As you probably know, Bush is in Argentina for the fourth Summit of the Americas. Bush arrived around 8pm last night and now the morning papers in Argentina are hitting the streets (and the internet). As such, I've translated a few articles below.
As always, the translations are mine, therefore all errors are mine.
The first article comes from Clarin. The bold is in the original and was not added by me. Nestor Kirchner is the President of Argentina.
Bush Congratulates Kirchner for his Stance on the IMF and Requests Judicial Security
They spoke this morning for about an hour. The president of the United States remarked on the necessity of "having coherence in legislation, that treaties are ratified and having the certainty that they will not change the rules". Kirchner stated he was left "satisfied" and that the meeting was "very clear, straightforward and harsh".
The most awaited official encounter of the Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata happened before the official opening. President Nester Kichner and his American counterpart, George Bush, met in the Hermitage Hotel for about 45 minutes. The government seemed to have gotten a statement [from Bush] that it wanted the most: praise from Washington for its stance on the IMF. That being said, there were also calls to reinforce judicial security and attract investments.
"The United States have helped you since the beginning and now I believe that you can take your case to the IMF with a strong hand", said the American president during this brief press conference after the meeting.
Everything began this morning a couple of minutes after 10 o'clock. The two presidents posed for photographs for a few minutes before entering into the room where they spoke. They shook hands a few times in front of the cameras and displayed smiles.
In the close to 50 minute long meeting, the two presidents were accompanied by a large number of aides. Kirchner was accompanied by his wife, Senator Cristina Fernandez, the head of the Cabinet, Alberto Fernandez, Chancellor [Foreign Minister] Rafael Bielsa and the Ministers Roberto Lavagna, Julio De Vido and others. Bush was accompanied by the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, his National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and the Undersecretary of State for Hemispheric Affairs, Thomas Shannon.
Later, during the public statements, President Kirchner only gave Bush a brief introduction, saying that their chat went off "with sincerity and clarity".
No questions were permitted. Bush took the microphone, thanked Kirchner for his "hospitality" and said, "I was very impressed with his straightforwardness".
Besides the sweet words about the IMF, the American president also made some other statements. "There has to be certainty that the rules do not changes for investments, saying 'it's in a good place'", he said.
He added, "The fact that the country is receiving foreign investments demonstrations that they are making prudent decisions".
The phrase "judicial security" refers to something akin to warning against "activist judges".
Argentina's dealings with the IMF are a little more complicated. Argentina suspended its negotiations with the IMF in 2004 to pay off debt to private creditors and but is now beginning new talks for new loans. The country's economy collapsed in 2002 for a variety of complex reasons but the economy is now doing fairly well.
There is a "Counter Summit" scheduled for today nearby the official summit. For a paragraph on that, let's go to Diario De La Prensa:
The Third People's Summit will end today with a large-scale march to the stadium to protest the presence of the President of the United States, George W. Bush, and there they will read statements by the social and political organizations taking part in the summit.
The march left at 7am from the corner of Luro and Independencia with an enormous poster that said, "No to Bush, No to FTAA". Behind the poster were pictures of the leaders taking part in the 4th Summit of the Americas, which is being held in this city. In the stadium, they read the statements from a week of deliberations at the People's Summit and they will await the speech by the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, who arrived directly at the sports stadium.
The march will also be duplicated in other locations in Argentina and throughout the continent, in defense "of popular sovereignty and the integration of the people" and to protest "paying foreign debt". The marches will be led by social, religious, union, peasant and indigenous leaders. Yesterday it was announced that the meeting at the Mar de Plata stadium will end with Nobel Peace Price Winner Adolfo Perez Esquival, the head of the Mothers of May Square, Nora Cortinas, the leaders of the CTA, Juan Gonzales and Claudio Lozano, a representative of Fuerza Bolivariana, Jacobo Torres, and Beverly Keen of Dialogue 2000.
"The march will be continent-wide. They will take place in all the countries of America, from Canada to Tierra de Fuego," said Perez Esquival. Juan Gonzales, one of the principle organizers of the People's Summit, spoke about the motivation for the march and stated that Bush "represents all the policies were are protesting". The organizers are also expecting that the militants of the so-called "Alba Train" will also arrive in Mar del Plata, along with former soccer star Diego Armando Maradona, the Bolivian leader Evo Morales, Representative Miguel Bonasso and the legislator Luis D'Elia.
