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The announcement by U.S. authorities of the arrest of three men and the search for another man, all implicated (allegedly by legal perspective) in a plot to kill thousands of people in and around the JFK International Airport leaves us with at least seven quick lessons... 1) This is an operation (successful or not) that implicated at least three countries in three subcontinents:... 2) The second lesson is that the Caribbean and South America have indeed became staging grounds for jihadi groups (al Qaeda, other Salafists and Iranian-led groups) to organize, recruit and act... 3) More specifically, attention must be...

Police on Thursday recovered a small part of the fortune in cash that disappeared from a small plane after it crashed in northeastern Brazil, according to news reports. The twin-engine plane was carrying $2.6 million worth of Brazilian reals when it crashed Wednesday afternoon near the city of Salvador, some 750 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro in Bahia state, killing all four people aboard, officials said. Police say they suspect locals made off with the bags of cash before rescuers arrived on the scene. But on Thursday, according to the Web sites of O Globo and Estado de S....

Many people were protesting against the war in Iraq Hundreds of demonstrators have rioted outside the US embassy in Mexico City, in the latest protest against President George W Bush's tour of Latin America.Protesters burned US flags and threw stones at police guarding the building. Tear gas was used to disperse the crowds. Several people were injured, including a number of police officers. The violence came hours after Mr Bush pledged to reform controversial immigration laws, during two-day talks with Mexican President Felipe Calderon. Mr Bush made the announcement on Tuesday at the start of talks with Mr Calderon....

Mr Bush will speak about social justice and equality President George W Bush is in Guatemala for a one-day visit, after a stop in Colombia where he pledged his personal support to its fight against drugs. He will discuss security, trade and immigration with Guatemala's president. This is the fourth stop in Mr Bush's tour of Latin America, which has seen protests at every stage. Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, has used a parallel tour of the region to speak out against what he calls the interference of the "American empire". Mr Chavez started his tour last week in Argentina,...

Troops have been deployed to boost police presence in Bogota US President George W Bush has arrived in Colombia as part of his five-nation Latin American tour.He will meet President Alvaro Uribe in a display of support for efforts to combat that country's insurgency. Colombia is one of the largest recipients of US aid to help fight a long-running war against left-wing guerrillas and drug traffickers. The visit is being overshadowed by a political scandal, which has raised questions about US support in Congress. The scandal has linked a number of President Uribe's government politicians to right-wing paramilitaries. Some...

Thousands of protesters greeted Mr Bush's arrival US President George Bush has met his Uruguayan counterpart, Tabare Vazquez, as part of his five-nation Latin American tour to promote trade.Mr Bush arrived in Montevideo from Brazil - where he signed a deal to develop alternative fuel sources. Uruguay is keen to sign free trade deals with the US, even if it means leaving the Mercosur trade bloc. The tour attracted protests in Brazil and about 5,000 protesters gathered in Uruguay for Mr Bush's visit. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is conducting his own tour of the region and addressed 40,000 anti-Bush...

!-- S IIMA --> Chavez attacked Bush in front of the Buenos Aires crowd It was the kind of situation that the Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez, loves - 40,000 flag-waving supporters joining him in hurling insults at the US President, George W Bush.He was at a football stadium in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, leading what he called an anti-imperialist rally to coincide with Mr Bush's arrival in neighbouring Uruguay. Most of the crowd were members of trade unions, left-wing and human rights organisations, those who already supported Mr Chavez and what he calls his brand of socialism for...

Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center Washington, D.C. Thank you all. (Applause.) Please be seated -- si ntese. Buenas tardes. Gracias por la bienevenida. For those of you not from Texas, that means, good afternoon. (Laughter.) And thank you for the welcome. I'm honored to be back again with the men and women of the Hispanic Chamber. I appreciate your hospitality. I'm pleased to report the economy of the United States is strong, and one of the reasons why is because the entrepreneurial spirit of America is strong. And the entrepreneurial spirit of America is represented in this room....

