Meanwhile, in El Salvador Defense Secretary Robert Gates began a five-nation tour of Bush administration allies in Latin America with a salvo against Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates: “I think that the principal threat represented by Hugo Chávez is to the freedom and economic prosperity of the people of Venezuela. I think that he has been very generous in offering their resources to people around the world, when perhaps those resources could be better used to alleviate some of the economic problems facing the people of Venezuela. I think that’s the principal concern.”