Yet we supply him with parts?????????????
Protests Turn Violent as Western Hemisphere's Leaders Sit Down to Debate Free Trade Zone
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By Dan Molinski Associated Press Writer
Published: Nov 4, 2005
MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina (AP) - U.S. President George W. Bush and fellow leaders at the Summit of the Americas prepared to debate Saturday whether to rekindle languishing talks on a hemispheric-wide free trade bloc as protesters torched businesses and clashed with police.
Inside the summit, which ends Saturday, a more diplomatic battle was being waged. The United States worked to build support for reviving the Free Trade Area of the Americas, while Bush's nemesis, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, was doggedly determined to quash the idea. The FTAA, which would bring down trade barriers from Canada to Chile, has stalled amid opposition from Venezuela, Brazil and others.
"Only united can we defeat imperialism and bring our people a better life," Chavez said, addressing more than 10,000 protesters at a soccer stadium hours before heading out for the summit's inauguration. "Here, in Mar del Plata, FTAA will be buried!" He was joined at the stadium by Argentinian soccer great Diego Maradona and Bolivian presidential hopeful Evo Morales.
Chavez - who has repeatedly voiced what American officials have dismissed as spurious accusations of Washington-backed efforts to oust him - is pushing an alternative deal based on socialist ideals. To that end, he has offered fuel with preferential financing to various Caribbean and Latin American countries, using Venezuela's oil wealth to build support.
Chavez - who has repeatedly voiced what American officials have dismissed as spurious accusations of Washington-backed efforts to oust him - is pushing an alternative deal based on socialist ideals. To that end, he has offered fuel with preferential financing to various Caribbean and Latin American countries, using Venezuela's oil wealth to build support.