Dubya south of the border – Bush talks trade in Uruguay as protests rage on

Notice how the Latin American tours of George W. Bush and Hugo Chavez are happening at the same time, yet they will each travel to different countries. (Image via BBC News).

Note: Links that are in English are in bold text while links that are in Spanish are in italicized text.

• President Bush arrived Friday night in Uruguay where several violent demonstrations took place in downtown Montevideo including the vandalizing of a McDonald’s restaurant. Protests continued today (albeit more peacefully) while Bush meets with Uruguayan counterpart Tabaré Vasquez mainly to discuss trade relations.
• Hugo Chavez spared no expense at insulting President Bush at a political rally Friday night in Buenos Aires."The future belongs to us! Gringo go home!" screamed Chavez before a crowd of 20,000 people; the website of Argentine newspaper Clarin provides video of Chavez' speech.
• So far, Bush has yet to directly respond to Chavez’ remarks instead opting for what he called a “quiet and effective diplomacy.”(Perhaps Bush is taking a page from former President Bill Clinton’s trips to Latin America).
• Before the rally, Chavez met with his Argentine counterpart Nestor Kirchner where they signed several bilateral agreements. Chavez is currently in Bolivia where he pledged over $15 million in aid to the flood-ravaged country.
• * Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva warned President Bush to respect the “political decisions of each state” in Latin America.“All governments result from free elections with broad popular participation (and) are committed to programs to put an end to social injustice,” added Lula in remarks he made to the press after both leaders signed a deal promoting the use of biofuels.
• Despite over 22,000 army and police personnel on duty to provide security, Colombia’s government suffered an embarrassing spell when a navy sergeant broke through supposedly tight security and nearly got away with stealing art from the presidential palace. However, a more dangerous security breach may have occurred according to El Tiempo when police discovered several weapons were missing from the presidential palace.

Links- Observa, El País, huliq.com, BBC News, NACLA.org, International Herald Tribune, Clarín.com, Forbes.com, Houston Chronicle, La Nacion, The Latin Americanist, Monsters & Critics, ABC.net.au, RCN, SignOnSanDiego.com, El Tiempo