Condi on Latin America

Thanks, Senator Dodd. When Condi basically started venting about how horrible Venezuela's Chavez is and equating him to Fidel Castro and how little he's done to help the situation by what he says and how he's not cooperating, he replied "Yes, but Lula in Brazil has said very similar things--in fact following similar lines--and you've found a way to work with Brazil."

Condi: no matter what you may have heard, Latin American politics are not just based on "we like Castro, we don't like Castro". The US has played a serious role in creating perceptions about itself all throughout the continent, and continuing to blame populist presidents for the bad perception of the US in Latin America is as disingenuous as continuing to say "nine eleven" every time there's a question you don't want to answer.