Translated material
Bush visited Latin America
Brazilian ethanol will save the US from oil dependence
US President George W. Bush's week-long tour of Latin America ended yesterday with a visit to Mexico. He visited Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay and Guatemala. The trip, as Bush himself put it, was dictated by “good will” and his administration’s desire to promote prosperity in the region.Deputy Director of the Institute of Latin America of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vadim Teperman, in an interview with Vremya Novostey, noted that Washington is “clearly looking for new approaches to the region, in several countries of which left-wing forces adhering to anti-American positions have come to power.” Left-wing governments have already come to power in Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, Nicaragua and Ecuador; the leadership of Chile and Argentina adheres to a social democratic orientation.
Bush's previous trip to the region took place in March 2005. This time, the president was trying to “kill two birds with one stone - to show the US’s opponents and allies in Latin America that Washington always remembers them, and also to impress the influential Latin American diaspora in the US, which traditionally focuses on Democrats who criticize the Bush administration for it did not pay enough attention to Latin American countries."
According to the expert, the content of the tour was not limited to naked rhetoric. This is evidenced by the agreement concluded last Thursday with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the production of a gasoline substitute, ethanol, from sugar cane, which fuels about 80% of Brazilian cars. “About 70% of global ethanol production is concentrated in the USA and Brazil. The implementation of the agreement will not only reduce the United States' dependence on oil exports, but will also seriously affect the world's fuel supply,” said Mr. Teperman.
George W. Bush's negotiations with Uruguayan President Tabare Vázquez were dominated by issues of strengthening trade relations. In January, the United States signed a trade and investment framework agreement with Uruguay, which could develop into a free trade agreement in the future. The American guest was in the Colombian capital of Bogota for only six hours. Colombia is a close ally of the United States, having received more than $4 billion from Washington over the past seven years to fight guerrillas and drug traffickers.
Bush's trip ended in Mexico. At a meeting with President Felipe Calderon, the guest promised to review American immigration laws and also called on his southern neighbor to tighten the fight against drug smuggling. Bush's two-day stay in Mexico was accompanied by mass protests. In Mexico City, demonstrators blocked the entrance to the hotel where the American president was staying with concrete blocks and besieged the US Embassy. They chanted, “Bush, you weren't invited to Mexico! Get the hell out!” Stormy anti-American demonstrations accompanied George Bush's voyage in other countries of the region.
According to Mr. Teperman, Latin Americans have every reason to dislike the United States. “But it would be unreasonable to believe that with the rise of left-wing governments to power in a number of countries, Washington has lost influence in the region. Latin America understands its dependence on economic and political ties with the United States. Even the irrepressible critic of Washington, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is building his Bolivarian socialism at the expense of American petrodollars, is aware of this,” noted VN’s interlocutor.
It is noteworthy that two days before the start of the tour, the US President unveiled a social assistance program in which he promised to help eradicate poverty in Latin America. Washington intends to spend $385 million there on housing construction and health care and $75 million on teaching English to local residents. “This decision is entirely up to Congress, but since it has a fairly strong Latin American lobby, Bush's decision may well pass and bring additional points in the presidential election,” Mr. Teperman said.