Obama on Drug Legalization: Just Say No

U.S. President Barack Obama vehemently opposed any possibility of narcotics legalization, according to remarks he made before the inauguration of the Summit of the Americas on Saturday.

“My personal view and my administration’s position is that drug legalization is not the answer,” said Obama during a business forum with his Brazilian and Colombian counterparts.

Though Obama admitted that he is willing to discuss whether current drug laws are “doing more harm than good,” he warned that widespread legalization would lead to "consequences that are worse than what we’re going through at this moment.”

Daily Headlines: April 3, 2012

* Mexico: At the “Three Amigos” summit yesterday Mexican President Felipe Calderon called on the U.S. to revive an assault weapons ban while Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper vowed to boost trade with his North American partners.

* Ecuador: President Rafael Correa said that he would skip this month’s Summit of the Americas in Colombia since Cuba was not invited.

* U.S.: Over 3100 undocumented immigrants, most of whom are convicted criminals, were apprehended as part of a federal immigration sweep last week.

* Nicaragua: The head of the Nicaragua Sunflowers sex workers’ organization claimed that seven prostitutes have been murdered over the past twelve months.

Image Source – Flickr via Oldmaison (The heads of government of the U.S., Mexico and Canada met at the 2009 edition of the “Three Amigos” summit in Guadalajara). (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources- Voice of America, Huffington Post, LAHT, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: April 2, 2012

* Brazil: Several hundred people protested in Rio de Janeiro last week against a private event commemorating the anniversary of the 1964 military coup d'état.

* Mexico: Former President Miguel de la Madrid, who was in power from 1982 to 1988, died on Sunday at the age of 77.

* Haiti: Did Haitian President Michel Martelly receive “at least $2.5 million in kickbacks” as alleged by a Dominican investigative journalist?

* Latin America: The heads of government from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are expected to meet today at the White House for a conference nicknamed the “Three Amigos summit.”

Video Source – YouTube via arunturtle7

Online Sources- National Post, Defend Haiti, IPS, Voice of America

Daily Headlines: August 17, 2011

* U.S.: A few hundred demonstrators including Latino activists protested in several cities throughout the country against the Obama administration’s immigration policy.

* Brazil: President Dilma Rousseff may not be as keen as her predecessor was on arms purchases but that hasn’t stopped international firms like Boeing and Saab from attempting to land a multibillion-dollar fighter jet contract.

* Puerto Rico: Could Puerto Rican residents soon be allowed the right to vote in federal elections?

* Honduras: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper capped his official visit to Latin America by announcing that his country and Honduras reached a free trade agreement.

Image – New York Times (“In Chicago on Tuesday, a protest against policies leading to deportations.” Demonstrators criticized the current immigration policy including the increased number of deportations as well as problems with the Secure Communities program).
Online Sources- Reuters, AHN, UPI, Bloomberg

Weekend Headlines: August 7-8, 2011

* Cuba: The country’s top court upheld the prison sentence against Alan Gross, a U.S. contractor accused of illegally selling communications equipment in Cuba.

* Latin America: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to begin his official visit of four Latin American states with a stop in Brazil tomorrow.

* Caribbean: At least four people were killed on the island of Hispaniola as a result of Tropical Storm Emily.

* Venezuela: Over 2000 inmates were freed in an attempt to relive overcrowding in Venezuelan prisons.

Image – AP via BBC News (Supporters of Alan Gross, seen here in a photo with his wife before being detained in Cuba, claim that his imprisonment is unjust and an example of the government’s poor human rights record).
Online Sources- Reuters, TVNZ, Montreal Gazette, New York Times

World Watch: Beyond Bin Laden

The main headline in the global news from the past 24 hours has been the death of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. But there were other important news stories over the past few days such as the following:

* Vatican City: The late Pope John Paul II was one step closer to sainthood after Sunday’s beatification ceremony at the Vatican.

* Canada: Voters took to the polls in parliamentary elections that could spell the end to Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s five years in power.

* Europe: Austria and Germany became the last two E.U. members to remove immigration barriers for workers from the eight former communist bloc countries.

* Middle East: Israeli President Shimon Peres rejected the unity pact between Palestinian rivals political factions Hamas and Fatah and deemed the agreement a "grave mistake."

Video Source – AP via YouTube
Online Sources- The Telegraph, MSNBC, CSMonitor.com, ABC News

Canadian, Colombian leaders praise Obama

The enduring image from last weekend’s Summit of the Americas was the encounters between the presidents of Venezuela and the U.S. Since returning from the summit, Barack Obama has received plenty of stick from right-wing commentators like Newt Gingrich and John Bolton.

Aside from the ranting of some talking heads, how did some of the region’s rightist leaders view Obama’s role at the summit? Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper praised his neighbor for creating a "new era of dialogue" for the western hemisphere. Harper also commended Obama for emphasizing cooperation among the countries of Americas while also acknowledging differing ideological perspectives.

Despite worries that Colombia’s President (and staunch Bush admin ally) Alvaro Uribe would be marginalized, Obama and Uribe were able to square away several key issues. Both leaders pledged to visit the other’s country and Obama said that he would ask Trade Representative Ron Kirk to work with Colombian officials on the stalled free trade deal. “What matters is what is to come, what we can advance, the future meetings, the full agenda," observed Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez.

If two of the region’s main right-wing presidents praised Obama for his work at the summit, then what does that say about some of the exaggerative criticism he has faced at home?

Image- Voice of America
Online Sources- FT.com, FOX News, The Latin Americanist, globeandmail.com, Caribbean Net News, Colombia Reports, People’s Daily Online, GlobalPost

Daily Headlines: February 20, 2009

* Canada: U.S. President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper talked about free trade and the slumping economy but not Gitmo detainees during Obama’s state visit north of the border.

* Argentina: Weeks after an Argentine seminary removed Holocaust-denying bishop Richard Williamson the country’s government yesterday ordered him to return to Britain.

* U.S.: Is the Chamber of Commerce behind an ad campaign against Labor Secretary-designate Hilda Solis?

* Brazil: Aircraft manufacturer Embraer will lay off over 4000 employees due to the global economic decline.

Image- AP (“Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper shakes hands with President Barack Obama during a photo opportunity on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Thursday Feb. 19, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Adrian Wyld).”)
Online Sources- Reuters, washingtonpost.com, Mother Jones, BBC News, MSNBC, The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: March 20, 2008

* Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper blasted Mexican authorities for imprisoning a Canadian woman without trial for over two years.

* “We are going to respond with the full force of the law” declared a Chilean government spokesman after the capital city of Santiago experienced three bomb threats in two days.

* Peruvian police claimed to have captured a pair of Colombian guerillas near the border between both countries.

* A deal between Ireland and Argentina provides young adults an easier chance to work and live in each country.

Sources- Reuters, Bloomberg, Belfast Telegraph, Reuters Canada

Image- Edmonton Journal (“Brenda Martin inside the Puente Grande Women’s Prison in Guadalajara, Mexico”)