Overworked Uruguayan president vows “healthier regimen”

Is Uruguayan president Jose Mujica (to use an famous phrase from the “Lethal Weapon” movies) “too old for this shit”? Perhaps, but the 75-year-old has been ordered by doctors to slow down from his daily routine.

According to presidential physicians Mujica suffers from an “over exposure to stress” since he took office in March. Indeed, as MercoPress noted, Mujica has visited several countries in the Americas since assuming the presidency roughly ten weeks ago and he tends to work between 12 to 15 hours each day.

As a result of the doctors’ recommendations Mujica will skip the Caribbean and the European Union Summit next week in Spain and Vice President Luis Almagro will instead head the Uruguayan delegation. Furthermore, Mujica pledged today to change his habits including undergoing a strict diet:

"I won't have a serious problem if I do something about it ... . I need to control myself and try to prioritize issues rather than do everything at the same time," Mujica said during his twice-weekly radio program.

"I wake up at night at 3 a.m. and my head is buzzing with all kinds of problems," he added.

The leftist, who was jailed for 14 years for his guerrilla activities, said he would switch to a new healthier regimen next week, aiming to fit in an hour's walk and an afternoon nap.

Mujica won’t be the only notable absence at next week’s conference; Honduran President Porfirio Lobo will skip the summit since some countries still do not recognize his government.

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- imdb.com, momento2.com, MercoPress, Clarin, Reuters, LAHT

CARICOM talks immigration in Guyana

Leaders from the CARICOM countries began their 30th summit this weekend in Georgetown, Guyana, with a varied agenda centered primarily on illegal immigration to and from CARICOM member nations. Many immigrants, including undocumented ones from Jamaica and Guyana, tend to move to Barbados and Antigua & Barbuda, where they are both exploited as cheap labor and discriminated against. The representatives of those two countries, for their part, railed against illegal immigration to their islands and the need to curb the flow.

The summit comes days after a total 53 Guyanese migrants were deported from Barbados since the government's recent crackdown.

At the weekend inaugural session, heads of state had the chance to given prepared remarks, and the annual Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC) was bestowed upon Percival Patterson, former prime minister of Jamaica, for his contributions to regional development.



Sources: Jamaica Gleaner, Latin American Tribune, Caricom.org

T & T Summit nears; Obama's regional rep on the line

Todays' piece by Abraham Lowenthal in the Boston Globe synopsizes the rising chorus of experts calling for Obama's unique opportunity at the April 17 - 19 Fifth Summit of the Americas. "Above all else," Lowenthal implores, Obama should take the opportunity to "listen."

Little doubt exists that Obama will be able to do this much, and do it well.

The speculation abounds, however, on whether Obama will use the opportunity to make any major proclamations. It seems unlikely that he'll give more than passing mention to Cuba (which will not be sending official envoys) -- though he may announce something beforehand. How much he'll devote to regional powers Mexico and Brazil (with whose leaders he's already met) over reaching out to smaller countries or less amenable leaders remains to be seen. It will be interesting to gauge his inevitable mention of immigration policies and hints at what he would like to see changed (though will probably have little power bring to fruition).

The media will be on the lookout for the chance handshake (or the money shot -- a hug) with Chavez -- Morales or Ortega, would do, however.

A number of other recent entreaties on how Obama should approach the summit are available below:

• VP Joe Biden's take.


• Undersecretary of State Tom Shannon's take.


• Inter-American Dialogue President Peter Hakim's take (and testimony).


• A Trinidadian skeptic's take.

Arab-South American summit starts today

While the Arab League summit in Doha takes place another important conference will commence today in the capital of Qatar.

Some Latin American leaders including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Argentina’s Cristina Kirchner are expected to appear at the second Arab-South American summit. The conference is likely to lead to stronger political ties between both regions. A draft declaration prepared recently mentions “mutual political support” in global conferences as well as backing the creation of an "independent, sovereign Palestinian state".

Building greater economic ties will also be a prime goal during the summit; Qatar businessmen’s association head Faisal bin Qassem al-Thani acknowledged the potential markets between both regions which hold over 10% of the world’s population. Furthermore, each region houses two major oil-producing nations in Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

Speaking of Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez will attend the summit as part of an international tour abroad:

Chavez says he's leaving for Qatar, where he'll attend a summit of Arab and South American countries before traveling to Iran to inaugurate a joint development bank.

