Thousands protest Bush's trip to Brazil

Brazilian police take cover behind their shields while clashing with protesters demonstrating against the visit by U.S. President George W. Bush, scheduled to arrive later in the day for the first leg of a tour of five Latin American countries, along Sao Paulo's Paulista Avenue, March 8, 2007. (Caetano Barreira/Reuters)

This is off CNN.com:

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- Police clashed Thursday with students, environmentalists and left-leaning Brazilians protesting a visit by President Bush and his push for an ethanol energy alliance with Latin America's largest nation.

Riot police fired tear gas at protesters in Sao Paulo after more than 6,000 people held a largely peaceful march, sending hundreds of demonstrators fleeing and ducking into businesses to avoid the gas.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, but some protesters said they had been beaten by officers after marching two miles through the financial heart of South America's largest city just hours before Bush was scheduled to arrive.

Clashes between police and anti-Bush protesters were also reported in Colombia, where Bush is scheduled to visit on Sunday as part of his five-nation tour to Latin America.

Bush has spoken approvingly of Brazil's ethanol program, which powers eight out of every 10 new Brazilian cars. The proposed accord is meant to help turn ethanol into an internationally traded commodity and to promote sugarcane-based ethanol production in Central America and the Caribbean.

In Sao Paulo, some carried stalks of sugarcane -- used to make ethanol -- and a banner reading: "For every liter of ethanol produced, 4 liters of fresh water are consumed, monoculture is destroying the nation's greatest asset."

And in the southern city of Porto Alegre, more than 500 people yelled "Get out, imperialist!" as they marched to a Citigroup Inc. bank branch and burned an effigy of Bush.

[....]

Graffiti reading "Get Out, Bush! Assassin!" appeared on walls near the locations Bush will drive past as he begins a Latin American tour that also includes stops in Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico.

At National University in Bogota, Colombia, 200 masked students clashed with 300 anti-riot police and shouted "Out Bush!" Police fired tear gas, and the students hurled back rocks and small homemade explosives called "potato bombs" -- aluminum foil wrapped around gunpowder. There were no immediate reports of injuries or arrests.

And in Mexico City, which Bush is scheduled to visit Tuesday, about two dozen demonstrators gathered in front of the U.S. Embassy chanting slogans against the U.S. project to construct border fences and Bush's visit.

"Why is he coming here? It makes no sense, it's unreasonable, after all he's done," said protest leader Roman Diaz Vazquez, a lawyer. "We don't like him. Why is he coming, after he ordered the construction of the border wall?"

Carmelo Ramirez Reyes showed up for the protest in a devil's mask, carrying a placard reading "My name is George Bush, killer of Mexicans."

MSNBC News has more on Bush's Latin America trip:

WASHINGTON - President Bush sought to reverse an impression of U.S. neglect as he opened a weeklong tour of Latin America on Thursday. Street protests awaited him.

President Bush's trip through Latin America. From AP Graphics.

Bush's trip was intended to promote democracy, increased trade and cooperation on alternative fuels. The president and his advisers also hoped his visit would offset the growing influence of leftist leaders, such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.

As he flew here on Air Force One, Bush's national security adviser brushed aside Chavez's provocations. "The president is going to do what he's been doing for a long time: talk about a positive agenda," said Stephen Hadley.

Bush played down the protests in interviews ahead of his trip with Latin American news organizations.

"I am proud to be going to a part of the world where people can demonstrate, where people can express their minds," he said in an interview with Univision. And he told CNN En Espanol: "The trip is to remind people that we care."

In other words, this is a political trip that was designed to hopefully bolster Bush's presidential legacy. For six years, the Bush administration had practically ignored the problems of Latin America, only now to "remind" Latin Americans that the administration really cares about their affairs. Think about the scandals and siege mentality this Bush White House has been under. The midterm elections were a disaster for President Bush and the Republicans, since the Democrats have taken control of Congress. New scandals have emerged with the horrendous conditions at Walter Reed, the political firings of eight U.S. attorneys, the Scooter Libby guilty verdict and the re-emergence of the White House involvement into the Valerie Plame scandal. And finally, we have the continued disaster in Iraq, with the congressional Democrats pushing stronger legislation for pulling the U.S. out of the war. President Bush's "legacy" is going straight into the toilet. This Latin American trip was designed to create some positive political news that the Bush White House and Republicans can spin.

But it appears that the positive news of President Bush's Latin American trip might just be overshadowed by a growing protest movement against the Bush White House. Keep your eyes on this one. For they are protesting against President Bush in Brazil even before Bush has arrived there. If we start seeing protest movements numbering 10-to-20 thousand or more, while Bush is visiting, then no amount of positive White House spin will be able to counter the even bigger story of the protest movement.