Bush reaching out to Latin America

WASHINGTON

The Bush administration has refused to talk to foes like Iran, North Korea and Cuba, but it has no such qualms about some of its sternest critics in Latin America, including President Hugo Chávez.

The Venezuelan leader relishes calling President Bush names like Mr. Danger and a donkey, and the State Department has over the years accused him of a variety of misdeeds, from undermining democracy to cutting ties with U.S. agencies fighting terrorism and drug traffickers.

Less than two weeks after Chávez won reelection earlier this month, the U.S. ambassador in Caracas met with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro to ease tensions between the two countries.

Chávez replied by attacking U.S. counterdrug efforts so it is unclear if the charm offensive will work with Caracas, but the move is part of a broader effort by U.S. officials to court leftist leaders who just weeks ago were warily viewed as pro-Chávez populists. This includes President-elects Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and Ecuador's Rafael Correa, who recently heralded the rise of a Socialist Latin America.

The Bush administration has long sought out moderate socialists like Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and relations with once-prickly opponents like Argentine President Néstor Kirchner have improved lately.

The thinking is that while these leaders don't see eye-to-eye with Bush, they were democratically elected and, unlike Iran or North Korea, pose no obvious national security threats to U.S. interests, officials say.

The move is being welcomed by many observers.

''We have to really pursue a path of quiet pragmatism,'' said Eric Farnsworth, a vice president with the Council of the Americas, an organization that promotes more contacts with Latin American nations. ``Stay out of the headlines, get out of the ideological debates.''

The contacts are the Bush administration's adjustment to the results of a dozen elections this year -- nine of which were won by leftist leaders, ranging from moderates to far left, including several that declare themselves allies of Chávez and Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

''One thing we've made clear as we deal with leaders across the region is that we don't care much if they're left, center or right, as long as they're committed to democracy and committed to working with us,'' Thomas Shannon, the State Department's top diplomat to Latin America, recently told journalists.

The Bush administration changed its tone after Ortega won his election last month. Just a year ago, the State Department accused his Sandinista party of conspiring to topple a sitting pro-Washington government, and several top Sandinista officials had their U.S. visas stripped.

Last month, Shannon traveled to Nicaragua and met with Ortega, who in recent years had moderated his criticisms of U.S. policies.

Shannon described the encounter as ''a really good meeting'' where Ortega expressed his support for the free-trade pact CAFTA with Washington and several U.S. aid programs for Managua.

Ortega's friendly relations with Chávez and Castro were not a problem, Shannon said.

''Our focus wasn't on how he relates to others,'' Shannon said. ``Our focus was on how he's going to relate to us.''

The Bush administration is also reaching out to Ecuador's President-elect Rafael Correa. On the campaign trail, the charismatic U.S.-educated economist called Bush ''dimwitted'' though he later toned down his rhetoric and held a meeting with the U.S. ambassador in Quito that was widely broadcast in the local media.

Correa opposes an agreement that lets the U.S. military use Ecuador's Manta air force base for counterdrug operations, but the United States seems to harbor no ill feelings. Bush called Correa to congratulate him on his victory.

U.S. officials also have been courting Bolivia's feisty President Evo Morales, an Aymara indigenous leader who, like Chávez, often rails against Washington's ''imperialism'' and is a frequent visitor to Havana.

U.S. officials have been critical of Morales' reluctance to limit a crackdown on coca farming which produces the raw materials to make cocaine. Coca is traditionally used by indigenous peoples for legitimate purposes.

In a goodwill gesture, the United States certified in September that Bolivia was doing enough to combat drug traffickers, even though Washington will take another look at Bolivia's efforts in March. The Bush administration this month pushed Congress to include Bolivia and Ecuador among a group of Andean nations that obtained unilateral trade preferences from Washington.

Getting along with Chávez will prove a bigger challenge as the two governments have a history of trading bitter barbs.

William Brownfield, the American ambassador, characterized the Dec. 14 encounter with Maduro as ''very positive.'' But five days after the Brownfield-Maduro meeting and one day after Brownfield made a public call for cordiality, Chávez called Brownfield a liar for suggesting drug trafficking in Venezuela was on the rise and reiterated his claims that Drug Enforcement Agency officials were spies.

''The battle against drug smuggling has been an excuse that imperialists have used for several years to penetrate our country, trample our people and justify a military presence in Latin America,'' Chávez said.