WASHINGTON - Miami's Jesús Soto supports Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's vision of ''participatory democracy.'' Valerie Pusch of Chicago backs Chávez because of his policies on behalf of the poor. And they say so loudly, as heads of their local Bolivarian Circles -- among the dozen or so U.S. copies of the groups Chávez has set up throughout his country to mobilize Venezuelans on behalf of his socialist ``revolution.'' Even as Chávez attacks President Bush as his sworn nemesis, his government is running a strong campaign to curry favor with U.S. citizens through leftist grass-roots groups, paid lobbyists and public relations...

WASHINGTON -- Despite tense relations with Venezuela, President Bush says it might be OK for the South American nation to have a nuclear reactor for peaceful energy uses. Bush acknowledged he had not heard about Venezuela's request for a reactor when asked about it Tuesday in an interview with Latin American reporters in advance of his five-day trip to the region. But he didn't reject the idea, even though he has had numerous disputes with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. As Chavez, Bush and leaders from 32 other nations in the Western Hemisphere prepare to gather Friday at the Summit of...

Chinese President Hu Jintao’s recent visit to Mexico City to meet with Mexican President Vicente Fox marked a new beginning in Sino-Mexican relations with both leaders signing agreements in the areas of bilateral trade, mining and energy. “The motive of my visit is to deepen the strategic association between Mexico and China,” president Hu Jintao told journalists gathered at the Presidential Palace. The trip to Mexico was the first for Hu Jintao since becoming head of state and was designed to promote further business and diplomatic cooperation. Earlier this year, Chinese vice-president Zeng Qinghong and Jin Qinglin, chairman of the...

AS Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hit town for this week's special U.N. session, Chavez's flunkies were renting buses and offering to reimburse activists willing to create a "spontaneous" welcome crowd for the populist anti-American. Tomorrow, Chavez will be the guest of Columbia University's president, Lee Bollinger. And he'll speak Saturday at St. Paul and St. Andrew Methodist Church on 86th Street; Jesse Jackson is set to appear alongside. ...... Chavez has boasted that his intentions back then were not just to topple the government, but also to execute President Perez. In 2002, as the families of his victims mourned the...

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - When nine Caribbean countries signed oil trading agreements with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, it was a marriage of convenience. Fragile Caribbean economies scored modest relief from rising fuel prices, while the leftist South American leader advanced his campaign to become a counterweight to U.S. influence in the region, analysts say. "A lot of what Chavez is doing right now is just bravado," said Vinay Jawahar of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue. "But it's going to make the United States' life harder." Jawahar said Chavez is trying to increase his influence in the 34-nation Organization of American...

SANTIAGO, Chile - The Chilean candidate to head the Organization of American States won the race Friday after his U.S.-backed rival withdrew in a deal that included a Chilean vow to bolster democracy in Latin America, including Cuba. The agreement made Chile's Interior Minister José Miguel Insulza certain to win the post of secretary general when the OAS meets Monday in Washington, because of the withdrawal of Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez. The agreement, brokered on the side of a democracy conference taking place in Santiago, ended a stalemate that had threatened to divide the 34-member bloc along regional...

April 9, 2005China's Foray Into Latin AmericaBy Frederick W. Stakelbeck, Jr.Over forty years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, America once again finds itself in the crosshairs of a determined, Cuban-based adversary possessing the capability to inflict incalculable damage to U.S. democracy efforts and regional stability. That adversary is China. For two decades, Soviet defense, economic and intelligence assistance allowed Fidel Castro’s Cuba to project its own brand of Stalinist totalitarianism throughout Latin America infesting countries such as Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Chile. Castro’s dream of leading a new Latin American empire ended abruptly in the early 1990’s with the...

In military terms, the Western Hemisphere is the strategic rear area of the United States. The U.S. needs a secure and prosperous hemisphere not only to ensure a peaceful neighborhood in which to live, but also to be able to project its power to the farthest reaches of the globe and win the War on Terror. What is happening in our neighborhood? Press reports indicate that a leftist-populist alliance is engulfing most of South America. Some Andean and Central American countries are sliding back from economic reforms and narcotics eradication, and the Caribbean remains irrationally hostile to the U.S. This...