From Los Andes:
Bush Admits It's Difficult to Host Him
In Mar del Plata on Friday, amidst protests at his participation in the 4th Summit of the Americas, the American President George W. Bush admitted that it is "difficult" to receive him as a visitor.
"I want to thank you for being a good host, it is not easy to receive all these countries and even more so it is not easy to receive me," said Bush at the end of his meeting with Kirchner, hours before the official inauguration of the summit in this city 400km south of Buenos Aires.
A few kilometers from the hotel where Bush and Kirchner met, separated from the summit by three layers of security, thousands of people protested in the streets against the presence of the American president and against FTAA.
According to Bush, Kirchner stated that during their meeting that "the involvement of the United States in the region could be constructive and positive". "And I agree with this," he added.
The American President stated that the meeting with Kirchner was marked by "sincerity", which, in diplomatic language, could mean that there were sharp differences expressed.
Here's a weird story from La Nacion, referring to a basketball player who plays on the NBA team San Antonio Spurs. I should add that, of course, he is from Argentina and super famous there:
Bush: "Do you know who Ginobili is?"
MAR Del PLATA - At this hour, Ginobili is very far away from our country, most probably sleeping in some hotel in the United States, getting ready for his game tonight. And if anyone told him that the American President, George Bush, during the press conference at the Summit of the Americas, praised him warmly, most likely Manu would've smiled timidly and downplayed it.
And if Ginobili tried to play it down, it wouldn't surprise any of us. As a political move that began the Summit of the Americas, Bush focused on Ginobili as an Argentinian example of the type of man who can succeed Maradona on the pedestal of Argentinian "representatives" abroad.
"Ginobili has made an enormous contribution to the basketball team in my state and an enormous contribution to Argentina. He is a great ambassador," said the American president. Then he looked at the room full of press and asked, as though he were seeking consensus, "Do you know who Manu Ginobili is?"
As for the Argentinian community in the United States, Bush said: "We have lots of people like Ginobili". The president mentioned the man from Bahia [Ginobili] when he was speaking after his meeting with President Nestor Kirchner at the Hermitage Hotel as a reference point of common interests between the two countries.
But I'm sure you want to hear more about the protests. So far thank goodness they've been peaceful. It looks like Chavez has already spoken, at least to the press. From Prensa Latina:
Chavez Calls for Latin American Unity
Mar del Plata, Argentina. The President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, stated today in this city that the only if the countries of Latin America were united will they achieve true independence.
"Only a people united will save these lands," said Chavez during a brief statement to the press after his arrival at this city on the Atlantic coastal city in Argentina to attend the 4th Summit of the Americas, along with 34 leaders from the hemisphere.
The leader of the Bolivian revolution also confirmed that he will be at the stadium in Mar del Plata, where they will end the 3rd People's Summit, headed up by social organizations on the continent.
The streets of Mar Del Plata were filled since dawn with more than 5,000 participants in the summit, who ended their meetings with a strong condemnation of the hegemonic policies of the United States.
The march to protest the presence in Argentina of the American president, George W. Bush, and against the FTAA trade agreement will end in the stadium to say no to Bush.
Also present will be the soccer star Diego Armando Maradona, who came from Buenos Aires in the so-called "Alba Express" together will hundreds of Argentinian celebrities and foreigners.
The indigenous leader and Bolivian presidential candidate, Evo Morales, the Bosnian film maker Emir Kusturica, writer and representative Miguel Bonasso and the singer Victor Heredia also came on the same train.
This convoy, who name means "Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas and the Caribbean" [ALBA in Spanish], was created by Chavez as an alternative to FTAA, arrived at Mar Del Plata in the early hours of Friday.
I should mention that Prensa Latina is a Cuban-based media source and therefore is heavily slanted in favor of Chavez and the counter-protest. But I wanted to provide a balance.
Don't be confused by the "Bolivarian" in ALBA, it's referring to Chavez' style of socialism which is called "Bolivarian" after Simon Bolivar and is not directly related to the nation of Bolivia, although that country is also named after Bolivar. It's Chavez' version of FTAA, a sort of free-trade agreement of a different sort than FTAA is.
For information on what the FTAA is, click on the link (Wikipedia). For an understanding of the anti-FTAA viewpoint (in English), I recommend this website.
As far as I can tell at this hour, there are some 10,000 protesters in the streets of Mar del Plata already.
This is crosposted from Flogging the Simian, where you are humbly invited to visit
Paz