Banishing Bush's bad vibes...

Bush's goodwill sojourn in Latin America continues, and what more inappropriate place to visit than the Mayan ruins of Iximche in Guatemala?  

Can the USA (or United States of Amnesia) remember anything past last Thursday? They have certainly forgotten the CIA-backed overthrow of Guatemala's freely-elected president, Jacobo Arbenz in 1954, and the death of an estimated 200,000 Guatemalan (mostly Mayan) civilians during the thirty six year civil war that followed. 

In a typically oxymoronic move Bush will be pushing an agenda of US compassion: "It's very important for the people of South America and Central America to know that the United States cares deeply about the human condition, and that much of our aid is aimed at helping people realize their God-given potential," he said in Bogota yesterday. (If only they'd realise, if only they'd see...!)

Alvaro Romazzini, president of the Guatemalan Episcopal Conference, has called the visit "a practical joke on all Guatemalans," especially considering the ongoing treatment of Guatemalan immigrants in the States.

Centuries of heritage will be neatly repackaged for the Bush brain with native dances and a guided tour of the ancient ruins being prepared to greet the tourists. Another large protest is expected too. "No, Mr Bush, you cannot trample and degrade the memory of our ancestors," said indigenous leader Rodolfo Pocop. "This is not your ranch in Texas."

Bad vibes all round then. No matter, for accompanying Mayan protests will be an ancient "cleansing" ceremony to banish all trace of the Bush's visit, from the bad karma to the lingering stench of hypocrisy.

Can the ceremony could be exported to other countries suffering the influence of Bush? Will Mayan leaders soon be seen on the streets of Baghdad and Kabul..? An international cleansing programme may well be needed to blow Bush back to his Texas ranch.


Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/orcagirl/127134595/