Development & Aid, Headlines, Latin America & the Caribbean

LATIN AMERICA-US: Bush’s Tour Yields Few Concrete Results

Diego Cevallos*

MEXICO CITY, Mar 14 2007 (IPS) - On his tour through Latin America, U.S. President George W. Bush left behind high-sounding promises but little of concrete value in terms of energy and migration issues, a few limited offers of assistance in health care and education – and 420 protesters under arrest.

His seven-day tour, which took him to Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico, ended Wednesday in Mérida, on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, where Bush reiterated his appreciation and respect for Latin America, a region to which he had never before dedicated so much time or so many public statements.

On his last stop, in Mexico, the country of origin or descent of 28 million people living in the United States, the U.S. leader pledged to “work as hard as I possibly can to pass comprehensive immigration reform” – despite the fact that in October he signed a law ordering the construction of 1,226 kilometres of new fencing along the border between the two countries.

In Brazil, a world leader in biofuels, he promised to move forward on a joint plan to expand the use of ethanol to reduce consumption of fossil fuels.

Mexican political scientist Eugenio Lugo told IPS that although these two issues, ethanol and migration, received the greatest attention during Bush’s tour, it is too soon to predict whether or not the U.S. leader’s promises will bear fruit.

The visit to Uruguay basically boiled down to an exchange of mutual praise and promises between Bush and his host, socialist President Tabaré Vázquez, with respect to questions of trade and migration.

In Colombia something similar occurred, but with regard to issues related to U.S. anti-drug and counterinsurgency aid, which may be hurt by the ongoing scandal in which governing coalition legislators have been arrested for collusion with right-wing paramilitary groups responsible for the greatest atrocities committed in Colombia’s decades-long civil war.

In Guatemala, commitments were made towards planning joint efforts to crack down on youth gangs and drug trafficking.

Observers have written volumes on Bush’s Latin America tour, which has come half-way through his second term, at a point when opinion polls show that his popularity both at home and in Latin America is at an all-time low.

Most analysts saw his tour as an attempt to counteract the influence in the region of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who seemed to see his visit in a similar light.

On Tuesday, Chávez said he dealt Bush a “knockout” blow with his own simultaneous tour in the region, which took him to Argentina, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Haiti.

According to Venezuela’s leftist leader, Bush’s presence in Latin America was an “insult” to the region.

“Above and beyond the flood of statements and declarations read and heard over the last few days, Bush’s tour left very few results, great diplomatic fanfare, analyses of all kinds, and the inevitable protests. But as with everything, time will tell as to the lasting impact,” said Lugo.

Several sources reported that the U.S president’s tour was hastily planned early this year, which left little time to draw up a more in-depth agenda.

“What triggered the decision (for the trip) was Chávez. Not because of his growing political and economic influence in the region, which is nothing new, but because of his role as a gateway for the entry of extra-regional actors in Latin America,” Rosendo Fraga, director of the New Majority Studies Centre, a think tank in Argentina, told IPS.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s January visit to Venezuela, Ecuador and Nicaragua and the trip that members of his delegation made to Bolivia “showed that Iran’s influence through Venezuela is becoming a strategic factor,” said Fraga.

The analyst noted that Chávez has announced the purchase of air defence missiles from Russia – the same kind that Iran bought in December. In addition, Venezuela plans to purchase new submarines, probably from Russia as well.

The Venezuelan leader “has begun to be a strategic problem on the global, and not just the regional, level, which is why Bush came to Latin America,” said the analyst.

Another effect of the U.S. leader’s tour was a total of 420 people arrested and 35 injured in anti-Bush protests. The largest number of demonstrators arrested, around 350, was in Colombia, where the most violent clashes took place between police and protesters.

Prior to Bush’s visit, his administration designed a package of offers for Latin America, which are the only ones that have actually been budgeted.

Through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), Washington will disburse 385 million dollars to finance housing in Central America, Brazil, Chile and Mexico.

A 75 million dollar fund will also be created to promote English-language instruction for young people in Latin America, and to provide study opportunities in the United States.

In addition, a Navy medical ship, the USNS Comfort, will be touring the region to carry out 1,500 surgical operations, attend 85,000 patients, and offer dental care.

* With additional reporting by Marcela Valente in Buenos Aires.