Which Americans ?

Canada is in continental america, The USA is in continental america, Mexico is in continental america, Panama, Honduras, Belize, Venezuala, Columbia, Argentina Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Peru, Nicaragua, Guyana, Guatemala, French Guiana, and probably more...
are in continental america.
All the people who live in these countries are Americans.

First let me state that in my personal experience Citizens of the USA (CoUSA) are no worse, or better than folk of any other nationality. I like most, I dislike a few. There are however definate cultural differences which can easily lead to misunderstandings between individuals.
The best example I can think of, from my English perspective is;
When making a joke in the presence of a CoUSA you need to laugh so they know. There is a very distinct difference between our senses of humour and the form our humour takes. This can lead to someone taking offence where none was offered.
I think these cultural differences are particularly profound between Britons and CoUSA due to their "separation by a common language".

As to why The USA, as opposed to individual citizens, might be disliked, a dislike which would colour personal interactions should they occur, allow me to quote the following piece of net humour. It is I believe of USA origin.

This test contains only one question, so you should find it very easy. Here is a list of countries the US has bombed since the end of WW2.
China 1945-1946
Korea 1950-1953
China 1950-1953
Guatemala 1954
Indonesia 1958
Cuba 1959-1960
Guatemala 1960
Congo 1964
Peru 1965
Laos 1964-1973
Vietnam 1961-1973
Cambodia 1969-1970
Guatemala 1967-69
Grenada 1983
Libya 1986
El Salvador 1980's
Nicaragua 1980's
Panama 1989
Iraq 1991-1999
Sudan 1998
Afghanistan 1998
Yugoslavia 1999

In how many instance did a democratic goverment, respectful of human rights, occur as a direct result?
Choose one of the following:

a) zero
b) 0
c)zip
d)zilch
e)a whole number between -1 and +1

;-)
This sort of flies in the face of We hold these truths to be self-evident ...

AndyG