Bush, Chavez on dueling tours of Latin America

SAO PAULO, Mar 9 (Reuters) US President George W Bush and his left-wing nemesis Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez embarked on dueling tours of Latin America today as they stepped up competition for the region's hearts and minds.

Their ideological rivalry heated up as Bush visited Brazil to reach out to Latin America's moderate left and Chavez responded with a trip to Argentina where he said the US leader deserved the ''gold medal for hypocrisy.'' Bush is seeking to overcome a sense of US neglect in Latin America where opposition to the Iraq war has also damaged his administration's standing and given Chavez a chance to rail against what he calls American ''imperialism.'' About 200 Brazilian demonstrators, mostly students, burned an effigy of Bush and chanted ''Bush, chief of terrorism, we don't want you in Latin America'' near the hotel where he was staying. Troops and police stopped them from getting closer.

On the first leg of a five-nation tour, Bush met Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a leftist ally Washington sees as a potential counterweight to Chavez, and the two announced an ethanol fuel development plan for the Americas.

Bush's ''ethanol diplomacy'' plus new aid pledges are seen as an attempt to offset Chavez's use of Venezuela's oil wealth to court a new generation of Latin American leftist leaders in his quest for a regionwide socialist revolution.

To taunt Bush, Chavez planned to lead thousands of supporters today in a soccer stadium rally in Buenos Aires coinciding with Bush's arrival in neighboring Uruguay.

''He's a symbol of domination and we are a cry of rebellion against the domination ... he's trying to trick our people to divide us,'' Chavez told reporters before he met with fellow leftist President Nestor Kirchner of Argentina.

The Bush administration has dismissed frequent insults by Chavez, who called Bush the devil during a UN speech last year, and has questioned his commitment to democracy while criticizing his nationalization plans.

ANTI-CHAVEZ TOUR? The White House denies Bush is on an anti-Chavez tour but the administration is clearly seeking to blunt the fiery Venezuelan's popularity in the region.

Chavez, a close ally of communist Cuban leader Fidel Castro, has even sent subsidized fuel to poor Americans.

Bush toured an ethanol fuel depot on Friday, hammering home the message that alternative energy can reduce regional dependence on foreign oil producers like Chavez's Venezuela.

Bush, who vowed to make Latin America a priority when he took office in 2001, has been criticized for being distracted by the Iraq war, a conflict that has made him even more unpopular among Washington's southern neighbors than he is at home.

Trying to turn back Chavez's challenge, Bush seems to have taken a page from his regional nemesis, seeking to remake himself as a social reformer committed to alleviating poverty.

While avoiding any mention of Chavez's name, Bush spoke of the need not only for economic growth but ''distribution of wealth,'' especially for the region's small farmers.

Amid increasingly entrenched anti-US sentiment, few Latin Americans are likely to buy it. Until Bush, who last made such an extensive tour of the region in 2005, now has mostly stressed trade, drug enforcement and immigration controls.

Though much of Latin America has embraced a US model of free-market democracy, grievances linger against Washington for backing military dictatorships that once held repressive sway.

Violence erupted at demonstrations against Bush in Sao Paulo and the Colombian capital of Bogota on Thursday.

Colombia's police chief said leftist guerrillas planned attacks and sabotage during Bush's visit there on Sunday.

Bush's six-day trip will end with conservative allies in Guatemala and Mexico. Continuing his counter-tour, Chavez was to fly to Bolivia to visit flood-ravaged areas on Saturday.

REUTERS PDM KN2329