President Bush is on a tour of Central and South America, ostensibly to try to undercut the influence of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in that part of the world. Of course, that train left the station a long time ago. The region had taken a dramatic turn to the left several years ago, electing several leftist governments -- in part in response to Bush and, probably in greater part, in response to the false promises of NAFTA and other global free trade efforts.The fact that Bush would be way out of town and unable to comment on Scooter Libby is, of course, only coincidental.
So, the american president was greeted by adoring crowds everywhere he went. A man beloved by many.
Just kidding, there were riots in the streets.
O Globo, Brazil (translation byWatching America, untranslated portuguese article here):
São Paulo: The confrontation between protesters and shock troops on Avenida Paulista, at the center of São Paulo, has already left at least 23 people injured. The protest against the United States President, George W. Bush, and his visit to Brazil brought together at least six thousand people this Thursday afternoon (Mar. 8) and closed part of the avenue.
[...]
Riot police arrived at 5:20 PM at Avenida Paulista to break up the protest. After the protesters had gotten to the São Paulo Museum of Art and had blocked traffic in all of the avenue's lanes, the police used tear gas, stink bombs and pepper spray. The confrontation between police and protesters sent people fleeing and turned the main avenue into a war zone.
Minutes before the protest ended in fight, the leader of the Socialism and Freedom Party, Plínio de Arruda Sampaio, grabbed a microphone to ask protesters to calm down and he criticized the attitude of those that had initiated the confrontation with Military Police.
Meanwhile, the man Bush is trying to undercut is on a counter-tour.
BBC:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has attacked US counterpart George W Bush as a "symbol of domination" as the pair continue rival Latin American tours.
Speaking at an "anti-imperialist rally" in Buenos Aires, Mr Chavez said Mr Bush was no more than a "political corpse".
Mr Bush arrived in the capital of neighbouring Uruguay, Montevideo, as Mr Chavez addressed the crowd of 40,000.
It is as close as the two rivals will come, separated by just 65km (40 miles) across the River Plate.
To sum up; Chavez is drawing crowds, while Bush is followed by riots. It's really hard to see how Bush is doing anything other than making things worse. This is way past the stage where a photo op tour's going to do a damned thing.
Tags: news | politics | Bush | Hugo Chavez | Brazil | Uruguay | diplomacy | NAFTA | free trade
(Marcello Casal Jr/ABr. Photo from Agencia Brazil. Agencia Brazil photos are free for editorial use - attribution required.)
