Tensions in Latin America Over a Wall, a U.N. Seat and a Chunk of LandThe uneasy relationship between the United States and the rest of the hemisphere reverberates in three stories generating headlines and fueling commentary throughout Latin America -- the final approval of a U.S.-Mexico wall, Hugo Chavez's ongoing fight for a seat at the United Nations, and rumors that have spun out of a visit by Jenna Bush to Paraguay. 'The Wall of Lies' With President Bush's signing of legislation authorizing the construction of a 700-mile border barrier, the widespread Latin American opposition to "el muro" has returned in force. Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa, politically conservative and often pro-American, is among the most caustic critics. Writing in Peru's El Comercio (and reprinted in El Pais of Spain and La Opinion in Los Angeles), Vargas Llosa flatly predict that "the wall of lies" will never be completed. "The seven billion dollars that the wall of the lies will cost would serve much more effectively, with respect to illegal immigration, if instead of being squandered on a cement fiction that will soon have more holes than a gruyere cheese, was spent on factories or credits to create jobs on the other side of the border...But all this belongs to the dominion of the strict reality and it is well known that human beings -- even gringos, who pride themselves on being so pragmatic -- often prefer the magic of the fiction to the crude life as he is," he wrote. Google's translation is crude, but gives the flavor of Vargas Llosa's polemic. Ruben Duenas, columnist for Hoy Tamaulipas, a Spanish-language news site in the Mexican state adjacent to the tip of Texas, says the wall will change "the flavor of the relationships and friendship" between the two countries and their peoples. With Chavez Under Fire, U.N. Fight Goes On Further south, the geopolitical struggle over Latin America's seat on the United Nation's Security Council continues to foster an ideological debate in the media. With Venezuela lagging far behind Guatemala after 35 rounds of secret balloting, leftist President Hugo Chavez's hopes of winning a platform for his crusade against U.S. foreign policy seems thwarted. But Guatemala's campaign, strongly backed by Washington, has come up just short of winning the necessary support from two-thirds of U.N. members. Venezuela is now offering to withdraw, proposing Bolivia as a "consensus candidate." But Guatemala will not step aside for a candidate opposed by any other country, wrote Foreign Minister Gert Rosenthal in the International Herald Tribune. Since the United States is sure to reject Bolivia, a staunch Chavez ally, the impasse continues. Chavez said on Sunday that "we have taught the empire a lesson thanks to the support of a group of countries that has not allowed calls by Washington to influence them," according to Radio Nacional de Venezuela (in Spanish). The support for Venezuela "is a clear sign of the determination with which a significant section of the world's governments and the world's population wants to put brakes on US dominance in the world and in the UN," said Venezuela Analysis, a pro-Chavez site. But memories of Chavez's speech at the United Nations last month in which he called Bush "a devil" have not faded. Brazil's O Estado de Sao Paulo called the speech "a demonstration of contempt for the UN," according to a translation done by Opensource.gov. "Latin America's representative on the Security Council should be a promoter of cohesion and a defender of the interests and the common positions of the region. In other words, it cannot be Chavez's Venezuela," said the Portuguese-language daily. Colombia's El Tiempo said Chavez' words might excite "innocent leftists" but "in diplomacy between serious countries they only cause consternation." In Guatemala's business daily, Siglo XXI, opinion editor Edgar Rosales said Chavez has suffered a "blow to his ego." "The use of oil and the buffoonery of dancing with Noam Chomsky is not enough to capitalize on resentment generated by the Empire," he wrote last week. But Rosales added that Guatemala should withdraw its candidacy. "Rightly or wrongly, the country is seen as the stooge of the United States, a high price that was paid in each round of voting," he said On Wednesday afternoon, Reuters reported that talks between Venezuela and Guatemala to settle on a third candidate had broken down. The mediator, Argentina's U.N. Ambassador Cesar Mayoral, said, "There's no deal." Rumor of Bush 'Land Grab' in Paraguay Denied A White House spokeswoman on Wednesday denied rumors that President Bush is planning to buy 98,000 acres of land in northern Paraguay. The denial came after a spate of news stories in the Latin American online media suggesting the first family intended to buy land in a remote region in northern Paraguay. The governor of the region told Neike (in Spanish), an independent news site, that he had heard the story but could not confirm it. A visit to the region by Jenna Bush prompted more speculation. Jenna Bush, now an intern for UNICEF, was traveling with other volunteers doing humanitarian work, according to The Post's Reliable Source column. "Bush Paraguay Land Grab Incites Unease," reported the Cuban news service Prensa Libre, prompting a leftist cabinet minister in neighboring Argentina to tell the Infobae (in Spanish) news site that it was "a bad sign" for the region that Bush was settling down on an important aquifer located near a U.S. military base. In a telephone interview, White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said the story that Bush was planning to purchase land in Paraguay "is not true." By Jefferson Morley | October 26, 2006; 12:18 PM ET Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM
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