Washington -- The United States has a very full agenda for the Western Hemisphere and will work multilaterally with its regional partners to strengthen democratic institutions and generate economic growth in the Americas, according to Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roger Noriega. In a November 15 interview with the Washington File, Noriega outlined the United States' hemispheric priorities as the Bush administration prepares to enter its second term. He expounded on ongoing efforts in the hemisphere, including the implementation of Summit of the Americas mandates, the advancement of the hemispheric trade agenda, the reconstruction of the hurricane-ravaged...

MIAMI (AFP) - Florida has trademarked the phrase "The Gateway to the Americas" as part of its campaign to have Miami become the headquarters of a planned Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA.) The state, together with an group promoting the bid to host the future secretariat, have also registered "The Gateway of the Americas" as a trademark. "Our state is in fact both the gateway of and to the Americas, long recognized by multinational companies as the center for global commerce," said Jorge Arrizurieta, who heads Florida FTAA, which is seeking to have the body's secretariat located in...

<p>WASHINGTON - It was both an auspicious and ominous way to begin the week: Auspicious because of President George Bush's resolute demand that Saddam Hussein and his sons leave Iraq. There were also ominous noises from his predecessor in the White House, Bill Clinton, who bared not only his antagonism to the president but his horror at envisioning a strong America.</p>

One Coin, Two Sides <>P> By Greg Buete Published 01/03/2003 Deep in South America two terror fronts are colliding. While fundamentally dangerous apart together they are capable of producing terror attacks against the West in both greater magnitude and frequency than ever before. The region is called the Triple Border. It is a lawless region between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil that supports a community of 30,000 Muslims, many of them radical expatriates of the Lebanese civil war and aligned with Hezbollah. As Jeffery Goldberg of the New Yorker discovered, Hezbollah, an Iranian backed Lebanese terrorist group responsible for over 300...

SÃO JOSÉ DOS CAMPOS, Brazil — When a satellite rocket exploded in late August on its launching pad at a military-controlled base at Alcântara, on the eastern edge of the Amazon, 21 of Brazil's top scientists and technicians were instantly incinerated. For Brazil, the disaster was the third failure trying to launch a satellite on its own rocket, and the worst in the history of its space program. But more than calling into question that program's future, the catastrophe also provided a vivid warning to other developing nations tempted to reach for grand ambitions in space on budgets already stretched...

OUR OPINION: VISION OF A HEMISPHERIC FTAA IS A GOAL WORTH PURSUING Let's be clear. The pursuit of a Free Trade Area of the Americas, which continues in earnest this week in Miami, is an eminently worthwhile effort. But everyone should keep this much in mind: So far, there is no FTAA agreement. The Miami meeting is one in a long series of discussions. No one, not even negotiators, now knows what an FTAA might be in final form, nor should they state categorically what it will mean or do. We simply don't know. We can discuss FTAA goals and...

THE BIG PICTUREEditor, Naples Daily News:While peasants toppled the president of Bolivia for planning to sell natural gas to the United States, let us note that President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's elected tyrant and Fidel Castro's protege, finances the Bolivian congressman leading the insurrection (Evo Morales). The protests in Bolivia are similar to the ones organized by Cuba in Venezuela in the mid-1990's They are part of a strategy developed in the late 1980's by Castro, Brazilian President Luiz Ina Lula da Silva and other communists, all members of the Foro de Sao Paolo.Recognizing that guerrilla warfare was ineffectual, a plan...

<p>Although its prime concern is terrorism, the United States is also willing to consider poverty, disease and other nonmilitary issues when it meets Monday to forge a new security agenda with 33 other countries in the Western Hemisphere, U.S. officials say.</p>

<p>Venezuela's vice president criticized the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff on Wednesday for appearing to suggest that Venezuela did not have a firm anti-terrorist stance.</p> <p>Gen. Richard Myers, when asked Tuesday about allegations that Venezuela is permissive with Colombian rebels crossing into its territory, said, "It's not helpful when countries don't fully support the anti-terrorism fight.</p>

The United States will intensify its training of Colombian troops to bolster their campaign against leftist rebels, a senior Pentagon official said Tuesday.< Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it is in the United States' own interest -- and of other countries in the region -- to see the rebels defeated. ''Terrorism of any kind affects the stability and security of not only Colombia but also the entire Western Hemisphere,'' Myers said at a military airfield in Bogotá as he ended a two-day visit and headed for Nicaragua. Later Tuesday, in Managua, Myers...

