A Tale of Two Latin American Experiences: Biden and Nixon

[Judi Lynn]

A Tale of Two Latin American Experiences
Biden and Nixon

By SAUL LANDAU

On March 27, Vice President Joe Biden began a three-day tour to Latin America to attend a high level consultation session for the Summit of the Americas, scheduled for mid-April in Trinidad and Tobago. He met in Chile with President Michelle Bachelet and Presidents from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, and the Prime Ministers of Norway and the United Kingdom.

Biden then went to Costa Rica. Hosted by President Oscar Arias, and surrounded by other Central American leaders in San Jose, Biden listened, a trait not usually associated with the verbose former Senator – nor with other US officials – as they enunciated the pressing problems of the region. Then he ignored the words he heard about ending the US blockade of Cuba So much for listening!

Biden returned, however, without getting Nixonized. In May 1958, Vice President Richard M. Nixon and his wife Pat began their eight-nation tour in Lima, Peru. Newsreel film showed Nixon greeting Peruvian crowds who answered with boos and hisses. Young Peruvians shoved the VP and his wife and then spat on him. The New York Times huffily described the hostility as simply “communist inspired.”

A week later, the Nixons landed in Caracas. An official band played the “Star-Spangled Banner” and a 21-gun salute exploded. But the crowd greeted the Nixons with a white sheet: “Get out, Nixon!” The confused VP descended into the crowd, where he got spat on again.

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http://www.counterpunch.org/landau04032009.html