US President Barack Obama savaged former US president George W. Bush’s policies in the Americas as negligent to friends, ineffective with adversaries and incapable of advancing US interests.
That was as a candidate. Now, as president, Obama has to keep his promise of revitalizing relations with the rest of the Western Hemisphere — not just to create a better mood, but to achieve real results.
The work begins in earnest when Obama travels to Mexico City tomorrow for an overnight visit. The stop is a clear signal of support for Mexican President Felipe Calderon as the US and Mexico attempt to stem the deadly flow of drugs and weapons hurting both countries.
PHOTO: AP
Obama will spend Friday through Sunday in Trinidad and Tobago for the Summit of the Americas, a gathering of 34 Western Hemisphere nations. The leaders are eager for their own photo-opportunity moments with Obama, but they also want assurances that the US will fix its economy and help them recover.
The White House spoke on Monday of priority themes: rallying support for bottom-up economic reforms, particularly those that help the “poorest of the poor,” and working with other nations to expand renewable energy and reduce global warming.
Shaking the global recession is the dominant topic on the agenda.
“The perception coming up from the south [is] that in recent years the United States has turned its attention elsewhere, has neglected its relationships in this part of the world,” Jeffrey Davidow, Obama’s principal adviser for the summit, told reporters on Monday night.
“And I think this summit will give him the opportunity to meet with all the heads of state, listen to them, exchange views and come away with new ideas,” he said.
The first and only country Obama will visit on his way to the summit is Mexico. His administration so far has made a notable, public show of diplomacy toward the country.
As Mexico cracks down on organized crime, the violence among the drug cartels, their rivals and soldiers has led to thousands of deaths and crime that has spilled across the border into the US.
Obama has pledged more help, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said the US’ “insatiable” demand for drugs has helped fuel the problem.
Other bilateral issues loom.
Mexico has slapped tariffs on nearly 90 US products in retaliation for a US decision to cancel a cross-border program that gave Mexican truckers access north of the border.
McDonough said the administration was working with Congress and Mexico on a resolution, but added: “I think it’s premature to anticipate a very specific announcement on that.”
On immigration reform, which collapsed in the US Congress during Bush’s administration, White House aides say Obama remains committed. Obama is expected to try to begin an immigration effort this year.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS