Bush Visits Uruguay, Trying To Ignore Chavez

[Shinobi]

Sat Mar 10, 2007 8:41 AM EST29

President Bush has tried to ignore Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on his Latin American tour but the effort was being put to the test as the fiery Chavez toughened his anti-American line.

Chavez staged a Bush protest in Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital just a three-hour ferry ride across the River Plate from Montevideo, where Bush arrived from Brazil on Friday night as part of a week long, five-nation tour.

"The little imperial gentleman from the north must be across the river by now. Let's send him a big shout: 'Gringo go home!"' Chavez told thousands of people in a soccer stadium in Buenos Aires, prompting them to shout, "Gringo go home!"

Bush traveled by helicopter on Saturday to meet Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez at his presidential retreat in Anchorena Park, home to a 3,300-acre (1,335-hectare) ranch and national park some 124 miles west of Montevideo.

Vazquez came to office in 2005 as Uruguay's first left-wing leader and has carved out a moderate path.

At a news conference in Sao Paulo on Friday with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bush declined to respond to Chavez's attacks and declined to mention his name, focusing instead on what he calls a U.S. commitment to fight poverty in the region.

"This trip is to remind people of the ties that bind us, and the importance of this region for the future of the United States," said Bush, who is trying to overcome a sense of U.S. neglect in Latin America. "And I'm real glad to be here."

White House spokesman Tony Snow accused reporters of trying to turn Bush's trip into a story about Chavez. "He didn't come down here to deal with nations other than the ones he's meeting with," said Snow.

Asked on the Air Force One flight to Uruguay if Bush intended to ignore Chavez's rally, Snow said, "I don't know if you can ignore it, but it is what it is."

"Look, the president is going to be concentrating on his meetings with heads of state. He's not going to be talking ..." Snow said, stopping before finishing the sentence.

The Bush administration is looking to bolster its push for bilateral free-trade agreements with Latin American countries and has offered a deal to Uruguay.

Vazquez has hinted he is interested in it, a position that has angered some countries in the South American trading bloc Mercosur, dominated by Brazil, Argentina and new member Venezuela.

Mercosur, which also includes Paraguay, prohibits bilateral trade pacts, instead calling for the bloc to negotiate as a whole.

Dan Fisk, South American expert on the White House National Security Council, said Washington realizes Uruguay has obligations under Mercosur.

"As far as we know and as far as they've signaled, there's no reason we can't talk at any number of levels about how we promote trade and investment," Fisk said.

On a trip that also includes stops in Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico, Bush is pushing a softer message aimed at improving his reputation and bolstering U.S. influence in a region where anti-American voices like Chavez are rising.

As part of that public relations effort, he plunged into a group of Brazilian teenagers and joined them in playing pulsing samba music on Friday in Sao Paulo -- the president's instrument of choice was shaking a "ganya," a silver cylinder that looked like a martini shaker.

http://ca.today.reuters.com