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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: energyplay who wrote (11779)	11/22/2006 10:59:11 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 219972

U.S. to turn on the charm in Latin America Bush launches offensive to court powerful Brazil and other key Latin American nations after a string of setbacks diminished the influence of Venezuela's populist President Hugo Chavez, a top official said Monday. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, the State Department's acting No. 2, said senior U.S. officials will soon visit places like Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Chile as the region winds up a busy electoral cycle that included more than a dozen presidential races in less than a year. "By necessity, 2006 was a year of observation, to see what the trends would be in Latin America," Burns told a gathering at the Council of the Americas, a U.S. group that promotes trade and free enterprise in the region. Early next year, however, the administration will "march out" to woo new governments whose election he characterized as an "affirmation" of U.S. priorities in the region. "We feel very comfortable working with a great majority of these governments," he added. The statements mark a shift in focus for the Bush administration, which has been warning that Chavez and his "radical populist" agenda and ambitious weapons purchases threatened the region's economic and political stability. Now the Bush administration is casting Chavez as a leader on the defensive after several of his favorites lost elections and he failed to obtain a seat on the U.N. Security Council. "He was certainly riding high and spreading his petrodollars around the country in the spring and summer and took on President Bush in the most objectionable way," Burns added, referring to a Chavez U.N. speech where he called Bush "the devil." But now, he added, "We see a Venezuela that is somewhat on the defensive." Candidates favored by Chavez won presidential elections in Bolivia and Nicaragua but lost in Peru and Mexico. Another of his favorites is running a close second in the race for the presidency of Ecuador, to be settled Sunday. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a moderate leftist, has come under criticism at home for not being tough on Chavez -- whom many Brazilians view as a competitor for influence in South America. High on the U.S. agenda is reaching out to Brazil, the region's largest country and economy. The two sides would seek to cooperate more on energy, as Brazil is widely seen as successfully developing a sugar-cane based ethanol program. Burns also described Brazil as a nation that could help curtail the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea. He said he spent five hours in September discussing relations between Washington and Brazil with his counterpart at the Brazilian foreign ministry, Antonio Patriota. The administration also expects "very close" relations with Mexico's newly elected president, Felipe Calderon, who assumes power Dec. 1, he added.