Probably they did not choose a good day to come visit Washington, D.C., but for all the emphasis President Bush is placing on the Dominican Republic and Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), the group of six Central American presidents were not making it to the front page of any newspaper. Well, yes, this one, for obvious reasons.

We kept looking at the front pages of the major newspapers on the Internet, and the developments of John Bolton’s nomination as US ambassador to the UN – we are still praying, so he does not get an office in any of the top ten floors, which may be about to be demolished as soon as Bolton set foot on that building- and the debate in the Senate committee kept updating throughout the day, and night.

But the six presidents of Our America were no where to be seen on those front pages. Will they make it to the Friday’s print edition? We hope so, but somehow doubt it.

The American public will hardly even know they were here, except for the large group of union members and other citizens protesting the signing of CAFTA.
So what? You ask. Well, that’s true, no reason for a big deal, they are just a bunch of heads of states that are coming here to be lectured about the best way to manage their own countries in their populations’ best interests, and even what those best interests are.

It feels a bit insulting, though, because when Condolezza Rice paid visits to some Latin American countries, the newspapers there couldn’t cover that story wide enough. She made every front page, even in the countries she did not visit. That must be the colonized complex...

Then come our presidents, and they should feel this is a clear indication of the interest the American public has on their so fought out free trade agreement, which, by the way, is on the verge of collapse before even starting because Congress and senators have no urge to pass it, the public does not shows a great deal of interest either, and the only ones extremely invested on communicate with the Central American presidents are protesters that would like to remind them of the strong opposition CAFTA faces on their own countries.

Looking for the irony of it all, I’m thinking, probably it is just an uncoordinated revenge against those presidents: since they openly ignore their people’s clamor, the US Media is ignoring their own claim of importance, and their desire to communicate with the American people, which is crucial if they want the Agreement to move anywhere, other than South.

They may have been treated like royalty by the President, and First Lady, as well as by the Pentagon, where Rumsfeld received them with all the bells and whistles. But, for all the Media care, they are not worthy of a front page.

Did you hear? A plane came close to the White House, it was false alarm, the President was in his bike in Maryland the Beautiful, and everything went back to normal in 15 minutes. That was Wednesday, but it is still on the Washington Post’s website front page.
The question is always the same: is the Media who sets the agenda?