Thank god for ponchos

Nov. 21, 2004  |  SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) -- President Bush tried to mend relations in Latin America with fresh promises of immigration reform Sunday while a new security spat surfaced with Chile after an embarrassing fracas in which Bush intervened.

What was supposed to have been an elaborate state dinner with 200 people Sunday was downgraded to an official working dinner, reportedly because Chilean President Ricardo Lagos balked at Secret Service demands for guests to walk through metal detectors. The guest list for the working dinner was pared down to the leaders, their wives and top aides.

On Saturday night, Bush waded into a scuffle that erupted when Chilean authorities blocked the president's Secret Service agents from accompanying him into a dinner. As tempers flared and a shoving match ensued, Bush pushed into the commotion, grabbed his lead agent, Nick Trotta, and pulled him inside.

The incident, shown repeatedly on television worldwide, was an unlikely episode in an otherwise staid gathering of 21 Pacific Rim leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. In a moment of levity, the leaders posed in colorful, hand-woven ponchos -- following the summit tradition of wearing native garb of the host country.



I've needed to e-mail my host family for awhile, but now I'm sort of ashamed to.