed in Colombia on Wednesday and Thursday.
Bush faces widespread anti-American sentiment in Latin America, where leftists who oppose his views have recently been elected or re-elected in Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela, while moderate leftists are in power in Argentina and Chile.
"He is coming to divide, to defraud, to slow down popular movements," Chavez told journalists in Buenos Aires.
The White House has downplayed the protests, saying Bush enjoys traveling to democracies marked by freedom of speech and expression.
Bush headed to Uruguay late Friday after concluding his 24-hour visit to Brazil. Protests were planned to mark his arrival in Montevideo, and demonstrators gathered outside the presidential country residence 200 kilometers (120 miles) away, where Bush was to hold talks with leftist President Tabare Vazquez on Saturday.
In addition to Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia, Bush will visit Guatemala and Mexico during his trip, which ends on Wednesday.
10.03.2007
Bakutoday.net |
Saturday, 10 March 2007
US and Latin America
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