Panama to host Rice (and Russians)

This coming Tuesday, outgoing Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice will visit with President Martin Torrijos, which will precede Wednesday's regional meeting of foreign ministers from around the hemisphere to discuss the "Pathways to Prosperity" (PPA) initiative launched by the Bush administration earlier this year, framework for working with governments signed onto the FTAA agreements with the US.

It remains unclear what the Obama administration will do to continue the PPA (much less current and potential free trade agreements in the region), though the extent to which concrete proposals or promises are made during the Panama meeting may go some ways towards determining the Obama administration's initial posture (an interesting analysis on this subject can be found at Alainet).

As noted here yesterday, and in a coincidence of no uncertain irony, the first Russian warship since WWII is scheduled to sail through the Panama Canal today. What's more, AFP reports that over 400 Russian soldiers from the ship are set to remain stationed in the former US naval base located at the canal througout all of next week's meetings in Panama City, just 15 minutes away from the canal zone. The same article reports that, according to the Russian embassy in Panama: "The main purpose (of the visit to Panama) is for the soldiers to rest and to replenish (ship) supplies."

Sources: AP, Univision, La Prensa, Alainet, Marketwatch, State.gov