[Marxism] "leftists in power"

[Walter Lippmann]

("[Rumsfeld's] visit comes amid rampant anti-American sentiment in some 
parts of Latin America. This is highlighted not only by the resiliency of
Fidel Castro's Cuba but also the forceful opposition and militant
rhetoric from Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez and leftists in power
in Chile and Brazil.")
=================================================

October 1, 2006
Pentagon Supports Resumed Military Aid to Latam
By REUTERS

Filed at 6:48 p.m. ET

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-security-latam.html

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (Reuters) - Some U.S. military aid withheld from
Latin American nations that did not agree to exempt American military
personnel from the International Criminal Court will start flowing
again when President George W. Bush signs waivers, a senior defense
official said on Sunday.

Those waivers now on Bush's desk are seen as critical to Pentagon
officials, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who arrived
in Nicaragua on Sunday to meet with regional defense ministers.

``There's going to be probably no nation on earth that's going to
agree with us all the time,'' Rumsfeld said.

``That being the case, it ... would be in the future unfortunate if
our immediate reaction to some disagreement or difference as to a
policy issue were to have the automatic effect of severing
military-to-military relationships,'' he told reporters on the flight
from Washington.

Bush is expected to sign the waivers any day now for nine countries
in the region, including Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, but not
Venezuela, according to a senior defense official speaking en route
to Nicaragua.

The Defense Department said earlier this year military training
programs should not be tied to agreements with nations that would
exempt U.S. service members from the jurisdiction of the
International Criminal Court, which the United States has opposed.

``The mandatory aspect of the law hurt us particularly in Latin
Am4rica,'' the senior U.S. defense official said.

Rumsfeld said military training is important to states with histories
of civil-military conflicts and to increase understanding among
military officers and high officials.

GROUP MEETING

The move to release military aid comes as Rumsfeld is set to meet
with leaders of Central and South American countries to discuss
enhanced security cooperation. He will meet them as a group and hold
individual sessions with some.

His visit comes amid rampant anti-American sentiment in some parts of
Latin America. This is highlighted not only by the resiliency of
Fidel Castro's Cuba but also the forceful opposition and militant
rhetoric from Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez and leftists in power
in Chile and Brazil.

Some of that is blamed on the failure of U.S.-backed economic
policies to produce a substantial decrease in poverty in the region.
Nicaragua, for example, implemented market reforms in the 1990s that
controlled inflation, but the country remains one of the Western
Hemisphere's poorest nations with 70 percent of its population in
poverty.

Latin America also faded in importance after the September 11 attacks
when Washington turned its focus squarely on Afghanistan, Iraq and
the war on terrorism.

Rumsfeld, who has long had an interest in the region, would not
comment on the recent left-leaning sentiments of Latin America's
voters, saying he does not ``do politics.''

He is not scheduled to meet with Venezuela's defense minister
individually would see him at the group meetings.

A senior defense official traveling with Rumsfeld said the Defense
Ministerial of the Americas meeting should not turn out to be a
competition between Venezuela and the United States.

The official hoped a call by Venezuela to form an-anti U.S. military
coalition would not ``gain traction,'' but said the United States
would not be pushing the issue.

``Countries are free to make their own decisions. We're not here
lobbying against anything,'' the official said.

Separately, Rumsfeld, widely criticized for his management of the
Iraq war, said he would not resign. Responding to questions about a
recent book that said some White House officials discussed his
possible resignation, Rumsfeld said he had not read it and that Bush
had called to personally affirm his support for the defense
secretary.