Venezuela's Chavez leads protests against Bush tour of Latin America

[Say_What]

<clips>

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez joined 20,000 people in a soccer stadium rally Friday night, capping a day of protests and taunts against U.S. President George W. Bush and his tour of Latin America.

"Oh, ho ho! Gringo go Home!" Chavez declared Friday before donning a bright red shirt symbolizing his brand of socialist revolution at an "anti-imperialist" rally in the Argentine capital, just across the Rio de la Plata from Bush's stops in Uruguay.

Across the river border in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo, a small knot of rowdy anti-American demonstrators punched and scuffled with some bystanders and shattered windows at an American fast-food restaurant. The incident came as Bush flew to Uruguay from neighboring Brazil.

"Exterminate the Empire!" a masked woman spraypainted on a business facade as some rocks flew. There was no report of any serious injuries but the incidents underscored the tension as Uruguay's first leftist president, Tabare Vazquez, awaited to meet Bush on Saturday.

Chavez has said Bush's five-nation swing would fail to improve America's image and dismissed his pledges of U.S. aid as a cynical attempt to "confuse" Latin Americans.

"I believe the chief objective of the Bush trip is to try to scrub clean the face of the empire in Latin America. But it's too late," the Venezuelan leader said earlier in the day on Argentine state television. "It seems he's just now discovered that poverty exists in the region."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/10/america/LA-GEN-Latam-Bush-Protests.php

[Say_What]

1. Pics... just starting to roll in...

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, raises his fist as he speaks during a rally against the ongoing visit to several Latin American countries by U.S. President George W. Bush, Friday, March 9, 2007 in Buenos Aires. Chavez is in a two-day visit in Argentina.(AP Photo/Daniel Luna)


Venenezuela's president Hugo Chavez, left, and Hebe de Bonafini, president of the mothers of Plaza de Mayo, wave to supporters during a rally against the ongoing visit to several Latin American countries by U.S. President George W. Bush, Friday, March 9, 2007 in Buenos Aires. Chavez is in a two-day visit in Argentina. (AP Photo/Daniel Luna)

[Mika]

2. Thanks for posting the pics.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Say_What]

6. Bush the Uniter...

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, center, raises his fist as he speaks during a rally against the ongoing visit to several Latin American countries by U.S. President George W. Bush, Friday, March 9, 2007 in Buenos Aires. Chavez is in a two-day visit in Argentina. (AP Photo/Daniel Luna)

[David__77]

9. Two brave leaders, a warrior and a mother.

Great picture on the bottom.

[jedr]

3. NPR did a blurb on this story tonight;

That W had planned to visit a Mayan Temple in Guatemala and was asked not to come by the priest who felt that he would bring evil spirits into the Temple. Bush declined and the priest feel that they will need to preform an exorcism after he leaves. Don't know if it's true but what a story!!!!!:rofl:

[Matilda]

4. AP has the story,

and it appears that it's true.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0309-05.htm


Seems that Bush is uniting Latin America - against himself.

[jedr]

10. Thanks for the link, I couldn't find one to post;

Never though of Common dreams......

[Skink]

5. Maybe he should challenge Bush to a duel.

[ourvoicescount]

8. Bush against himself?!?

...one of them could dress as cowboy Bush, the other as flightsuit Bush. Or, would the cheerleader Bush want in on the fun?

[Say_What]

7. "Gringo, go home," Chavez chanted as a crowd numbering about 32,000...

<clips>

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - With George Bush only a few miles distant across the broad River Plate that separates this city from Montevideo, Uruguay, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday slammed the American president as a "coward" and urged him to return to the United States.

"Gringo, go home," Chavez chanted as a crowd numbering about 32,000 urged him on. A huge banner behind Chavez proclaimed, "Latin American Unity, Bush Out."

But whether Chavez accomplished his goal of undercutting Bush's foray into Latin America was unclear.

While many in the crowd expressed similar criticisms of Bush, who was arriving in Montevideo after a day of meetings with Brazil's president in Sao Paulo, reporters on the scene said the crowd grew noticeably thinner during the second hour of Chavez's speech. Spectators clapped and cheered at his remarks, but without the electricity that often greets his speeches back home.

The rally, in a soccer stadium in a working-class neighborhood, was organized by Argentina's respected human rights group Mothers of the Plaza, whose founding was rooted in opposition to Argentina's military dictatorship decades ago. Argentine President Nestor Kirchner helped organize the rally.

Kirchner didn't attend, and other invited big-name guests, such as Bolivian President Evo Morales, declined days ago. (Morales, who'd been in Japan, said he couldn't make to Argentina in time.)

...When he finished, fireworks burst into the air - a promise perhaps of things to come: As Bush moves on to stops in Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico, Chavez has planned a tour of his own - to Bolivia to check on flood victims there and then to Haiti, where Venezuela's state-run development bank has pledged $20 million for health care, education and housing.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/16872699.htm