Chavez' taunts ignored
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — President Bush refuses to be goaded into a war of words with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, who is answering the president's five-country trek through Latin America with taunts of "Gringo go home."
Bush is trying to spread a message of U.S. compassion for the region and ignore Chavez, who blames U.S.-style capitalism for poverty and inequality in Latin America.
The second stop of Bush's trip was in Uruguay on Saturday, where he planned to meet with President Tabare Vazquez.
Asked at a news conference Friday in Brazil whether his trip counters Chavez' influence or stokes the populist leader's support, Bush refrained from even naming his nemesis.
"I bring the goodwill of the United States to South America and Central America. That's why I'm here," said Bush, who also is visiting Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico.
"I don't think America gets enough credit for trying to help improve people's lives. And so my trip is to explain, as clearly as I can, that our nation is generous and compassionate."
The president and his advisers regularly deflect and downplay Chavez' verbal attacks on Bush, whom Chavez has dubbed the "little gentleman from the North."Calling Chavez the "Bolivarian gentleman," Thomas Shannon, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemispheric Affairs, said he's made it clear that he doesn't see the value of any engagement with the United States. Returning from a trip last month to Brazil and Argentina, undersecretary of state Nicholas Burns said, "We don't obsess about Hugo Chavez."White House press secretary Tony Snow said Busht is going to concentrate on his meetings with heads of state."I know you want to make this trip about Chavez," Snow told reporters aboard Air Force One as it flew to Uruguay. "It's not."On Friday night, Chavez led a rally at a soccer stadium in Buenos Aires."Oh, ho ho! Gringo go home!" Chavez chanted on Argentine state television before leading what was dubbed as an "anti-imperialist" rally with leftist labor, student and social groups. Chavez argued that Bush's goodwill tour would not burnish America's image."I believe the chief objective of the Bush trip is to try to scrub clean the face of the empire in Latin America. But it's too late," Chavez said.The rally was held just across the Rio de la Plata from where Bush is meeting with Vazquez.Trade will dominate those talks at Estancia Anchorena, a presidential retreat about 155 miles from the capital city. Vazquez, a practicing oncologist, visited the White House in May 2006.Vazquez is a left-of-center politician who shares a commitment to democracy and embraces free markets. Uruguay, overshadowed by its larger neighbors, Argentina and Brazil, wants to sell more beef and textiles to the United States, its biggest trade partner for two of the past three years.The United States recently signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement with Uruguay, which could lay the groundwork for a Free Trade Agreement. But that could be a tricky move for Uruguay, which is part of a South American trade bloc that frowns on bilateral side deals outside the regional trade group.
