To the Point

Venezuela, Latin America on the Brink of Collapse

In Latin America, free trade, economic liberalization and democratic politics have not provided the formula for prosperity. The general strike in Venezuela is just the tip of the iceberg. Widespread unemployment and massive international debt have left 80% of the region-s population in poverty. While some in Congress brand leftist national leaders as a new -axis of evil- as others fault failing US policy for much of the trouble, both the left and the right are pressuring the Bush administration to change course. We weigh the threat of terrorism and the impact of US foreign policy in Latin America with a Caracas-based journalist, a national security advisor to President Reagan, a Latin America specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations, and a former chief economist of the Inter-American Development Bank. Newsmaker: Syria-s President Assad Meets with Blair in London President Bashar al-Assad today became the first leader of Syria ever to officially visit Great Britain. Some predicted a bruising clash with Prime Minister Tony Blair. Political correspondent Christopher Adams, who attended their news conference for the Financial Times, reports that the two leaders managed to avoid a repeat of last year-s discord. Reporter's Notebook: The Smallpox Scare Before its eradication in 1979, Smallpox killed one in three of those infected and left survivors severely disfigured. Now, saying that -regimes hostile to the United States may possess- it, President Bush will be vaccinated, along with millions of troops, healthcare workers, police, firefighters, and other -first responders.- Charles Piller, author of Gene Wars, offers details on the disease and the likelihood its use in a bio-terror attack.