stephanie
03-13-2007, 12:05 AM
:coffee:
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Monday, March 12, 2007 4:20 PM PST
Latin America: Contrary to forecasts, President Bush's trip to the region is drawing friendly welcomes. Hugo Chavez, by contrast, is making a laughingstock of himself by shadowing Bush's tour. It'll probably cost him.
As TV cameras focus on anti-U.S. street protests, off-camera, Bush seems to be doing fine on his Latin American trip. Chavez, by contrast, is the one making mistakes, ones that work to Bush's favor and will likely reduce Chavez's influence.
Unable to stand Bush's invitations from Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico to visit, Chavez organized a tour of his own, bullying Argentina, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Jamaica and Haiti into visits from him on a week's notice.
But in Latin America, Chavez's shadow tour looks less triumphant than desperate, with some saying Chavez resembles a spurned teenage boyfriend still trying to get attention.
It's not surprising. Although Bush's poll numbers remain low in some parts of Latin America, Chavez's are rock bottom. A recent poll by Latinobarometro gave Bush a "positive image" among 30% of respondents, with Chavez trailing at 28%.
During his trip, Bush has forged a powerful new ethanol alliance with Brazil, renewed trade talks with Uruguay, encouraged Colombia and talked about immigration with Guatemala and Mexico.
Chavez by contrast has organized loud "gringo go home" rallies.
Even those seem to be a failure. Though South American nations are well known for massive street protests, the biggest anti-Bush rally, in Sao Paulo, drew only 6,000 protesters — not the 30,000 organizers had promised a day earlier.
By the way, in Spain last weekend 2.2 million people hit the streets of Madrid in a march against terrorism. Did you hear about that? And in Caracas, Chavez's own capital, protests of more than 6,000 against Chavez didn't get much coverage — yet they're happening.
Chavez's protests were an attempt to provoke. He had warned Bush earlier he'd be likely to get the same mobbing as then-Vice President Richard Nixon got during a visit to Caracas in the 1950s.
But what Chavez delivered wasn't a spontaneous anti-American attack, but the same old rent-a-mob leftist thugs in Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Bogota, Porto Alegre and Mexico City, who always show up for such events.
On a continent where protest attendance can easily run into seven figures, these anti-Bush protests were pathetic. In Bogota and Porto Alegre, only 500 showed up. In Mexico City, anti-Bush protesters numbered a whopping two dozen.
Meanwhile, in Argentina on Friday, Chavez could fill only 20,000 of 40,000 seats at a stadium event, even with paid and bused-in protesters. Chavez invited the presidents of Argentina, Ecuador and Bolivia as special guests, but all found better things to do that night.
Chavez blundered further after he flew off to Bolivia, where he loudly announced a $20 million aid package for flood victims who've been under water for a month. But officials refused to meet him, and publicly called him a meddler.
It got worse when AP reported Bolivians themselves peeking out from their USAID-stamped tents and refusing to greet Chavez, having already gotten the aid — when they needed it — from the U.S.
Chavez talked a big anti-American line, denouncing U.S. capitalism as the "road to hell" and threw in some new insults at George Washington, calling him an Indian killer. But the anti-Americanism didn't resonate — even with his own paid-for protesters.
Over in Brazil, a topless anti-Bush protester arrested for trying to flash President Bush's motorcade told reporters that what she really wanted was a U.S. visa.
In Guatemala, a local journalist explained to us that most protesters are angry about U.S. deportations of illegal immigrants and not being able to get visas into the U.S. easily. In short, Chavez's anti-American rhetoric was a resounding failure.
Still, like a spurned boyfriend, Chavez carries on his anti-U.S. tour — as Bush continues to encounter spontaneous, pro-U.S. rallies and signs of welcome.
With Chavez's rabid hatred of Bush and the U.S., he's starting to make mistakes and the rest of the region is starting to realize he's making an ass of himself. Bush is not losing ground in Latin America. Chavez is.
