President Bush is sleeping in Guatemala tonight

I have returned from my South Australian interlude and I shall return to the normal routine t-o-m-o-r-r-o-w. Yuk! Since last post, there has been no running. I thought I would do at least one run over the week end but no chance.

Worldnews report of the visit to Latin America of Presidente Jorge W Bush (George Bush Jr). As I write this note he will be travelling from Colombia to Guatemala City, where he will be spending a night there.

This is the third time one of the US Presidents oficially visits Guatemala (Lyndon B. Johnson in July 1956, and Bill Clinton in March 1999). But this is the first time a US President stays overnight in Guatemala. For many decades, not one US President stayed overnight in the Americas soil. Apparently Presidents whilst travelling through the Americas had stayed at sea because of security concerns.

This week, Guatemala City has been overtaken by US security forces (unlike the time in 1954 when the CIA intervened in Guatemala to overthrow a democratic government) to warrant a secure visit of George Bush who will be spending a total of 23 hours.

There have been protests in different parts of Guatemala over Bush's visit. One of the concerns for many is the fact that prior to Bush's visit, more than 200 guatemalans were deported from the USA. Many people who to live n the USA seeking an improvement to their living conditions.

President Bush is expected to visit one Mayan community, Iximche, this Monday where a protest is expected to take place.

After a civil war that affected Guatemala for 36 years, this Central American country has become a port of traffic for drugs going to the USA. Security is a major issue in Guatemala.