WASHINGTON - After years of feeling all but forgotten by Washington, Latin American officials Wednesday welcomed Roger Noriega's confirmation as the first Senate-approved assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs since 1999. ''This is one of the best decisions the Senate has made in more than five years,'' El Salvador Ambassador Rene Antonio León Rodríguez said after the Senate vote late Tuesday. ``U.S. policy will have a champion now. And the region will finally get the attention it deserves.''Noriega's confirmation came after a long delay because Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., had been blocking the vote for months in an...

In 1966 Che Guevara traveled from Cuba to South America, his mission to incite the Andean cordillera to an armed struggle against capitalism and the United States. He failed and was killed by the Bolivian army in 1967. Today, American political and economic policies threaten to reawaken his dream. Guevara, an Argentine doctor who had never been to Cuba before he landed there with Castro in 1956, was unfamiliar with the conditions that had made the revolt against the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista possible on the island. His failure to ignite even a modest South American uprising was due...

Pro-Castro Senators Hold a Bush Nominee HostageBy Wall Street JournalWall Street Journal | June 25, 2003 More than halfway through his term, President Bush still doesn't have a confirmed Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere. The reason is one of those Beltway scandals that deserves more public attention, not least because the episode is doing tangible harm to U.S. national interests. The stability of the Americas is obviously vital to U.S. security, and U.S. leadership is essential for a stable Latin America. But with Colin Powell and Mr. Bush otherwise engaged with the Middle East, the absence of...

US voted out of human rights body in symbolic rebukeFriday, Jun 13, 2003,Page 7 In a symbolic rebuke to the Bush administration, the member nations of the Organization of American States (OAS) have for the first time voted to exclude the US from representation on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, considered the most prestigious human rights monitoring body in the Western Hemisphere. The decision came at the end of the three-day annual assembly of the OAS, held this year in Santiago, Chile, and attended by Secretary of State Colin Powell. Addressing the conference on Monday, Powell sharply condemned a...

One of the most fascinating topics in economic and social research is the issue of development. What allows some countries to "quantum leap" to higher levels of income per capita, and how do they remain at those high levels? The literature on economic growth, development, and prosperity mostly agrees that the key to prosperity is open markets, sound institutions, and particularly a strong rule of law.2 The reason is simple. Open markets allow for competition, which is the only method, as F. A. Hayek wrote in the Road to Serfdom, "by which our activities can be adjusted to each other...

<p>WASHINGTON - (KRT) - The United States and Chile are preparing to sign a historic free-trade agreement in Miami on Friday, but that pact will come as relations between Washington and Latin America have become distant, at best, and in some cases are in a deep freeze.</p> <p>Friday's trade deal signing, between an American trade representative and Chile's foreign minister, probably would have been conducted in Washington with more fanfare if Chile hadn't joined Mexico earlier this year in refusing to endorse U.S. military action against Iraq at the United Nations.</p>

<p>The United States will sign a trade agreement with Chile today, setting the stage for Congress to vote on the first two free-trade pacts negotiated by the Bush administration.</p> <p>Today's ceremony in Miami follows by one month Mr. Bush's signature on a pact with Singapore.</p>

The French-Iraqi-Cuban Connection Augustin Blazquez tells NewsMax of stranger-than-usual happenings in Cuba. A friend of his, Carlos Wotzkow, reports: "Every day, for one week, hundreds of Iraqis, disguised in the white clothing of Kuwait, have been arriving at Cuba, and they do not come alone, but accompanied; women and children packed as if they were sardines. My sources are not airport visitors, they work there, and they assure to me that all arrive by Air France. "Is that the true reason for the visit from [French Foreign Minister Dominique de] Villepin to Syria? Will he be consolidating another "route of...

