Rumsfeld Booed in Paraguay

Two days after a prominent U.S. Senator called for his resignation, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld headed south... first to Paraguay then to Perú, where he's not finding himself any more popular.

Neike press agency reports:

Dozens of demonstrators mobilized this Wednesday morning in front of the Heroes Cemetery and booed the U.S. Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, who is visiting the country.

The loud demonstrators shouted everything at the man who is considered the leading "hawk" in the U.S. administration of George Bush, and waved placards with slogans that said, "Criminal," "Assassin," and "Son of a Whore!"

More about Donald Rumsfeld's National Lampoon vacation at the jump... Neike adds, interestingly:

Rumsfeld met this morning with (Paraguayan) Defense Minister Roberto González, but the themes of the meeting were not made known.

According to the Mexican government news agency, Notimex, Rumsfeld's mission was to isolate Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez:

The Paraguayan daily ABC reported that Rumsfeld said to (President Nicanor) Duarte "in diplomatic terms, the U.S. shared its perception that Chavez is a destabilizing factor for emerging democracies in South America."

It reported that Rumsfeld came to Paraguay with a concrete mission: to deliver the U.S. line against the aggresive policies of Chavez with intentions of domination of the region.

But, according to that same report, the Paraguayan president was not signing up for duty, at least not in public:

The Secretary of Defense interrogated Duarte - according to the report - about the position that the Paraguay government has with respect to the Cuba-Venezuela axis, and the South American president said that relations with both states are normal.

He alluded to the quantity of Paraguayan youths that study at Cuban universities and the trade agreements reached with Venezuela, especially in the purchase of crude oil and interchange of agricultural products.

Shadowing over the proceedings was the 800 pound gorilla of U.S. military presence in Paraguay, the immunity granted to U.S. troops there, and reports of a U.S. military base, as we reported in our June 9 coverage of the unrest in Bolivia.

Notimex noted:

An official in the Duarte administration said in a whisper, "the Secretary of Defense clarified that there is no interest by his government in installing a military base in Paraguayan territory."

Indeed, Paraguayan President Duarte was spinning damage control prior to Rumsfeld's arrival. On Monday he told reporters:

"For as long as I am president there won't by any military base by any world power nor will we be a headquarters for the policing tasks of anyone."

After his vacation in Paraguay, where Rumsfeld got to hear chants of “murder! Murderer!” as the audial backdrop to the playing of the “Star Spangled Banner”, Rumsfeld meandered up to Peru, where, according to Associated Press:

"U.S. officials say the strife in Toledo's government is reason for concern that Peru could fall victim to destabilization by other countries or drug traffickers."

But my favorite report of the day comes from the U.S. Department of Defense's own press release, which misstated President Nicanor Duarte Frutos’ name as Mr. “Frutos,” leaving “Duarte” as his first name. (Repeat after me, Private: His first name is Nicanor. His last name is “Duarte Frutos.”) I can see Washington diplomacy off to a great start already... Anyway...

The DoD press release states:

Rumsfeld and Frutos also discussed concerns about growing Cuban and Venezuelan influence in Bolivia, Paraguay's neighbor to the west. Cuba's aggressive foreign policy agenda, bankrolled by Venezuelan dollars, is having an "unhelpful" influence in the region, the secretary said. "Countries like Paraguay and other neighbors are all interested in being able to grow and function in a manner that's free of external influence," he said.

Got it? Rumsfeld went all the way to Paraguay to preach against two other countries in a third country - none of which are his own country - in the name of being "free from external influence."

Hijo de puta, indeed.