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Calderon's Hospitality Saves Bush's Neck
// Mexican President Hosts Bush for Secluded Lunch, Leaving Angry Crowds Empty-Handed
Yesterday George Bush completed his tour of Latin America, which the US president had hoped would help shore up Washington's position in the strategically crucial region. However, in the final tally his visit was a miserable affair: Mr. Bush failed to resolve a single important question, and his every footstep was dogged by anti-American protests. Towards the end of his trip, the American president could even have suffered wounds to more than his morale if not for the hospitality of Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
Mr. Bush's visit to Mexico yesterday was symptimatic of the state of affairs throughout his week-long trip to Latin America, which has been assessed by many as the most resounding diplomatic failure of all of the trips he has taken during his entire presidency. Before Mexico he visited Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, and Guatemala, and in each country his sojourn was marred by anti-American demonstrations that attracted thousands of protestors. Mr. Bush traveled everywhere under the protection of hundreds of policemen and soldiers, and even in fairly hospitable Colombia (where the local police did a better job of dispersing protestors than their Brazilian or Uruguayan counterparts) he had to cut his visit short due to terrorist threats. To add insult to injury, not a single one of the president's Latin American colleagues was satisfied with the results of any of the talks.
Yet another unpleasant surprise for Mr. Bush was the counter-tour launched by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who heaped abuse on the US president from stages in Argentina, Bolivia, and Nicaragua to rapturous applause from the crowds. He concluded his tour on Monday in Port-au-Prince, where he spoke several times by telephone with Cuban leader Fidel Castro concerning an agreement between the two leaders to provide joint assistance to the impoverished island nation of Haiti.
Mexico was a key stop on Mr. Bush's schedule. Felipe Calderon, who considers relations with Washington to be a top priority, was sworn in as Mexico's new president on December 1 of last year. Incidentally, many critics of Mr. Calderon allege that he won last July's elections, in which he beat Andreas Manuel Lopez Obrador by 0.1%, only thanks to support from Washington. The first encounter between George Bush and Felipe Calderon, however, bore no resemblance to a meeting of two allies.
Barely pausing to greet his American guest, Mr. Calderon immediately launched into criticism of Mr. Bush's tightening of US immigration policy, which has largely impacted Mexicans. Much of the Mexican president's wrath was directed at legislation signed by President Bush last October that authorizes the construction of a wall between the US and Mexico. In another manifestation of the US government's harsh stance on immigration, over the last six months several Mexican citizens have been shot and killed by American border guards as they attempted to cross the border illegally. This enrages Mexicans at home, many of whom either harbor dreams of moving to the US themselves or are being supported by relatives working in the United States. In addition, Mr. Calderon's inability to resolve the immigration issue with Washington has already been seized upon by his leftist political opponents: "What good is our pro-American president, if he can't even make any deals with his handlers in Washington?" jeers the left.
Another obstacle in relations between the US and Mexico is the narcotics trade. The majority of narcotics in the US come through the border with Mexico, and drug lords wield unchallenged political sway in many Mexican states. Washington has long insisted that Mexico clamp down on the drug mafia, but now Felipe Calderon is demanding that the US pay for the Mexican fight against drugs. "We cannot solve this problem without Washington's help, since the demand for drugs in the US is so great," Mr. Calderon noted pointedly.
George Bush's responses to both questions were entirely inadequate. "I really am trying to convince Congress to ease up on the immigration law at least a little bit, but I can't promise anything for sure," squirmed the president. With regard to increased financing for the struggle against narcotics, Mr. Bush also had nothing to promise – "I'll see, maybe I can do something for you," he muttered – and the meeting ended with that.
Nevertheless, Felipe Calderon did decide to be hospitable and hosted Mr. Bush not in the capital but in the resort town of Merida on the Yucatan Peninsula. It is possible that this move saved the American president's life: on Tuesday, while the president was in Merida, thousands of Mexican leftists staged a massive demonstration in front of the US embassy in Mexico City. At first, nothing was out of the ordinary. The demonstrators carried the usual signs proclaiming "Bush is a murderer of Iraqi children" and "Georgie, get the hell out of Mexico." Many of the slogans also made reference to events of the 1846-1848 Mexican-American War. Then, however, the leftist demonstrators decided to storm the embassy. Throwing themselves at the police with clubs and metal rods, they began to fight their way through to the building's entrance, while the police lashed out with batons and tear gas as the protestors pelted them with rocks. Eventually, the length of the street in front of the US embassy was spattered with blood, the building's windows were broken out, and dozens of people landed in the hospital. Several people were arrested.
That same day Felipe Calderon again rescued George Bush from the wrath of the Mexican people. In the afternoon around a hundred angry men wearing sombreros and armed with clubs and stones surrounded the hotel in Merida where the US president was staying. Their fury was only dampened by the news that the president was away from the hotel having lunch with Mr. Calderon, and in the lull Mexican special forces arrived and chased away the protestors.
In the wake of that incident, Mr. Bush and his wife returned to the hotel, quickly packed their things, and headed for the airport, where their plane to Washington was already waiting. Thus ended the US president's ill-fated trip to Latin America.
Alexander Gabuyev
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 15, 2007
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