As Chavez taunts, Bush gives Uruguay soft-sell

updated 8:12 p.m. ET March 10, 2007

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - President Bush claimed progress on trade with Uruguay’s president on Saturday, courting another leftist leader on his Latin American tour. “We care about the human condition,” Bush said, trying to co-opt the populism of one influential leftist rival he won’t meet: Venezuela’s firebrand, Hugo Chavez.

In a part of the world where the U.S. invasion of Iraq is particularly unpopular, Bush is not talking much about the global war on terror. And while he won’t mention Chavez by name, his soft-sell pitch clearly is intended to counter the Venezuelan leader’s rising stature and rants that blame Latin America’s poverty on U.S.-style capitalism.

“I would call our diplomacy quiet and effective diplomacy — diplomacy all aimed at helping people, aimed at elevating the human condition, aimed at expressing the great compassion of the American people,” Bush said at a joint news conference with Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez. As he has on other stops, he mentions increases in U.S. aid programs during his presidency.

The two met at the Uruguayan presidential retreat in Anchorena Park, a riverside ranch and national park about 120 miles west of here. Bush traveled by helicopter.

Dueling allegiances
The Bush administration is trying to strike a freer-trade deal with Uruguay. But the efforts are complicated by the country’s membership in a rival South American trading bloc.

Uruguay, a tiny coastal nation overshadowed by neighboring Brazil and Argentina, wants to sell more beef and textiles to the United States, its biggest trading partner.

The two discussed U.S. restrictions on Uruguayan imports. Vazquez also said he wanted to expand scientific, technical and cultural exchanges — all to establish “a better standard of living for our people.”

Both agreed to talk more.

Said Vazquez, “We have created a plan starting with this meeting” in which trade and agriculture experts from both countries will meet to iron out differences.

Bush said the United States is “fully prepared to reduce agricultural subsidies” but first wants to make sure “there is market access for our products.”

Call for looser immigration rules
Vazquez also pressed for a more liberal immigration policy in the United States. Bush said he would work for a “compassionate and rationale immigration law” that recognizes the United States cannot grant automatic citizenship to undocumented immigrants or “kick people out.”

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Bush reported talking with the president about the potential of ethanol as an alternate fuel. He praised Vazquez’s efforts to improve his country’s economy, which is growing at an estimated rate of 7 percent.

The day before, Bush struck a deal on ethanol promotion with Brazil’s left-wing leader, Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva.

Addresses FBI scandal
At a news conference after meeting with Uruguay’s president, Bush also addressed controversy surrounding an audit of the FBI's secret records requests. Bush said the agency has addressed the problems that led to illegal prying into personal information on people in the U.S., but “there’s more work to be done.”

Bush said he was briefed last week on the report from the Justice Department’s internal watchdog that disclosed the FBI’s transgressions involving a subpoena known as national security letters.

“My question is, ‘What are you going to do solve the problem and how fast can you get it solved?’” the president said.

NBC VIDEO Patriot Act woes March 10: President Bush may be in South America, but the controversy about the FBI's improper use of the Patriot Act followed him on the road. NBC's John Yang reports. Nightly News

He expressed confidence in FBI Director Robert Mueller and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. “Those problems will be addressed as quickly as possible,” Bush said.

The president noted that while the inspector general’s report “justly made issue of FBI shortfalls, (it) also made clear that these letters were important to the security of the United States.”

The report found that FBI agents or lawyers illegally or improperly used the letters, administrative subpoenas allowed under the USA Patriot Act, to ask businesses to turn over personal data on customers.

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