Shadowed by Chavez, Bush to hold talks in Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY: US President George W Bush was to meet with his Guatemalan counterpart Oscar Berger on Monday for talks on immigration and free trade as he continued a tour of Latin America marked by mass anti-US protests.

But his arch-nemesis, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, was again close by, in neighboring Nicaragua, blasting 'the North American empire' and its 'chief' for alleged attempts to stomp out revolutionary movements in Latin America.

Several key streets in the centre of the Guatemalan capital and a highway leading to an air force base where the US presidential plane landed at 0216 GMT Monday were closed to traffic as part of massive security measures introduced by the Guatemalan government.

Later in the day, Bush will visit a Mayan agricultural cooperative in the town of Chirijuyu, which specialises on growing vegetables for export to the United States, and meet with Berger.

The US president said on Saturday that the United States must help people like members of the Guatemalan cooperative build a better life for their families.

"By doing so, we will increase living standards for all our citizens, strengthen democracy in our hemisphere, and advance the cause of peace," he said in his weekly radio address.

Berger, officials said, was likely to ask Bush to impose a temporary moratorium on deportations of Guatemalans living in the United States illegally as the Bush administration and Congress try to work out a more lasting solution to the illegal immigration problem.

Meanwhile, several dozens demonstrators protested Bush's visit to Guatemala in front of the US Embassy here on Sunday.

And Chavez, determined to protect recent leftist gains in Latin America, showed up in Nicaragua, where he accused Washington of trying to destabilise governments trying to assert their independence from the United States.

"The North American empire is trying to snuff out the flame of liberty," declared the Venezuelan president upon his arrival in Managua. "It uses its reactionary politics of interference, invasions, assassinations and genocide and is trying to foment coups d'etat."

Chavez has shadowed Bush practically since the beginning of his trip. When Bush was in Uruguay on Friday, Chavez held a massive anti-American rally in neighboring Argentina.

When Bush flew to Colombia Sunday, the Venezuelan leader popped up in Bolivia, delivering a series of new anti-American tirades.

Now in Managua, Chavez insisted Washington will not be able to stem the revolutionary tide because 'the empire is weakening and nearing its twilight.'

In Colombia, Bush expressed his full support for the turmoil-torn country, which he called 'a strategic partner of the United States.'

But just 1.5 kilometers (one mile) from the presidential palace where Bush held talks with conservative Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, clashes left four police and two protesters injured, after 5,000 demonstrators marched in the capital to protest US policies.

Police said 120 demonstrators were arrested. The protests that also greeted Bush in Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia reflected widespread anti-US sentiment in the region, where several leftist leaders opposed to his policies have been elected or re-elected in recent years.

The US president strongly defended a $700 million a year aid programme for Colombia destined to support efforts to combat drug trafficking and a decades-old insurgency.

He also stressed he would press for congressional approval of a bilateral free trade agreement.

Bush admitted during his trip there were perceptions the United States had turned its back on Latin America, but insisted that was not the case, and stressed his tour meant to demonstrate US goodwill toward the region.

From Guatemala, Bush will travel to Mexico, the last leg of his five-nation tour.