Sounds awful. One thing about Holywood libs, and middle-class to well-to-do libs in general, that I’ve noticed, is that they seem to perceive certain demographic groups (”the poor,” black people, etc.) as sort of “scenery.” They probably see the slums as slightly romantic and certainly “authentic,” and fail to have any sense of true empathy for the inhabitants as struggling human beings. Makes it easy for them to live in their bubble. So I can see how a limo ride through the slums may not have made the same impression as a walk or a cab ride did for you.
Gee, the Guardian, a Trotskyite rag worries that we are not liked in Latin America. About the only place we are liked in this world is Eastern Europe, a region the Guardian would like to see revert to Russian control.