Far From Home, Bush Can't Escape
Political Headaches 

USA Today 4nov2005

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina — No matter how far from Washington he travels, President Bush cannot escape his political troubles back home.

On Friday, Bush was in this South American seaside resort about 5,300 miles from the nation's capital to attend the Summit of the Americas, where he is helping to map strategies for creating jobs and fighting poverty in the Western Hemisphere.

Before the formal sessions began, Bush met with U.S. reporters to outline the importance of the summit and its goals.

But the first four questions reporters asked him were about the status of Karl Rove, his top political adviser and key figure in the probe into the leak of the identity of an undercover CIA operative, and whether he intends to shake up his White House staff.

The only other questions he got were about his falling popularity in the polls back home and his reaction to the anti-U.S. rhetoric of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

No questions about the summit.

At the same time, a counter summit, which was in large part an anti-U.S. rally, was taking place in the streets and in a soccer stadium about four miles across town. Many of the estimated 25,000 protesters carried signs that said, "Fuera Bush" (Get out Bush). At the rally, Chavez denounced Bush and his economic policies.

The protests have been getting more local TV coverage than the summit itself.

Among the protesters was another Bush nemesis, Cindy Sheehan, the Vacaville, Calif., mother whose son Casey was killed in Iraq last year. Sheehan led anti-war protests outside Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch in August and has continued to call for immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Later in the day, the protests turned violent as demonstrators lit bonfires and threw Molotov cocktails at banks and other buildings, causing riot police to respond with tear gas. The rioting took place several blocks away from the heavily barricaded and military-protected hotel where Bush and the other summit leaders were meeting. At no time did the demonstrations ever get near the president or his motorcade, nor did Bush see them.

Regarding Rove, who has not been indicted by a grand jury but remains part of the CIA leak inquiry, Bush said he would not comment on an ongoing investigation. Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is said to be considering whether Rove illegally misled investigators.

"It is a serious investigation and we take it seriously, and we're cooperating to the extent that the special prosecutor wants us to cooperate," Bush said.

Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was indicted last week on perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements charges stemming from the probe. Six in 10 Americans say Rove should resign, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Friday.

Bush also dismissed polls that show his job approval at the lowest levels of his presidency and perceptions of his honesty on the decline.

"The way you earn credibility with the American people is to set a clear agenda that everybody can understand, an agenda that relates to their lives, and get the job done," he said. "And the agenda that I'm working on now is one that is important to the American people."

source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/benedetto/2005-11-04-benedetto_x.htm 4nov2005

Mar Del Plata, Argentina Hunkers Down for Anti-Bush Violence 

KEVIN GRAY / Reuters 3nov2005

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina — Shopkeepers raced to board up storefronts and residents fled this Argentine seaside resort on Thursday as thousands of protesters prepared marches against U.S. President George W. Bush during an Americas-wide presidential summit.

Bush was scheduled to arrive late Thursday for a two-day Summit of the Americas in a country where anti-Bush sentiment runs high due to the war in Iraq and U.S.-backed, free-market policies that Argentines say pushed millions of their compatriots into poverty.

"People see all the iron barricades and police on every corner and they get scared," said construction worker Hernan Brito, who received five last-minute requests to board up store windows from merchants who he said also fear looting.

U.S. interests like Blockbuster video stores and Citibank branches were covered with corrugated metal shields ahead of protest marches early Friday.

More than 7,500 police officers erected a security ring around the summit hotels and patrolled the streets and beaches of this normally bustling city of 600,000, which looked more like a ghost town. Coast guard boats and helicopters trolled the shore, while air space was restricted.

"We hope protests are carried out in a peaceful way, but if they are not, we are prepared to give wrongdoers a forceful response," said Federal Police commissioner Daniel Rodriguez.

Leftist activists mostly from Latin America are holding an alternative Peoples' Summit and Bush's main critic in the region, leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, is due to speak there on Friday.

The war of words between Bush and Chavez over trade and development will take center stage at the summit, but Chavez also aims to be the victor on the streets.

A Chavez-sponsored train will bring anti-Bush celebrities like Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona to the city. U.S. anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and other relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq are also expected in town.

Cuba's Fidel Castro, the only leader not invited to the summit, sent a delegation of Cuban athletes to the Peoples' Summit to support his friend Chavez.

Argentina's "piqueteros" — the militant unemployed who sprang to fame during the country's 2001-2002 economic crisis — are organizing their own march for Friday.

BUNKER MENTALITY

The bunker mentality even spread to the capital Buenos Aires, 250 miles to the north, where two separate riots took place this week. The government blamed a hodgepodge of labor and leftist groups for the destructive rampages.

But fears of terror attacks also came into play. Buenos Aires subway employees refused to work during the summit due to what they perceived as a security threat.

Bush may also face protests when he travels to Brazil on Saturday.

In Argentina, the summit of 34 leaders will concentrate on job creation as the key to long-term prosperity for Latin America, where the $3,000 per capita income is less than 10 percent of the U.S. average.

More prickly issues, like the U.S. push to restart stalled talks for the Free Trade Area of the Americas or FTAA in 2006, may not make much progress in the forum due to resistance among Latin America's big economies.

In a first act of protest at a Thursday meeting of foreign ministers, a young woman with a green scarf over her face held up the sign "No to FTAA."

Locals who had hoped for a boost from the summit scoffed at it for the trouble it was causing their businesses.

"They say the summit is focusing on job creation, but we have to leave our jobs so they can do it," said an angry Gloria Martinez, who sells Mar del Plata's famous sweaters.

Additional reporting by Raymond Colitt in Brasilia