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Without naming him, Bush attacks Venezuela's Chavez

BRASILIA, Brazil — Without naming names but leaving little doubt who he had in mind, President Bush on Sunday torqued up his rhetoric against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a leftist foe of the United States who Bush sees as a destabilizing force in a region of young democracies.

Bush had held his tongue during the two-day Summit of the Americas meeting that ended Saturday in Argentina and featured a massive anti-U.S. rally highlighted by a two-hour tirade by Chavez, an ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro in opposing the United States.

But in his Sunday speech to college students, business leaders and the local diplomatic corps, Bush said "ensuring social justice for the Americas requires choosing between two competing visions."

"One offers a vision of hope. It is founded on representative government, integration into the world community and a faith in the transformative power of freedom in individual lives," Bush said in his address during a one-day stop here that included a visit with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The other vision, Bush said, "seeks to roll back the democratic progress of the past two decades by playing to fear, pitting neighbor against neighbor and blaming others for their own failures to provide for their people."

To date, the Bush administration's anti-Chavez rhetoric has been low-key, pointing out such things as the fact that high energy prices have done little to boost the economy of oil-rich Venezuela.

Bush and Chavez had no encounters at the two-day summit, and the U.S. president's only comment about his Venezuelan counterpart was a promise to be "polite" if they met.

Bush remained polite on Sunday by not naming Chavez in the speech. A senior administration official, who briefed reporters in advance of Bush's speech on condition of anonymity, said the tactic was chosen because Bush did not want to "elevate anyone" by naming names. The official also indicated the comments also applied to Castro, who was not invited to the summit.

"Only a generation ago, this was a continent plagued by military dictatorship and civil war," Bush said.

In his speech, Bush also pushed for progress on the stalled Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement. Summit members could not agree on a plan to set a date to resume the talks. Brazil, siding with Venezuela, was among five countries that want FTAA put on the back burner until worldwide trade talks resume. Bush wants those talks completed by the end of next year.

"We encourage Brazil to use its leadership to help make this vision for the Americas a reality," Bush said of free trade.

He noted Lula's complaint that U.S. farm subsidies create an unlevel playing field for international free trade. "The United States is leading the way in addressing this problem," Bush said.

Earlier Sunday, Bush and Lula met privately for about 90 minutes here prior to making statements in which they acknowledged their differences but vowed to work together.

"We agree that the reduction, with a view to the elimination, of agricultural subsidies will be a key to balance" during upcoming worldwide trade talks, Lula said.

Bush said Silva had made it clear to him that all further trade talks could be stalled "as long as there are countries that refuse to yield on agricultural matters."

"And I heard that loud and clear," Bush said, repeating his recent call for reduced U.S. farm subsidies "so long as we get the same treatment from trading partners such as Europe."

Bush's trip to Latin America, which ends Monday with a stop in Panama, was aimed at jump-starting relations between the U.S. and a region that feels it has been ignored in the post 9/11 world.

The region's view of the U.S. was summed up by Carlos Pio, a professor of international relations, in a question to Bush during a meeting with young Brazilian leaders.

"Latin Americans for a long time have had a love-hatred relationship with the U.S.," Pio told Bush. "Latin Americans admire the military and economic power of the United States, its popular culture and many values with which they share. But Latin Americans resist the somewhat missionary nature of (the) U.S. when justifying its international actions."

Pio, noting the anti-U.S. demonstrations during the Summit of the Americas, asked Bush to "pinpoint the causes" for the resistance toward the United States.

"I expect there to be dissent," Bush said, adding that "what happened in Argentina happens in America. That's positive."

Bush said the world view of America often is "not an accurate view." He offered a truncated version of his stump speech on democracy and said he hopes he is able to promote that policy "in a way that explains our position, as opposed to alienating people."

The day's events featured two leaders facing problems at home. Bush is dogged by the ongoing investigation of the White House leak of a CIA operative's name. It is a probe that, to date, has led to the indictment of Vice President Cheney's chief of staff and contributed to Bush's declining popularity as reflected in recent public opinion polls.

In Brazil, Lula's approval rating dropped to 45 percent in September from 55 percent in June as the government endured a bribery scandal.

"Confidence in the administration rebounded as the economy improved, but recent corruption scandals are taking a toll and current polling indicates he might not win re-election next year," the U.S. Embassy said in a written review of the local political landscape.

Lula has failed to curb the nation's crime problem. Last month, 64 percent of Brazilians voted down a proposed ban on the sale of weapons and ammunition. Many said they no longer trust the government to protect them from crime, according to the embassy summary.