Dubya south of the border – President Bush prepares for a trip to L. America

In approximately 48 hours U.S. President George W. Bush arrives in Latin America for a 6-day tour of 5 countries. In anticipation of his journey we’ll take a look at what different news outlets, analysts, and blogs have to say:

• The Council on Foreign Relations provides a comprehensive background to the president’s trip that really is a must read.
• VivirLatino rightly wonders what strings will come attached to President Bush plan to spend millions of dollars on education, health care, and housing in Latin America.
• Not to be outdone, Democrats will announce an alternative plan for Latin America this afternoon.
• Professor Greg Weeks focused on a different angle of Bush’s speech and compares his plan to the Alliance for Progress enacted by John F. Kennedy in the 1960s. One of the main reasons the Alliance failed was as a result of Cold War politics getting in the way of promoting democracy and economic development. Could history repeat itself?
• Speaking of JFK, Bush will be the first U.S. president to visit the Colombian capital of Bogota since Kennedy in 1961. Expect Bush to mention that when he cozies up to embattled Colombian president Alvaro Uribe on Sunday.
• Compare and contrast: National Security Advisor- Bush’s trip is not anti-Chavez. Bush’s advisors- Yes it is.
• Some analysts worry that the trip is a case of right place, wrong time.
• “What Latin America needs is order, not free elections… we should have rigged, or influenced, past elections in Bolivia thereby preventing Evo Morales from gaining power”. Or how about immigration creating “a New America…which our founders sacrificed and our grandfathers fought to pass on.” Is this how the right-wing really thinks about Bush and Latin America?
• If the president is serious about “cozying up to moderate leftists" like Brazil’s president, then it doesn’t help to promote a U.S. tariff on Brazilian ethanol.
• Will the people of Latin America welcome President Bush with open arms? I’m not a betting man, but odds are the answer seems to be “yes.”

Links- White House, Council on Foreign Relations, VivirLatino, CNN, c-n.com, Wikipedia, Two Weeks Notice, John F. Kennedy Library, Reuters, Chicago Tribune – The Swamp, Forest Fire, jillosophy, ABC News, Pravda, Daily Kos, New Zealand Herald, Monsters and Critics, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Image- International Herald Tribune (President Bush speaking to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce yesterday)