US President George W Bush and his left-wing nemesis Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez squared off on dueling tours of Latin America today as they vied for the region's hearts and minds.
Their ideological rivalry heated up as Mr Bush visited Brazil to reach out to Latin America's moderate left and Mr Chavez responded with a trip to Argentina where he said the US leader deserved the "gold medal for hypocrisy."
Mr Bush is seeking to overcome a sense of US neglect in Latin America where opposition to the Iraq war has also damaged his administration's standing and given Mr Chavez a chance to rail against American "imperialism".
About 200 Brazilian demonstrators, mostly students, burned an effigy of Mr Bush and chanted "Bush, chief of terrorism, we don't want you in Latin America" near the hotel where he was staying.
Troops and police stopped them from getting closer.
On the first leg of a five-nation tour, Mr Bush met Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a leftist ally Washington sees as a potential counterweight to Mr Chavez, and the two announced an ethanol fuel development plan for the Americas.
Mr Bush's "ethanol diplomacy" plus new aid pledges are seen as an attempt to offset Mr Chavez's use of Venezuela's oil wealth to court a new generation of Latin American leftist leaders in his quest for a regionwide socialist revolution.
To taunt Bush, Mr Chavez, a close ally of communist Cuban leader Fidel Castro, planned to lead thousands of supporters today in a soccer stadium rally in Buenos Aires coinciding with Mr Bush's arrival in neighboring Uruguay.
"He's a symbol of domination and we are a cry of rebellion against the domination ... he's trying to trick our people to divide us," Mr Chavez told reporters before he met with fellow leftist President Nestor Kirchner of Argentina.
Asked at a Sao Paulo news conference about Mr Chavez's insults and whether his trip would help limit his influence, Mr Bush sidestepped the question but his message was clear.
"My trip down down here is to remind our country that South America, Latin America are good places to invest, particularly in countries that adhere to rule of law and are transparent and believe in the fundamentals of freedom," he said in veiled swipe at Mr Chavez's anti-capitalist policies.