Bush headed into den of Leftists

[FVZA_Colonel]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/chitribts/20051031/ts_chicagotrib/bushheadingintodenofleftists

Bush heading into den of leftists
By Colin McMahon Tribune foreign correspondent
Mon Oct 31, 9:40 AM ET

For a guy with the headaches President Bush faces, quiet time away and a pleasant visit with friends might be just the ticket. Too bad Bush is booked for South America this week.

The fourth Summit of the Americas will bring Bush into territory that is not quite enemy but far less allied than before. Half the hemisphere's leaders have changed since Bush took office in 2001 promising to make Latin America a priority. The region's politics have changed too.

A resurgent left is reshaping Latin America. This year alone, leftist protests toppled governments in Ecuador and Bolivia. A socialist took power for the first time in Uruguay. And Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, swimming in oil profits and brimming with bravado, is rallying the region against the United States and its economic prescriptions.

All told, more than 320 million Latin Americans have seen their nations turn to the left in recent years--in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

[eleny]

1. Eight out of thirteen countries

If I counted right.
That's one heck of a big chunk of SA.

[Seabiscuit]

2. And about 85%-90% of the geography.

[XemaSab]

5. Hey now,

Guiana, French Guyana, Suriname, and Paraguay count too!

[Moosepoop]

10. You forgot Poland!

Er... Columbia. :silly:

[Seabiscuit]

18. Hey, you forgot Columbia. That's worse than forgetting Poland!

Even with Columbia in the mix, I'm only speaking to geography.

[SoCalDem]

7. I always feel so sorry for Bolivia & Paraguay

they are the only ones with no coastline.. It's like they are being held hostage by the continent :(

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

12. Bolivia had one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivia

Independence did not bring stability. For nearly 60 years, coups and short-lived constitutions dominated Bolivian politics. Bolivia's weakness was demonstrated during the War of the Pacific (1879–83), when it lost its seacoast, and the adjoining rich nitrate fields, together with the port of Antofagasta, to Chile. Since independence, Bolivia has lost over half of its territory to neighboring countries due to wars or bad deals. See Treaty of Ayacucho in 1867 and Treaty of Petropolis in 1903.

[funflower]

3. The next Europe...?

[rucky]

11. Read this book:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312307993/qid=1130851494/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/102-4498574-6356157?v=glance&s=books

[The Roux Comes First]

4. But wait 'til they see the swagger our Cisco has!

Maybe then they'll see the light of day! :sarcasm:

And oh yeah, on another (related) score, next time I say "let's go to Bolivia," let's go to Bolivia!!

[Rainscents]

6. So, is Bush planning on invending all the countries that trun left?

They don't like him, but we hate him even more!

[EuroObserver]

8. Den of leftists? Hah Hah.

Moderately socialist economic realists, European-style, more like.

And not for want of repeated trying (and repeated 'intervention' from the North).

Third (or fourth, or fifth) time lucky, one hopes.

(Backyard, my ass).

Recommended reading: Eduardo Galeano's 'Open Veins of Latin America':
refs eg: http://www.monthlyreview.org/openvein.htm , http://www.latinamericabureau.org/?lid=1954 , http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0853459916/104-0990547-9390367?v=glance&n=283155&v=glance

PS. So many parallels also in today's Africa...

[salin]

9. "Condi, Do they have black people in Brazil? "

no doubt he will once again show his willful ignorance of these countries and their leaders at this meeting.

[Say_What]

13. Telesur will cover 'Mr. Danger's' LatAm fiasco-HUGE protest march planned

<clips>

Argentine resort fortified for summit
Soccer hero set to join protests at 34-nation Summit of the Americas

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Thousands of police took up posts Monday, barricading Argentina's Atlantic resort of Mar del Plata as authorities braced for the fourth Summit of the Americas set to begin Thursday.

About 10,000 federal and regional police officers cordoned off the city as a tight security plan took effect after midnight (10 p.m. Sunday ET). The 2-day summit will be attended by 34 heads of state, including U.S. President George W. Bush.

...Argentine officials said they are bracing for protests by an array of anti-American and anti-Summit protest groups. They said they will have the police forces on hand if necessary to counter any violent demonstrations like those that have dogged past summits.

While the heads of state are meeting at a Mar del Plata luxury hotel at the center of the security corridor, other groups are planning protests in the city for the third "Summit of the People of the Americas" to be held November 1-5.

A citywide march planned for Friday is expected to specifically oppose Bush's appearance at the summit.

Labor activist Juan Gonzalez, one of the organizers of the People's Summit, said the protests will condemn policies that promote globalization as a way to reduce poverty and create jobs but it has only hurt the marginalized and worsened conditions for the poor.

"We personify in Bush ... everything that we don't want," Gonzalez said, adding that he thinks free markets and more private investors will not help create new jobs in Latin America.

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/10/31/argentina.summit.ap/

[Say_What]

14. self delete

double posting

[bemildred]

15. Castro taunts Bush in TV chat

Mar Del Plata - Cuban President Fidel Castro taunted United States President George W Bush in a televised chat late on Monday with Argentine soccer idol Diego Maradona, saying Bush would not be welcome at a summit this week in Argentina.

Castro said Bush should cancel his plans to attend the Summit of the Americas at the Atlantic resort of Mar del Plata.

"If I were Bush, I would not go to the Summit of the Americas," Castro told Maradona, the retired soccer star who now hosts his own hit television show.

"If I were the president of the United States, I would try to have a little judgment for once and not defy the Argentines who have declared him persona non grata," Castro said.

News24

[Darranar]

17. And Chavez plans to have a "beautiful debate" with Our Brilliant Leader.

This should be fun.

[Darranar]

16. Yes, a "den of leftists" insidiously plotting such heresies

as food and health care for the poor and not sacrificing human beings on the altar of the so-called "free market."

[leesa]

19. Let's hope the leftists are hungry!

"...quiet time away and a pleasant visit with friends might be just the ticket..." Cripes. This is all he DOES do and it hasn't helped at all.

[shanti]

20. my (french) ancestors

moved from uruguay to the u.s. in the late 1800's because they were conscripting all of the young men for war. maybe it's time to go back??