Welcome to Cato Daily Podcast. Today is Wednesday, March 14th. I'm your host Anastasia Yaglova.

President George Bush wraps up his tour of Latin America today, leaving the region a bit empty-handed.

No substantive deals were made. leaving the region a bit empty-handed.

No substantive deals were made and there was very little hard talk about real issues during

what can best be described as a public relations tour to re-establish America's reputation in Latin America.

With us today to comment on Bush's social justice trip is Director of the Center for Global

Liberty and Prosperity, Ian Vasquez.

What was the purpose of the President's tour of Latin America?

The tour of Latin America is being sold as a way to counter Chavez's influence in the region.

And it's turning out to be mostly symbolic there's certainly nothing of

substance in any of the countries that he's visiting so I don't expect that this

will have any influence whatsoever on counteringavas' influence in Latin America,

or on Chavas' influence in the region,

which I think is highly exaggerated.

I do think that the trip that he's taken

has fed into the Latin American schizophrenic attitude that exists toward the United States,

in which whenever the United States becomes actively involved in the region,

Latin Americans accuse Washington, often rightfully so, of interventionism.

And when the United States reduces its interventions, it's accused of ignoring the region or not paying enough attention to it.

What has to be learned by both Washington and Latin American leaders in Latin Americans

is that Latin America's problems are created in Latin America.

Poor governments, poor policies are creating these problems for the most part.

...