Washington focuses on southern "axis of evil" (Venezuela and Cuba) [View All]

[Cocoa]

there's definitely something big brewing with the RW and Latin America...

http://www.ipsnews.net/new_nota.asp?idnews=28011

WASHINGTON, Mar 24 (IPS) - While U.S. President George W. Bush played nice to a deeply frustrated Mexican President Vicente Fox at the North American Summit in Texas Wednesday, U.S. media attention was focused more on Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld's efforts to sound the alarm against Latin American troublemakers in his swing through the region this week.

Topping his list was populist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, followed by a nemesis from bygone days, former Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who was accused by an unnamed ”senior official” in Rumsfeld's delegation of hoarding several hundred Russian-made surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) that Washington wants to see destroyed.

Indeed, at the start of Rumsfeld's trip, Washington announced the suspension of all U.S. military assistance to Nicaragua -- about 2.3 million dollars' worth -- pending the destruction of the missiles that Washington contend might be obtained by terrorists.

At the same time, the right-wing National Review published a cover story by Bush's top Latin America aide during his first term, Otto Reich, on ”Latin America's Terrible Two”, referring to Chavez and Cuban President Fidel Castro. The magazine's cover, with a photo of the two men in close conversation, featured a banner reading ”The Axis of Evil ...Western Hemisphere Version.”

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