March 06, 2007	Tuesday	Safar 16, 1428

WASHINGTON: Second-term presidents often find comfort in foreign policy and overseas travel as they lose clout at home. A statesman-abroad strategy, however, will not work particularly well for President George W. Bush on a six-day Latin American trip designed to signal a revitalised US commitment to the region.

Bush is unpopular throughout the globe, even in this country’s backyard, and will find it hard to escape the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan no matter where he goes.

Bush’s trip — to generally friendly nations — is intended to show renewed interest in a part of the world that has felt neglected since the attacks of Sept 11, 2001. He will promote closer trade ties, more anti-drug trafficking cooperation and an increased emphasis on bio fuels and other alternate energy sources.

Bush’s tour, which begins on Thursday, will take him to Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns calls 2007 “a year of engagement” with Latin America. But Bush goes with a weak hand.

The Democratic takeover of Congress and rising protectionist sentiment threaten the free-trade agreements Bush wants. His power, granted by Congress, to negotiate such deals in an expedited way expires on July 1. Renewal is dubious.

Bush’s hosts are mindful of a president hobbled at home by low approval by ratings and an opposition-led Congress, and with little say in his own party’s choice of a 2008 presidential candidate to succeed him.

Increasingly, Bush is drawing taunts from leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Chavez, who aligns himself with Cuba’s Fidel Castro, says Bush’s trip is an attempt to stir up trouble between Venezuela and its neighbours.

Chavez calls Bush “the little gentleman from the North, the king of invaders, the king of liars.”

Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard professor and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, said Latin America “desperately needs attention from the United States. We’ve just ignored it too much for too long. And especially now, where there is this big shift to the left going on,” he said.

“The influence of Chavez in Latin America is cancerous. It’s a very dangerous moment. And long-term US interests could be deeply threatened,” Rogoff said.

As US presidents serve deep into their terms, they have found it harder to earn domestic victories in Congress and often throw themselves into foreign policy. This is especially true for presidents in their second terms, as Bush is now.

Former President Bill Clinton, for example, spent his last days in office trying to deliver a peace deal in the Middle East after surviving an impeachment battle.

Then-President Richard Nixon travelled to Moscow in the 1970s to sign major arms-control agreements months before the Watergate scandal forced his resignation.

And former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, after Democrats swept the 1958 congressional elections, found the only leverage he had at home was to veto bills. He preferred touring the world instead.

But Eisenhower was greeted as a hero and Clinton drew huge crowds and affection overseas. Bush, by comparison, is widely disliked.

“The president is going to a part of the world that hasn’t been terribly controversial and where he hopes to leave some positive legacy,” said Geoff Thale of the Washington Office on Latin America. The non-profit organisation promotes civil rights and democracy.

“I think it’s great that he’s going. But the question is, other than on the rhetorical level, is he going to accomplish anything?”

Thomas Shannon, who heads the State Department’s Latin America bureau, denies that the administration has failed to pay enough attention to Latin America.

“I’ve looked at charts back to 1982, and this administration is spending more money than any administration has spent over several decades” in the region, he said. Still, there is no doubt that Bush’s own expectations are lower.

During his 2000 campaign, he said Latin America would be a “fundamental commitment of my presidency.”

Soon after taking office, he stood with other leaders at a “Summit of the Americas” in Quebec City, Canada, and advocated a free-trade zone ranging from Alaska to Chile’s Cape Horn.

Bush is expected to focus on free trade and efforts to combat drug trafficking in Colombia, the largest recipient of US aid besides the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Throughout the trip, and especially in Brazil, Bush will promote bio fuels and energy self-reliance. In Mexico, Bush will meet with the new president, conservative Felipe Calderon. Issues include drugs, migration and unresolved trade disputes over trucking rights and agricultural products.—AP