Bush Dodges Chavez Questions, Despite Repeated Prodding

[Say_What]

The LatAm press is making a complete @ss of El Mono... so unlike the MSM whores in the USSA.

<clips>

Montevideo, Uruguay (venezuelanalysis.com)--President Bush may have gotten good at evading questions, but on this week's five-country Latin American tour, it's becoming more difficult and much more blatant.

..."Hugo Chavez suggested that you are afraid to mention his name," asked a U.S. journalist yesterday, "so are you? and how much of a threat is he to United States interests in the hemisphere?"

Rather than respond or decline to answer, Bush changed the subject.

....Journalist Maria Jose Pino from Uruguay Television asked President Bush, "Taking in to account, the regional context in which we find ourselves, governed by leaders such as Vasquez, Lula, Kirchner, Hugo Chavez, Morales, and Bachelet, what differences and similarities do you find among them, and what is your opinion of Vasquez and Uruguay?

George Bush- who by his answer appeared to have missed the first half of the question -responded, "the temptation is to try to get people to talk about their differences. I want to talk about our commonalities. We share respect for each other. We respect our countries. We respect our histories and traditions and we share respect for a government where the people decide who's in charge. Interestingly enough, we both have gotten rid of colonial powers in our past and I think it's that heritage that makes Uruguay and the United States such natural partners."

...It is difficult to say whether Bush's decision to dodge political questions on Hugo Chavez and Latin America, is based on an attempt to monopolize the debate of North America's aid to Latin America, or for fear over the security of the U.S. President in a region which is not necessary friendly.

Protests have followed Bush on his first two stops, across Brazil, and on Friday night in Montevideo where thousands marched against his visit, his foreign policy and U.S support for the repressive Uruguayan military dictatorship of the 1970s-1980s. Protests are planned to greet Bush in Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico, the next three countries he will be visiting on this week's tour.

...Before tens of thousands, Chavez called Bush a "political cadaver."

"He (Bush) looks like he's afraid to say my name," Chavez commented.

"Today they asked him in Brasilia, in a press conference," said Chavez on Friday, "I saw it in my hotel, I was watching and a journalist asked him: Look, they say that you are here to block the advance of Chavez in South America. He (Bush) looks like it gives him tachycardia when they say the name Chavez, because I saw... he lowered his head, stuttered a couple of times and responded something else; he didn't respond the question at all. So he won't dare, I will, I will dare... and I think he owes us."

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=2238

[Prophet 451]

1. I like Gore but I'm starting to LOVE Chavez n/t

[BayCityProgressive]

2. Bush is pathetic

he doesn't mind interfering in ALL of their elections from Washington and putting death hits out on them...but then he goes there expecting the red carpet to be rolled out FUCK HIM. COuld you imagine if other countries did this to us!?! They would be "shocked and awed" in two seconds flat.

[Prophet 451]

3. I know

Chavez seems to have made it his mission in life to fuck with Bush's head. I have to like anyone with that much guts.

[durtee librul]

4. I agree and while I don't condone

a lot of what Chavez has done in his own country - I do applaud him for standing up to the little wannabe.

[MAGICBULLET]

5. yea, Chavez is funny but he can also kiss my ass

Chavez is a complete hypocrite!! He claims so much to be the champion for freedoms and democracy yet he shuts down media outlets of his opposition and is constantly finding ways to revise his country's constitution to further keep himself in power. I really can't trust a man who uses his oil as a weapon. I give both el Mono and Chavito two middle fingers up.

[lakeguy]

6. oh boy, here we go. nt

[rodeodance]

8. I believe Chavez is getting too big for his britches!

[malaise]

11. Really in his own hemisphere?

Clearly you don't know what the majority of people in this hemisphere think of the real bullies. South American belongs to the people of South America and the region is sick of being run for US interests.

[Peace Patriot]

9. For those who suspect that these statements are untrue...

--that Chavez "shuts down media outlets of his opposition"

--that Chavez "is constantly finding ways to revise his country's constitution to further keep himself in power"

--that Chavez's "uses his oil as a weapon"...

but who don't know much about the subject, I suggest www.venezuelanalysis.com. It's a well-written, informative leftist web site, that presents Chavez and his government warts and all, and does much to help us understand the huge popularity of Chavez and the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela and across Latin America.

[Selatius]

10. He shut it down 1) because they advocated breaking law 2) they failed to renew their license

The public airwaves are in the commons. That is, they are publicly owned, and if you want to use that resource, you pay a licensing fee. They failed to renew their license, so they lost access. On top of that, the station broke the law when it advocated for the violent overthrow of a democratically elected president. If such a thing happened in the US, that news outlet would've been shut down just as quickly if not faster.

[rodeodance]

7. I just am glad to see him get a hard time!

[Peace Patriot]

12. I suspect that Lulu and Vasquez placed a condition on a Bush visit, that he not

criticize Chavez. This might explain a very odd AP article posted yesterday, which says: "Following his usual practice, Bush refused to utter Chavez' name during a news conference with the president of Uruguay — or even explain why he wouldn't."

See: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2762330

What I suspect is that the AP (war profiteering corporate news monopoly) reporter is both covering for Bush--"following his usual practice"??? --of refusing to utter the name of another national leader???!--AND, responding to his/her reporter's instinct that there is a story here. Asked Bush about it. Bush wouldn't explain.

Somebody clued Chavez into the Lulu/Vasquez restriction on Bush, and he's having a laugh about it. Does Bush have a Chavez fetish? (--won't utter his name!). Does Bush sacrifice chickens in the Oval Office? Is Bush spooked?

What is fairly clear is that Bush is a desperate man. He has to deliver for his Global Corporate Predator masters, or else. I hope that Lulu and Vasquez used their advantage well, to the benefit of their people and their region. I don't think Bush got very far in his mission of "dividing and conquering." As for the fascist thugs he's going to visit in Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico, the fascists are on the run in two of the three. Huge scandals in Colombia and Guatemala about rightwing paramilitary drug trafficking, murder of peasants and leftists, and even a plot to assassinate Chavez (Colombia). I also don't think Uribe has any love for Bush. He distanced himself from the plot against Chavez, and is desperate himself, trying to hold his government together, as it is rocked by these scandals. He may like the billions of US taxpayer dollars that Bush is delivering to the military (and paramilitaries), but he can read what's written on the wind. Democracy is succeeding in South America, at long last, and regimes like his are dinosaurs. He has to walk a thin tightrope between the larger, democratic, leftist trend, all around him, and the commands of US corporations and war profiteers and their White House puppets.

[Say_What]

13. Caption this photo of El Mono begin toasted (no pun ;-) in Bogota...