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=258592115835012
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Monday, March 12, 2007 4:20 PM PST
Latin America: Contrary to forecasts, President Bush's trip to the region is drawing friendly welcomes. Hugo Chavez, by contrast, is making a laughingstock of himself by shadowing Bush's tour. It'll probably cost him.
As TV cameras focus on anti-U.S. street protests, off-camera, Bush seems to be doing fine on his Latin American trip. Chavez, by contrast, is the one making mistakes, ones that work to Bush's favor and will likely reduce Chavez's influence.
Unable to stand Bush's invitations from Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico to visit, Chavez organized a tour of his own, bullying Argentina, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Jamaica and Haiti into visits from him on a week's notice.
But in Latin America, Chavez's shadow tour looks less triumphant than desperate, with some saying Chavez resembles a spurned teenage boyfriend still trying to get attention.
It's not surprising. Although Bush's poll numbers remain low in some parts of Latin America, Chavez's are rock bottom. A recent poll by Latinobarometro gave Bush a "positive image" among 30% of respondents, with Chavez trailing at 28%.
During his trip, Bush has forged a powerful new ethanol alliance with Brazil, renewed trade talks with Uruguay, encouraged Colombia and talked about immigration with Guatemala and Mexico.
Chavez by contrast has organized loud "gringo go home" rallies.
Even those seem to be a failure. Though South American nations are well known for massive street protests, the biggest anti-Bush rally, in Sao Paulo, drew only 6,000 protesters — not the 30,000 organizers had promised a day earlier.
By the way, in Spain last weekend 2.2 million people hit the streets of Madrid in a march against terrorism. Did you hear about that? And in Caracas, Chavez's own capital, protests of more than 6,000 against Chavez didn't get much coverage — yet they're happening.
Chavez's protests were an attempt to provoke. He had warned Bush earlier he'd be likely to get the same mobbing as then-Vice President Richard Nixon got during a visit to Caracas in the 1950s.
But what Chavez delivered wasn't a spontaneous anti-American attack, but the same old rent-a-mob leftist thugs in Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Bogota, Porto Alegre and Mexico City, who always show up for such events.
On a continent where protest attendance can easily run into seven figures, these anti-Bush protests were pathetic. In Bogota and Porto Alegre, only 500 showed up. In Mexico City, anti-Bush protesters numbered a whopping two dozen.
Meanwhile, in Argentina on Friday, Chavez could fill only 20,000 of 40,000 seats at a stadium event, even with paid and bused-in protesters. Chavez invited the presidents of Argentina, Ecuador and Bolivia as special guests, but all found better things to do that night.
Chavez blundered further after he flew off to Bolivia, where he loudly announced a $20 million aid package for flood victims who've been under water for a month. But officials refused to meet him, and publicly called him a meddler.
It got worse when AP reported Bolivians themselves peeking out from their USAID-stamped tents and refusing to greet Chavez, having already gotten the aid — when they needed it — from the U.S.
Chavez talked a big anti-American line, denouncing U.S. capitalism as the "road to hell" and threw in some new insults at George Washington, calling him an Indian killer. But the anti-Americanism didn't resonate — even with his own paid-for protesters.
Over in Brazil, a topless anti-Bush protester arrested for trying to flash President Bush's motorcade told reporters that what she really wanted was a U.S. visa.
In Guatemala, a local journalist explained to us that most protesters are angry about U.S. deportations of illegal immigrants and not being able to get visas into the U.S. easily. In short, Chavez's anti-American rhetoric was a resounding failure.
Still, like a spurned boyfriend, Chavez carries on his anti-U.S. tour — as Bush continues to encounter spontaneous, pro-U.S. rallies and signs of welcome.
With Chavez's rabid hatred of Bush and the U.S., he's starting to make mistakes and the rest of the region is starting to realize he's making an ass of himself. Bush is not losing ground in Latin America. Chavez is.
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=258592115835012