Mayans to 'cleanse' Bush site

An indigenous Guatemalan peasant participates in an anti-Bush protest Sunday in Tecpan, Guatemala.

I think George Bush fabricated the need to Invade Iraq. George Bush is responsible for the demise of the well being of the United States plundering the financial resources of the United States to finance his pursuit of the arrogance of power so adeptly exemplified in the Libby trial.

Never the less, George Bush represents the United States and even with flaws created by George Bush, the United States remains our country.

Any insult hurled at George Bush is an insult on the sovereignty of the

United States of America, the country most noted for providing the most humanitarian aid around the world.

Any insult hurled at George Bush is also an insult on all Americans including American Hispanics who were born here or have chosen to make America their country.

Many Mexican Americans trace heritage back to ancient civilizations such as the Mayans and as such, an insult hurled at George Bush by anyone in Mexico is an insult hurled against Mexican Americans.

I for one resent Mexicans and for that matter, any Latin American resident protesting against America.

70% of the world's illegal drugs are consumed by Americans. These drugs are brought into the United States from Mexico. If the drug supply of illegal drugs was stopped at the border, 90% of the drug usage in the United States would come to a halt.

These smuggled drugs are directly responsible for the use of Meth which is having a devastating impact on America's youth in rural and urban areas.

Hispanic News, the Blue Dogs of the Democratic Party and Americause are committed to sealing the border to prevent the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.

Maybe the Mayan priests should be hired to purify the border to rid it of Mexicans "bad spirits" destroying America by smuggling drugs through the border.

— Jon Garrido

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (CNN) — Mayan Indian leaders have vowed to "spiritually cleanse" an ancient site in Guatemala after U.S. President George W. Bush visits during his seven-day, five-nation tour of Latin America.

Bush's visit to the ruins at Iximche, a one-time capital of a Mayan group, is part of an effort to show the administration is interested in all its neighbors in the hemisphere.

But many Mayans are angry that Bush is visiting Iximche, founded as the capital of the Kaqchiqueles kingdom before the Spanish conquest in 1524.

Mayan priests say they will purify the sacred archaeological site to rid it of any "bad spirits" after Bush is there.

"That a person like Bush with the persecution of our migrant brothers in the United States, with the wars he has provoked is going to walk in our sacred lands is an offense for the Mayan people and their culture," Juan Tiney, director of a Mayan non-governmental organization with close ties to Mayan religious and political leaders, told The Associated Press.

The president is working to shore up U.S. allies amid the widespread perception that his administration has neglected Latin America since the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

"It's very important for the people of South America and Central America to know that the United States cares deeply about the human condition, and that much of our aid is aimed at helping people realize their God-given potential," Bush said Sunday in Bogota, Colombia.

On Monday, Bush was also visiting a farm cooperative to try to argue that the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is helping improve the lives of the poor.

CAFTA has come under tremendous criticism from some Latin American leaders who say it has been used to benefit only the United States and the wealthy in the countries that signed onto it.

Bush will discuss CAFTA and other issues — including drug trafficking and the battle over U.S. immigration policy — with Guatemalan President Oscar Berger.

Bush arrived in the country Sunday night from Bogota, marking the first visit by a U.S. president to the Colombian capital since Ronald Reagan in 1982.

He was met by a relatively small protest in Bogota, totaling about 1,500 demonstrators who assembled about a mile from the palace, where Bush and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe had lunch.

About 300 to 350 demonstrators threw rocks and charged a line of about 200 police clad in riot gear. The demonstrators ripped up metal barricades, smashed concrete barriers and used the resulting fragments as projectiles.

After rebuffing repeated charges, police brought in tear gas and water cannon and used them to push the demonstrators into side streets. The protesters smashed the windows of financial institutions as they retreated.

After Bush's events in Bogota ended, the White House used a decoy motorcade as an added security measure.

As Bush travels through the region, his main South American foe, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, is taking a tour of his own.

Some are calling it a "shadow" tour of Bush's. Chavez's stops have included Uruguay and Colombia. In public statements he has slammed Bush and declared Bush's political career dead.

Privately, U.S. officials charge that protests over Bush's visit — which include battles between demonstrators and police in Brazil — are being fomented and financed by Chavez.

Bush began his trip Friday in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he said during a joint appearance with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that the United States doesn't get "enough credit for trying to help improve people's lives."

"My trip is to explain as clearly as I can that our nation is generous and compassionate — that when we see poverty, we care, that when we see illiteracy, we want to do something about it, that when we find there to be a deficiency in health care, we'll help to the extent we can," he said.