The Washington Post and New York Times report on, and the LA Times editorializes, the OAS general assembly meeting in Honduras where the number one issue of discussion was Cuba’s reentry into the inter-American body. The WaPo writes that Sec. of State Hillary Clinton was confronted with much criticism from Latin American leaders pressing to get Cuba back into the OAS. Every nation in the hemisphere, save the U.S., has now restored diplomatic relations with the communist country (El Salvador has reestablished ties after the inauguration of Mauricio Funes). As Ms. Clinton left Honduras for Egypt on Tuesday, she said “If there's no action, that's fine with us.” U.S. diplomats are still in Central America finishing negotiations, but a final decision on the Cuba issue seemed unlikely as several other Latin American foreign ministers also left Honduras late Tuesday. And the NYT says that, according to Asst. Sec. of State Tom Shannon, talks had indeed ended over Cuba, signaling there would be no agreement on a resolution regarding Cuba at the meetings. However, U.S. diplomats did not rule out the possibility that Venezuela or Nicaragua would put forth a resolution to readmit Cuba without preconditions and perhaps gain a majority of member votes. The paper says such an action would be “stinging repudiation” of the U.S. were it to happen. The LAT throws up mixed opinions about what the OAS should do on Cuba, writing, “Cuba's readmission to the OAS is overdue, its absence more a Cold War relic than a statement of modern diplomacy. But a short delay may be useful if it allows the Obama administration and Cuban President Raul Castro's government more time to tend to the bilateral relationship first.”
From the Miami Herald there is an AP report this morning on yet another major drug-related raid in Mexico. The AP says Mexican authorities captured on Tuesday a top Gulf Cartel associate, Sergio Garcia Trevino, accused of helping to obtain the largest weapons cache found in the country. Authorities also detained at least 21 more police officers in several northern cities, all suspected of having ties to different drug cartels. Since the operation to root out corrupt officials began Monday, over 50 such police and government officials have been arrested. For his part, Garcia Trevino is suspected of procuring a cache of 540 rifles, 165 grenades, 500,000 rounds of ammunition and 14 sticks of TNT which were all seized from a house in Reynosa last November. Federal police in ski masks paraded him before reporters in Mexico City on Tuesday.
And, outside major U.S. papers, the British daily The Guardian reports that a Brazilian paper is writing that U.S. President Barack Obama wants Lula da Silva to be the next head of the World Bank. Lula has indicated in the past that he would be “honored” to take the position when his term as president ends in 2011. And on Tuesday Marcelo Onaga, a columnist for the respected business weekly Exame, reported that U.S. State Department officials had gone so far as to discuss the idea with senior officials in Brasilia, receiving a positive response. The Inter-American Dialogue’s Michael Shifter downplayed speculation, however, saying “Obama clearly likes Lula a lot but I doubt he has taken any serious steps in pursuing this.” Shifter added that “Latin America would be ambivalent to Lula's move given Brazil's reputation for pursuing national rather than pan-regional interests.” As the largest World Bank shareholder, the US has traditionally chosen the bank’s president--a five-year, renewable post.
In other news, two additional reports on Venezuela. From the AP in the WaPo, a report that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has accused the CIA of plotting to assassinate him, thus forcing him to cancel a trip to El Salvador earlier in the week to attend the inauguration of Mauricio Funes. “I don't doubt that the intelligence organizations of the United States are behind this,” Chavez said, accusing the CIA of plotting with Cuban anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles to murder him. He claims Venezuelan intelligence services have “very precise information” that they were planning to launch rockets at the Cubana de Aviacion plane he was to travel in. While Chávez has made similar accusations in the past, these were the first since meeting President Obama at the Summit of the Americas in April. “I'm not accusing Obama,” Chávez added, while saying “I think Obama has good intentions, but beyond Obama there's an empire—the CIA and all its tentacles: Terrorists and paramilitaries.” Posada, meanwhile, is still living with his family in Miami where he has been since 2007.
And from the AP in the MH, news that Chávez also threatened to sanction private banks that fail to abide by his government’s regulations. Chávez has demanded that banks intervene in the financial system and provide credit to people buying houses or producing food, rather than generating massive earnings for their owners. The MH writes that Chavez's government has increased its role in the banking sector, reaching an agreement with Spain's Santander to buy its local unit, Banco de Venezuela. When Venezuela officially assumes control of the bank on July 3, the government will become the nation's “top financial player.”
No comments:
Post a Comment