Bush and Lula sign agreement on biofuels

President George W. Bush just finished a week long trip to Latin America, the longest visit to the region of his presidency which included stops in Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala, Brazil and Mexico. A key point of the President’s new strategic approach with Latin America is the relationship with Brazil. In his State of the Union address delivered on January 31, 2006 President Bush said: "America is addicted to oil", and has to find new ways of lessening this dependency. In order to overcome this addiction, Brazil could be of great help since it is the world’s most efficient producer of ethanol, a clean-burning, high-octane fuel that is produced from renewable sources.

NEWS:

• U.S.-Latin America dance.
• Venezuela: Chavez Issues Warning to political parties.  Venezuela to Give Currency New Name and Numbers.  Barbara Walters candidly Interviews Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.  Venezuela disburses funds for Argentinian Sancor.
• Interpol: Iranians Connected to Argentine Bombing.
• The Dominican Republic: Fernandez raising money for re-election.
• Bolivia: Morales accused of suppressing media.  Evo Morales will "call elections" in 2008.  ETA found active in Bolivia. 
• Ecuador: Banking system threatened.
• Chile: Bachelet Heads for Mexico.
•  Conflict over Cuban Oil.

View full version of the Americas Report (PDF)

For any questions, comments, or those interested in receiving this report in the future or seeking to have their email removed from our list please contact Nicole M. Ferrand at our new e-mail address: mengesproject@cen terforsecuritypolicy.org. If you have news stories that you think might be useful for future editions of this report please send them, with a link to the original website, to the same e-mail address. If you wish to contribute with an article, please send it to the same address, with your name and place of work or study.