Venezuela, Argentina, poor Bush, and of course, AIDS in Africa

Yesterday, the Venezualan army staged a mock invasion of its northernmost shores. Troops stormed the beaches in an effort to simulate what an invasion might seem like. Who might invade Venezuala? Well, the USA, of course. That's right, Venezuela staged a mock invasion to prepare for an invasion via Venezuela's Carribean shore. Their logic was that if we invaded Iraq and Afghanistan for their oil, why wouldnt we target Venezuela.

I find this just as humerous as I do disturbing. The thought of Hugo Chavez feeling so concerned that we might invade his South American country that he felt a need to simulate the invasion to prepare for it, is well, kind of funny. I think our government is often up to no good, but I seriously doubt we have any intention to invade any country in South America.

What really bothers me about this is that all of Venezuela seems to think this is a possibility. Sure, its ridiculous, but are we that poorly respected in the international community that a South American country would really believe we might invade their shores for oil? Apparently so. Seems like the mark of a low point for Bush and the US.

To make matters worse, Chavez and other South American celebrities organized a protest of Bush in Argentina. As Bush attended the Summit of the Americas, he seemed to trydesperately, and pretty pathetically to improve his and the US's reputation among South American countries. Apparently, thousands protested Bush's appearance at the summit. Bush weakly tried to find common ground by mentioning Argentinian basketball player Manu Ginobili, who plays for the Spurs. Was this supposed to make Bush and Argentina buddies? It seems kind of desperate to me. Like playing the name game with someone who doesnt like you very much to make ammends. I can only imagine Bush's internal logic:

"Well, they like this basketball player guy, this Ginobili. And he plays basketball in Amurca. And in Texs! Well, I'm from Texs, so, I think I'll mention this guy, yeah, that should smooth things right over, he's an abassadur, yeah, a baskebaul ambassadur..."

At this point, I kind of feel sorry for Bush. I never really liked him much, but his second term is going so badly that I almost feel bad for making fun of him. In all seriousness, the reasons its going bad arent really funny.

Despite all this, I will say that I dont think Bush is all bad. He has done som good things as president. One of which happens to be funding the antiretrovirals that we dispense every day at our clinic here in Durban. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is making a good, positive impact in Africa, and for that, I commend our poor president who is the most unpopular he has been in the past 6 years. As long asI am defending myself, I should also state that I really dont like Hugo Chavez, at all. Anyone who shakes the hand of Rober Mugabe is not to be respected in my book, no matter how much they dislike Bush.

Finally, I just read this about Bush and Chavez at the summit:

"Bush and an outspoken critic, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, also were likely to meet Friday, shortly after Chavez's speech to a demonstration of mostly anti-Bush protesters. Chavez has joked about whether Bush is afraid of him and said he might sneak up and scare Bush at the summit."

Now that would be hilarious to see. I cant even imagine what would happen if one president tried to scare another at a summit.

So, thats my Friday evening ramble. We're still without a car, so I dont have much better to do. Venezuela, Argentina, Bush, and always, back to Africa. Cant seem to leave that one alone.