Ch㡶ez and Bush step up war of words

Even before President George W. Bush set out for his four-day visit to Latin America, a predictable game of rhetorical ping-pong began. In a speech to the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce this week, Mr Bush pledged to “complete the revolution” for social justice begun by Simon Bol㭶ar.

Comparing the South American liberator to George Washington, Mr Bush said: “Neither Washington nor Bol㭶ar was destined to have children of their own, so that we Americans might call ourselves their children.” 字串6

It was clearly meant as a pre-emptive side-swipe at Hugo Ch㡶ez, the bombastic Venezuelan president who venerates Bol㭶ar and who is Mr Bush’s most high-profile critic in a region where US influence has sunk to a low.

Mr Ch㡶ez did not hold back in his response, accusing the US president of “cynicism and deep ignorance about the reality lived by Latin American people . . . it’s a slap in the face of our people’s dignity”. 字串9

While Mr Bush visits allies in the region, Mr Ch㡶ez is setting off on a rival tour. Mr Bush starts on Thursday with a trip to Brazil, but as he arrives in Uruguay on Friday, Mr Ch㡶ez, who refers to his US counterpart as “Mr Danger”, will touch down in neighbouring Argentina. 字串8

The US president included Uruguay on his itinerary to shore up relations with the government of Tabar㩠V㡺quez, which has said it is not benefiting enough from its membership of the South American Mercosur trade bloc and has expressed an interest in bilateral trade deals.

字串4

Mr Ch㡶ez’s Argentina trip, by contrast, signals his interest in strengthening ties within Mercosur, of which Venezuela is an associate member. On Friday, he is expected to sign a series of agricultural agreements with N㩳tor Kirchner, the Argentine president.

字串3

But he will also use the interest Mr Bush’s trip has generated to heckle the US president from nearer than Caracas. In the evening Mr Ch㡶ez will lead a rally at a football stadium in Buenos Aires, organised by local activists to protest against Mr Bush’s trip. 字串2

The following day, as Mr Bush heads off to visit Alvaro Uribe, the Colombian president and his closest ally in the region, Mr Ch㡶ez will travel to Bolivia to spend the day with President Evo Morales, one of his most outspoken supporters. The two leftist leaders will visit the country’s flood-ravaged eastern lowlands. 字串9

Mr Ch㡶ez may prove unable to resist following Mr Bush into Central America as well. As Mr Bush heads into Guatemala, there are rumours that the Venezuelan leader may go to Nicaragua, ostensibly to sign a deal to sell cut-price oil. 字串9

Stephen Hadley, the US national security adviser, denied this week that Mr Bush’s trip was “an anti-Ch㡶ez tour”. 字串6

If there were any doubt that Mr Ch㡶ez’s rival visits are intended to be an “anti-Bush” tour, the Venezuelan leader said on Tuesday: “We know he comes to try to stop the changes that Latin America is going through and to try to cause problems between us. Gringo, go home.”