The socialist leader said in a Sunday newspaper column that he then plans to visit Japan to sign a bilateral energy agreement.

Image- Gulf Times (“Billboards about the upcoming 21st Arab League Summit and second Arab-South American Countries Summit in Doha.”)
Online Sources- Voice of America, IPS, The Peninsula Qatar, Khaleej Times, forbes.com

VP Biden travels to Latin America

There has been a strong focus on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Mexico. Not to be outdone, however, is Vice President Joe Biden’s upcoming sojourn to Latin America.

Biden is expected to leave today for Chile where he’s expected to attend the Progressive Governance Conference in Santiago. The meeting of international leftist leaders will include several Latin American presidents like Cristina Kirchner from Argentina and Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. One of the main topics to be discussed will be the international economy in anticipation of the G20 summit next month.

Biden will subsequently stop in Costa Rica over the weekend where President Oscar Arias will be hosting a meeting of Central American leaders. The conference is expected to be attended by most presidents of the region as well as Salvadoran president-elect Mauricio Funes. One notable absence, however, will be Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega who cited “previous engagements”.

Biden’s stops in Chile and Costa Rica should help President Barack Obama ahead of his attending the Summit of the Americas next month. Obama will hear several regional concerns that will first be addressed to Biden:

Central American leaders say they want to discuss U.S. immigration policy when they meet with Vice President Joe Biden in Costa Rica next week.

El Salvador President Tony Saca says 200,000 Salvadorans in the U.S. are in danger of being deported - an issue he hopes to broach with Biden on Monday…

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega says colleagues also passed a resolution asking that the U.S. not attach strings to its aid packages.

Image- UPI
Online Sources- Voice of America, Mercopress, Bloggings by Boz, Taiwan News Online, MSNBC, AHN, People’s Daily Online

L. da Silva: South-South Summit in Salvador

Just weeks after the emergency UNASUR meeting held in Chile (which, by definition, excluded US participation), plans are underway for another meeting in Bahia, Brazil in mid-December.

Brazilian Foreign Minister, Celso Amorim, told press this week that the meeting can be seen as another key step towards regional integration, which he deems "necessary," adding that international crises such as those underway "demand integrated solutions."

Other leaders are less coy about the promise for integration. Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque called the summit a chance for the region to "speak with its own voice," and sees it as the start of a longer "process toward unity, integration and cooperation among the Latin American and Caribbean countries."

While the topics of the summit purport to be large and wide-ranging, what is clear is that the summit will be infused with an urgent spirit based primarily on the external and international crises on money, energy, and food.

Particularly interesting is the enthusiasm that foreign leaders have shown for the summit to be held in Brazil, and for the leadership that Lula is showing in the region. As Lula faces the nearing of the end of his mandate, the question of his legacy may well be on his mind.

Also of interest--to me, anyhow--is that a google news search (English, all dates) of "summit" + "Brazil" + "December" yields only news sources from Cuba, China, Brazil (and one random one from Italy).

Sources: IPS News, Granma, Xinhua News Service, Bloggings by Boz

LatAm-E.U. summit begins in Peru

A summit of European and Latin American leaders started today in Lima, Peru with the focus on several topics. Representatives from both sides of the Atlantic are meeting to tackle issues like rising food prices, discussions over free trade, biofuel usage, and regional poverty.

The summit has already been hampered in that several heads of government have not made the trip including those from Italy, Cuba, France, and the U.K. Worse could be that the summit could fall apart over differences between countries; chiefly, the diplomatic conflict between Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador over relations with Colombian guerillas. Yet Peruvian president Alan Garcia emphasized unity between countries and that participants should seek real solutions:

“I request as host that we need to write down and sign on to concrete goals…We cannot allow ourselves to carry the shame of not doing anything concrete and reasoned in order to avoid the hell that hovers under millions of people.” – [ed. personal translation]

Sources (English)- Guardian UK, BBC News, AFP, The Latin Americanist

Sources (Spanish)- El Tiempo

Image- Diario La Republica