Bolivia's leftist leader Evo Morales said last night he would like to meet President Bush to tell him "some truths about human rights".
Mr Morales, a close ally of US critic Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, is scheduled to meet former US presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter next week during a trip that includes a visit to the United States.
But he will not hold talks with Mr Bush because the US leader has not asked him to do so, he said.
"If he asks me, I would like to . . . tell him some truths about human rights, about social and economic problems, and [I would like to tell him] that aggressions feed rebellion, and share with him some experiences," Mr Morales said.
A former coca leaf grower who became Bolivia's first indigenous president, Mr Morales has had a tense relationship with Washington.
He has dismissed US criticism of the cocaine trade in Bolivia and condemned US-backed coca eradication plans, which he thinks push Bolivians deeper into poverty. Coca is the raw material used to make cocaine, but it is also used widely by Bolivians for medicinal and ceremonial purposes.
Mr Morales's government has urged that coca should be decriminalised worldwide.
Despite Mr Morales's frequent anti-Washington remarks, however, government officials have said they wish to have a constructive relationship with the United States on issues such as drug trafficking and trade.
Mr Morales will kick off a three-country tour today, visiting Guatemala to meet President Oscar Berger and take part in a summit of Latin American indigenous peoples.
He will then travel to Cuba, where he is likely to meet up with convalescing Cuban leader Fidel Castro before attending the Non-Aligned Movement summit of 116 developing countries in Havana.
During his visit to the United States from September 17th to September 21st, Mr Morales will attend the United Nations general assembly in New York