Democrats Fight Bush on Colombia May 9: Colombian President Uribe met with President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, trade representatives, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, CIA Director George Tenet, 25 congressmen and businessmen during a five-day stay in Washington that ended Saturday. The Colombian president visited the U.S. to lobby for sustainable aid to Colombia amid Democrat protests of too high a budget for the South American country. Bush and Uribe were allies during war in Iraq and agree on several lines of policy, not least in their treatment of terrorism. The majority of Democrats in Congress complained about the...

The main program of President Lula da Silva in Brazil, Fome Zero (Famine Zero), superficially proposes to reduce the hunger and the misery of approximately 15 million out of 170 million Brazilians. During his first hundred days in office, President Lula drew the nation into this program. TV stars, non-governmental entities, journalists and entrepreneurs showed interest in collaborating with Lula -- sometimes donating, sometimes offering themselves as volunteers for his propaganda. Despite the raging controversy over the effectiveness of the distribution of food to the poor, mainly to people who live in the Brazilian Northeast, the intentions of Lula da...

The attitude of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula) and his cabinet regarding the Iraq conflict revealed once again the ambiguity that characterizes the present Brazilian administration. However, ambiguity might not be the proper term. It would perhaps be more appropriate to speak of a deft masking of the leftist ideological line that inspires the Workers’ Party (PT) administration. The PT remains faithful to the principles that always have and continue to orient it. Also noteworthy is the ever-present influence of Liberation Theology in the present government. This ideological alignment is a driving force behind opposition to the U.S.-led...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. (Cites importance of regional partnerships to build prosperity) (3430) President Bush's foreign-policy agenda aims to support "people's desire for human dignity and well-being" through "cooperation with our friends and allies, not only to meet the security threats we face, but also to boost trade, conquer infectious disease, and strengthen democracy," says Secretary of State Colin Powell. Addressing the Council of the Americas conference at the State Department on April 28, Powell emphasized that the president's agenda "is directly relevant to our hemisphere," as demonstrated by collaborative efforts between the United States...

Once again, Latin America is catching fire...   Dubious? Here's a partial selection of our stories... be certain to follow the "links within the links" and use the bump lists and "keyword" tabs to see all of the data.     http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/774054/posts US scents political shift in Latin AmericaFT.com ^ | Oct 22 2002 | Richard Lapper"I don't know what it is about Latin America, but they seem incapable of governing themselves. Everything goes to extremes..."     http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/762587/posts Democracy Has Failed, Say ArgentinesBBC News ^ | October 3, 2002 | Peter Greste Republic vs. Democracy: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/762587/posts?page=20#20     http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/774838/posts...

In its National Strategy for Combating Terrorism (Feb. 2003) the White House outlined a policy that calls for "direct and continuous actions against terrorist groups, the cumulative effect of which will initially disrupt, over time degrade, and ultimately destroy the terrorist organizations." The plan also recognizes that "the more frequently and relentlessly we strike the terrorists across all fronts, using all the tools of statecraft, the more effective we will be." If this is to be the measure of an effective counter-terror policy, then the Bush Administration must begin to apply its tenets more aggressively against the increasing number of...

USAID's Western Hemisphere ActivitiesAdolfo A. Franco,Assistant Administrator,Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean Testimony before the Senate Committee on Foreign RelationsWednesday, April 2, 2003Dirksen Office Building, Room SD-419 Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, it is a pleasure to appear before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to discuss with you how USAID's Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is promoting the President's vision for the Western Hemisphere. The chairman refers in his letter of invitation to this hearing to the most pressing issues facing Latin America: democracy, good governance, anti-corruption, counternarcotics, and efforts to increase support...

VISTA HERMOSA, Colombia -- Sensing a guerrilla ambush, the soldiers stealthily crept toward an abandoned sport utility vehicle parked on the outskirts of this southern Colombian town. Inside the SUV, they found the body of a 14-year-old boy. His throat had been slit, his body wrapped in explosives. "Those SOBs," says Maj. Oscar Fugueredo as he recounts the grisly discovery and shows photos of the teenager who had been slain by Marxist guerrillas. "They made a child bomb!" The killing was among 133 homicides that have been committed in Vista Hermosa and nearby towns since February, when Colombian troops reclaimed...

