Argentina, Bush, & Chavez … The ABC’s of Media Manipulation?
By Denise Best | Related entries in In The News, MediaMuch is being made in the press regarding the anti-Bush protesting taking place at the international summit meeting in Argentina.
President Bush’s troubles trailed him to an international summit meeting here on Friday as anti-Bush protesters turned violent just blocks from the gathering site, and Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s fiery populist leader, rallied a soccer stadium filled with at least 25,000 people against the United States.
Mr. Chávez, who has tried to use the summit meeting to stage a showdown with Mr. Bush, pronounced dead a free trade accord backed by Mr. Bush, the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Left-wing groups throughout Latin America have long opposed the agreement, and some governments want more generous terms from Washington, so Mr. Bush had come here with hopes of jump-starting the stalled negotiations.
Mr. Chavez is savvy enough to know that he’ll get more mileage and exposure with anti-Bush comments than he would with strictly anti-U.S. rhetoric.
He should be thanking the media for giving him a kind forum from which to deliver his ranting.
Mr. Chávez also accused the Pentagon of having a secret plan to invade his oil-rich country, similar to charges, always denied by the United States, that Mr. Chávez has made in the past.
Right … what logic Chavez demonstrates!
At Mr. Chávez’s peaceful rally, the Venezuelan president nonetheless mocked and taunted Mr. Bush, mostly without referring to him by name and occasionally just calling him “Mister,” in English. Latin American presidents should keep their distance from the American leader, Mr. Chávez said, “because one by one, Bush’s puppets have fallen.”
Note the word peaceful associated with Chavez’s rally …
Is it just me, or is the media trying to subtly drive another stake into the Bush administration?
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November 5th, 2005 at 3:04 pm
Peaceful? The protestors are setting fires and looting property. I’d hardly call that peaceful. It’s the same thing that happens every time the WTO meets.
November 5th, 2005 at 3:40 pm
Maybe W should have brought Pat Robertson along as an “advisor”.
That would have really exciting!
November 5th, 2005 at 3:47 pm
Yep, it would have been priceless to see Chavez’s reaction if Pat Robertson had been in the crowd : )
November 6th, 2005 at 4:10 pm
Actually, the most telling quote, to me, was one I found buried deep in the sidebar of the Houston Chronicle coverage:
Haven’t seen that one anywhere else. Interesting.