Cuaderno Latinoamericano: Another Bush Lie Revealed - In a bit of ironic honesty, Andres Oppenheimer catches the Bush Administration in its lie about the importance of Latin America to U.S. foreign policy. Oppenheimer writes:

You may remember that, during the 2000 presidential campaign, President Bush said, ''Should I become president, I will look south, not as an afterthought, but as a fundamental commitment of my presidency.'' And as recently as Sept. 9, Powell stated, ``There is no region on Earth that is more important to the American people than the Western hemisphere.''

But the fact is that Latin America is the only region in the world that will suffer foreign aid cuts in Bush's proposed 2005 fiscal year budget. While planned U.S. aid for Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia will be either increased or maintained at current levels, economic aid to Latin America will drop from $757 million in 2004 to $721 million in 2005.

'So much for being a `buen amigo,' '' Rep. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the ranking democrat on the House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, said in a telephone interview Friday. ``It is shocking that these cuts have been made at a time when Latin American democracies are threatened, and extreme poverty is growing.''

Latin America never was as important to the Bush Administration as Bush led on; but what's new about that? I guess Bush should get a pass on this lie, because it seems to have been the same story under all U.S. Presidents, Democrat and Republican alike. What a shame.