Ghelp
03-01-2007, 12:05 AM
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Back to Basics
Bush is about to embark on a grand tour of Latin America, hoping to finally score the sort of foreign-policy victory that's eluded him elsewhere. No matter what he offers, however, it's likely too little, too late.
Feb. 28, 2007 - George W. Bush heads to Latin America next week, on his longest-ever tour of the region as president, and it’s pretty clear what’s on his agenda. In five countries, Bush will meet with leaders who all share something in common: they’ve either already had dustups with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, or otherwise seem open to deals that could help Bush counter the growing influence of his nemesis.
Consider: Bush will first fly to São Paulo, where he’ll sign an agreement with Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to encourage the use of ethanol and other biofuels as an alternative to Venezuela’s oil. Next stop will be Montevideo, where Bush will promote a free-trade agreement that Washington is negotiating with Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez; such an accord will undermine the Mercosur trading bloc, which Chávez has tried to use to reduce the supposed U.S. economic domination of the region. Bush then will move on to Bogotá for meetings with Colombia’s conservative president Alvaro Uribe, who has accused Chávez of harboring left-wing Colombian guerrillas. Then comes a visit with Oscar Berger, the Guatemalan president who helped block Venezuela’s grab for a seat on the United Nations Security Council last October by mounting a rival bid with U.S. backing. On the final leg of his tour, Bush will huddle with Mexico’s Felipe Calderón, who has recently emerged as Chávez’s greatest antagonist in Latin America.
For some time now, Washington has been anxious to limit Chávez’s oil-fueled charm offensive in the region. Now this trip offers Bush the chance to promote some local proxies in the fight. But there’s a deeper motivation at work. Given the sputtering war on terror and the unfolding catastrophes in Afghanistan and Iraq, Washington is in desperate need of even a modest foreign-policy success. Latin America was Bush’s first external priority after becoming president; only six years ago, he hailed the dawn of what he called “The Century of the Americas” and ****ounced U.S. ties with Mexico to be his country’s “most important bilateral relationship.” These priorities were abandoned amid the smoke and rubble of the 9/11 attacks. But with nothing else going his way, Bush now seems anxious to get back to basics and start tending the United States’ unruly backyard.
“He wants to send a message that Latin America continues to be important to the United States,” says Rafael Fernandez de Castro, the head of international relations at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico. It’s an open question, however, whether it’s too late for that. In Washington’s absence, Chávez has eagerly filled the vacuum by buying out some of his neighbors’ debts and supporting fellow leftists from Bolivia to Nicaragua. In a press conference last week, he characterized Bush’s foray into the region as an attempt to isolate Venezuela. “The strategy of the U.S. government has always been … to divide Latin America,” he claimed. “It is an offensive destined to the abyss of failure.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17385420/site/newsweek/?from=rss
Back to Basics
Bush is about to embark on a grand tour of Latin America, hoping to finally score the sort of foreign-policy victory that's eluded him elsewhere. No matter what he offers, however, it's likely too little, too late.
Feb. 28, 2007 - George W. Bush heads to Latin America next week, on his longest-ever tour of the region as president, and it’s pretty clear what’s on his agenda. In five countries, Bush will meet with leaders who all share something in common: they’ve either already had dustups with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, or otherwise seem open to deals that could help Bush counter the growing influence of his nemesis.
Consider: Bush will first fly to São Paulo, where he’ll sign an agreement with Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to encourage the use of ethanol and other biofuels as an alternative to Venezuela’s oil. Next stop will be Montevideo, where Bush will promote a free-trade agreement that Washington is negotiating with Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez; such an accord will undermine the Mercosur trading bloc, which Chávez has tried to use to reduce the supposed U.S. economic domination of the region. Bush then will move on to Bogotá for meetings with Colombia’s conservative president Alvaro Uribe, who has accused Chávez of harboring left-wing Colombian guerrillas. Then comes a visit with Oscar Berger, the Guatemalan president who helped block Venezuela’s grab for a seat on the United Nations Security Council last October by mounting a rival bid with U.S. backing. On the final leg of his tour, Bush will huddle with Mexico’s Felipe Calderón, who has recently emerged as Chávez’s greatest antagonist in Latin America.
For some time now, Washington has been anxious to limit Chávez’s oil-fueled charm offensive in the region. Now this trip offers Bush the chance to promote some local proxies in the fight. But there’s a deeper motivation at work. Given the sputtering war on terror and the unfolding catastrophes in Afghanistan and Iraq, Washington is in desperate need of even a modest foreign-policy success. Latin America was Bush’s first external priority after becoming president; only six years ago, he hailed the dawn of what he called “The Century of the Americas” and ****ounced U.S. ties with Mexico to be his country’s “most important bilateral relationship.” These priorities were abandoned amid the smoke and rubble of the 9/11 attacks. But with nothing else going his way, Bush now seems anxious to get back to basics and start tending the United States’ unruly backyard.
“He wants to send a message that Latin America continues to be important to the United States,” says Rafael Fernandez de Castro, the head of international relations at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico. It’s an open question, however, whether it’s too late for that. In Washington’s absence, Chávez has eagerly filled the vacuum by buying out some of his neighbors’ debts and supporting fellow leftists from Bolivia to Nicaragua. In a press conference last week, he characterized Bush’s foray into the region as an attempt to isolate Venezuela. “The strategy of the U.S. government has always been … to divide Latin America,” he claimed. “It is an offensive destined to the abyss of failure.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17385420/site/newsweek/?from=rss