President Bush warned Monday that Venezuela and Bolivia are suffering from what he described as an “erosion of democracy.” Bush’s comments come a week after the U.S. cut off military sales to Venezuela and three weeks after Bolivia announced it would nationalize its natural gas resources. Bush said he had a message for Venezuela, Bolivia and other nations in the hemisphere. President Bush: I am going to continue to remind our hemisphere that respect for property rights and human rights is essential for all countries in order for there to be prosperity and peace. I’m going to remind our allies and friends in the neighborhood that the United States of America stands for justice; that when we see poverty, we care about it and we do something about it; that we care for good — we stand for good health care. I’m going to remind our people that meddling in other elections is — to achieve a short-term objective is not in the interests of the neighborhood.”