On Sunday, September 11, 2005 9:17 AM [PDT], I wrote:
> "The Republican Senator insisted this point of view is
> even shared by academics “and people who think”."
>
> Mercosur (MercoPress Falklands-Malvinas, S. Atlantic news)
> http://www.leighm.net/vnnws.htm
>
> Saturday, 03 September
>
> Latinamerica growingly suspicious of US intentions
>
> http://www.mercopress.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=6373
>
Reuters:
Bush unpopular in South America, poll shows
Mon Sep 12, 2005 06:52 PM ET
http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=9631600&src=eDialog/GetContent
SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - A majority of South Americans in four of the region's capitals have a negative opinion of U.S. President George W. Bush, according to an opinion survey released on Monday.
Fifty-three percent of South Americans described their perception of the U.S. leader as "bad" or "very bad," according to a poll conducted by the Santiago-based think-tank Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales.
Many of the 2,362 people polled disagree with the Bush administration's "war on terror" and feel the U.S. government is out of touch with the region's woes like corruption, poverty and drug trafficking, said David Alvarez, a political scientist who organized the survey.
"Latin Americans feel that (terror) issues are not the biggest problems facing our region," Alvarez said. "There is a big difference in the terrorist vision and the social problems many feel are plaguing Latin America."
Bush, who speaks some Spanish, promised to put Latin America at the top of his agenda when he was first elected. But the war on terror after the September 11, 2001 attacks put America's so-called "backyard" on the White House's backburner.
The survey - conducted in the capital cities of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay - showed that Buenos Aires ranked as the city where Bush is most unpopular, with six out of ten Argentines saying they disapproved of him.
Residents in the Chilean capital of Santiago had the most favorable opinion of Bush, the poll showed -- 19 percent approved of Bush and 40 percent rejected him.
Chile is considered the region's model economy and has had a free trade agreement with the United States since early last year.
Argentina, on the other hand, suffered its worst economic crisis on record in 2001-2002 and many Argentines feel the United States pulled the plug on a badly-needed financial aid package from the International Monetary Fund in their worst moments.
The poll had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.