US President George W. Bush hopes his tour of Latin America will challenge a widespread perception of US neglect in the region that has helped fuel leftist leader Hugo Chavez's rising influence in America's backyard.

Bush, who left yesterday on the five-nation tour, will argue that strong democratic governments hold the promise of prosperity. He hopes his journey will resonate with the one in four Latin Americans who live on less than $2 a day.

"The trip is to remind people that we care," Bush said on Wednesday. "I do worry about the fact that some say, 'Well, the United States hasn't paid enough attention to us,' or 'The United States really isn't anything more than worried about terrorism.' And when, in fact, the record has been a strong record."

But Bush, with just two years left in his presidency, has a weak hand. Anti-Americanism and Bush's poor image, tainted by the war in Iraq, have only fueled Chavez's influence.

The fiery leader of oil-rich Venezuela, who has labeled Bush "the devil" and dismisses him as the "little gentleman from the North," plans to play to this discontent. He has called for protests during Bush's stay and is leading a rally in Argentina when the US President visits neighboring Uruguay.

Bush's message: "Regardless of what Hugo Chavez says about us, we're not the bogeyman," said Russell Crandall from think-tank the Center for American Progress.

Bush has packed a suitcase of strategies for nurturing trade, fighting drug-traffickers and curbing poverty and social inequality for his trip, which will take him to Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Brazil, where protests on Wednesday preceded his visit.

Protesters, most of them women from the Via Campesina farmworkers movement, briefly shut down an iron ore mine, invaded an ethanol distillery and took over the Rio de Janeiro offices of Brazil's National Development Bank. Fresh graffiti reading "Get Out, Bush! Assassin!" in bright red letters popped up along busy highways near Sao Paulo locations where Bush will appear.

Protest organizers denounced foreign investment in the vast sugarcane fields that are used to produce Brazil's ethanol.

Bush and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are expected to sign an accord to develop standards to help turn ethanol into an internationally traded commodity, and to promote sugar cane-based ethanol production in Central America and the Caribbean to meet rising international demand.

Prior to Bush's departure, the White House noted that foreign assistance to Latin America has grown from more than $800 million when he first took office to $1.6 billion. But while total aid to Latin America is up, the budget request Bush submitted to Congress in January reduces money for development assistance and programs for children's health and survival, said Dan Restrepo, a former member of the Democratic staff of the House International Relations Committee.

Source: China Daily/agencies