Bolivian leader to seek close trade ties with U.S. U.S. officials in charge of Latin American affairs are breathing easier: Despite the big scare of Bolivia's June 30 elections, in which a radical leftist coca growers' leader nearly won the presidency and triggered fears that he would turn that country into a narco-socialist state, it now appears that Bolivia will remain a close ally of the United States.Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, who won the election by two percentage points and has reached a power-sharing agreement that virtually assures his victory in a runoff vote in Congress this weekend, told me...

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Colombia's next president says he's won the support of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Colombia's fight against a thriving drug trade that has funded years of civil war. After a closed-door meeting Monday, President-elect Alvaro Uribe said Chavez pledged to work with him to achieve "the necessary defeat of drug trafficking." "We will continue talking about Colombia's delicate and violent problem which has such a great destabilizing potential for the entire continent," Uribe said at a news conference. Elected on promises to crack down on rebels and illegal paramilitaries in Colombia, Uribe said his top priority...

CARACAS, Venezuela - Colombia's civil war and bilateral trade were on the agenda for a closed-door meeting Monday between Colombian President-elect Alvaro Uribe and Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez. A news conference was planned after the afternoon meeting at the Miraflores presidential palace. Chavez had said before the meeting that trade, Colombia's war and other issues were up for discussion. Uribe arrived from Brazil on Monday afternoon and was to fly on to Bogota, Colombia, Monday evening. Uribe, who is to take office Aug. 7, is seeking support for his plans to intensify Colombia's war against two leftist guerrilla groups and...

<p>'And I won't waste your time citing the political problems we face. Just in recent days, Bolivia's leftist radical coca growers' leader, Evo Morales, emerged as a leading political figure in that country; violent anti-privatization riots toppled the top pro-free-market figures in the Peruvian Cabinet, and leftist candidate Luis Inazio ''Lula'' da Silva continued with his wide lead in the polls for Brazil's Oct. 6 elections. I understand the Bureau of Political Affairs has already briefed you about these developments.</p>

GIGANTE, Colombia -- The gears of government have ground to a halt in this and other Colombian towns, where leftist guerrillas have threatened to kill public servants ranging from mayors to janitors unless they stop working. One of more than 30 mayors forced by the rebels to resign, Gigante's chief executive has fled to the provincial capital of Neiva, where he moves about with a bodyguard armed with an Uzi submachine gun. Municipal workers report to Gigante's City Hall each working day at 7:30 a.m., as usual, in hopes of eventually collecting paychecks. But because of the guerrilla order to...

Despite the latest polls showing that Brazil's leftist candidate Luiz Inacio ''Lula'' da Silva is widening his lead for the October presidential elections, the majority view in U.S. business and diplomatic circles is that he will not win and that predictions of a dramatic shift to the left in Latin America's biggest country are premature. Is it wishful thinking on the part of Wall Street economists who fear a massive economic downturn for Brazil if da Silva's Workers Party wins the election? Or is da Silva, who has already failed in three previous runs for the presidency, incapable of surpassing...

WASHINGTON - Otto Reich, the top Bush administration official for Latin America affairs, on Monday sharply rejected suggestions that Washington should apologize for its handling of the Venezuelan crisis, despite continuing criticism from a variety of sources. ''Apologies for what?'' asked Reich, the assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere. ``If it's shown we made a mistake, I'll apologize.'' Reich, a former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela who now ranks as the senior U.S. diplomat to the Americas, said the Bush administration's categorical April 12 statement that President Hugo Chávez had resigned Venezuela's presidency ``reflected the best information that we...

So long as the likes of Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, and Yassir Arafat survive, the re-emergence of Hugo Chavez was the last thing the U.S. needed. Ever since 9/11 President Bush has attracted incredible polling numbers, but none as one-sided as the results reported on Thursday by Andres Oppenheimer, the Miami Herald's excellent Americas columnist. Unfortunately, in this case they all worked against Bush. Clarin, Argentina's largest-circulation daily, asked readers about the Bush administration's role in the recent failed coup against Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez: 86% replied the U.S. had acted "in complicity with the coup; only 5% said...