Washington – President Bush, battling anti-America sentiment in Central and South America, said Wednesday the United States doesn’t get much credit for its generosity in the region.
Bush made the comment a day before a week-long trip to Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico to emphasize U.S. programs of health care, housing aid and job creation for the poor.
“The American taxpayer has been very generous about providing aid in our neighborhood, and most of that aid is social justice money – in other words, it’s money for education and health,” Bush said in an interview with CNN en Español. Since he took office, U.S. aid to Latin America has gone from $800 million to $1.6 billion, the president said.
“And yet we don’t get much credit for it,” he said.
Bush’s trip is widely seen as an effort to counter the growing influence of leftist President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who has used the resources of his oil-rich country to try to win allies in a coalition against Washington. Chavez, who has called Bush the devil, has urged protests during Bush’s visit to the region.
Asked if his trip was intended to counter Chavez’s influence, the president said, “The trip is to remind people that we care.”
U.S. policy in Latin America has been built around free-trade agreements, anti-narcotic programs and the war against terrorism.
Bush defended free trade against criticism that it is one-sided and favors the United States: “I truly believe that one of the most effective ways to eliminate poverty is through free and fair trade.”
In a separate interview with Latin American journalists, Bush said communist rule of Cuba should end when Fidel Castro dies.
“How long he stays on Earth, that’s a decision that will be made by the almighty,” Bush said in the interview Tuesday. The White House released a transcript Wednesday.
“I don’t know how long he’s going to live. But nevertheless, I do believe that the system of government that he’s imposed upon the people ought not live if that’s what the people decide.”
