World view from the outside in

The trouble with the US media today is they can't (or won't) report foreign news credibly. Case in point - the disastrous summit that Bush just attended in Argentina. The US press touted it as some kind of step forward in foreign policy, making note of an agreement among "most" of the parties to agree to talk at some time in the future. They've been agreeing on that for years now. It's the agreeing on terms of trade that they can't seem to reach, and not only was nothing accomplished - Bush made the situation worse with his usual diplomatic blunders.

Here's how they're reporting it in Costa Rica.

President Vicente Fox acted as puppet for US ventriloquist President George W Bush at the Summit of the Americas, according to 75 percent of Mexicans interviewed by ¿El cristal con que se mira¿ newspaper.

PRI spokesman Miguel Lucero said that Fox made the nation look ridiculous at the Summit of the Americas, where he fell all over himself to look good to Bush, who did not even bother to receive him.

...However, presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar labelled the participation of Fox at the summit as a great success of Mexican foreign policy.

Aguilar´s opinion not only conflicts with the population but with the main media as well, which termed the Summit of Americas a "fiasco" where the US-pushed Free Trade Area of the Americas was sent back to the freezer.

Meanwhile, on his side trip to Panama on his way home, our domestic MSM reported the stop was expected to be "easier" and focused on his baseball outing. InsideCostaRica reports,

Although he was there hardly 19 hours and departed without signing anything, US President George W. Bush left some big issues in Panama for Martin Torrijos´ government.

Not without fissures and internal divisions, Panamanian society managed to close ranks and show its rejection of Bush in massive demonstration.

And then there as the issue of contaminated Pentagon sites.

In favor of discussing the Canal´s entire transfer to Panamanian authorities, Torrijos tabled the issue on decontamination of firing ranges left by the Pentagon troops in his country.

Bush and Torrijos agreed there are absolute divergences on that issue, despite the more than 3,000 hectares´ area with non-detonated explosives that have killed many inhabitants.

Only a Dutch newspaper even alluded to the protests.

It's a disturbing disconnect spawned by media consolidation. We don't have a foreign press anymore. What we have is a whole lot of AP stringers, who are mostly in bed with the bureaucrats and all too few brave souls on the internets that tell the truth.