Argentine Protests Not Just About Bush, Polls, Rove

COMMENTARY
By linking dubiously calculated Bush performance poll statistics with civil unrest abroad, some mainstream media news outlets are simply trying to perform a 'smoke and mirrors' trick with the facts.

The Bush poll numbers are taken from very small samples relative to the entire US population. In one pole, out of the 1000 or so respondents, almost two-thirds were registered Democrats.

The protests in Argentina, a country which has an unemployment rate of 20 percent, are an expression of that region's impoverished folks who see a lack of self-determination looming in the Free Trade of the Americas (FTAA) summit ... and the result of leftist meddling by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who opposes the FTAA. In a flair of theatrics custom-made to coincide with the summit, outspoken Bush critic Chavez, who frequently accuses the Bush Administration of plotting his assassination, ordered the Venezuelan armed forces to stage a mock US invasion of his own country.

On the opening day of the 34-nation Summit of the Americas in Argentina, 30,000 demonstrators, led by Chavez, took to the streets to protest against the presence of Bush and his proposal to create a Latin American free-trade zone that would stretch from Alaska to the tip of Chile.

Bush, having just experienced a pretty bad week, with Iraq, the CIA leak, and the Harriet Miers Supreme Court nomination withdrawal issues in tow, and with the press pounding the two new polls showing his popularity at a record low, was greeted on the first day of the summit by the political equivalent of of a sucker-punch.

At the coastal resort of Mar del Plata, Bush had to contend with mass street protests against the proposed FTAA plan and questions from the US press corps about the CIA-leak scandal.

The protest in Argentina is about the threat that 29 of the 34 countries in favor of the FTAA may move forward without the rest and put pressure on Argentina and Brazil to back the proposal while threatening to sideline Chavez.

NEWSBYTES
Thousands protest Bush in Argentina
MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina (Reuters) - Anti-U.S. demonstrations at the Americas Summit turned violent on Friday as protesters set fire to a bank, looted stores and battled riot police blocks from a luxury hotel where U.S. President George W. Bush met with regional leaders.

Americas Argue Trade; Protests Wreak Havoc
MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina (AP) - President Bush and Latin American leaders entered a final day of talks Saturday to debate the future of a hemisphere-wide free trade bloc, meeting behind an array of street barricades and armed security forces at a summit tarnished by violent street protests.

Hemisphere Summit Marred by Violent Anti-Bush Protests
(NYT) As protesters turned violent blocks from the Argentina summit, the Venezuelan chief led a peaceful rally against the U.S.

Violent Protests Tarnish Summit
(CBS News) The two-day Americas Summit in Argentina wraps up today with President Bush and Latin American leaders debating a hemisphere-wide trading bloc. But outside the meetings security remains tight following violent street protests.

Anti-American Protest Turns Violent, Spreads
(FOX News)MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina More than 1,000 demonstrators angry about President Bush's policies clashed with police, shattered storefronts and torched businesses Friday, marring the inauguration of the Summit of the Americas as leaders began debating creation of one of the world's largest free trade zones.

Political Tension: Leaning more left every day
Gravity: It flushes clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere

Topics: current events, politics, Bush, Rove, News, Republican, White House, Journalism, Media, online, FTAA, Argentina, Hugo Chavez