Protestors in Panama Pound Pots and Pans Against Venezuelan President

Detractors of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Panama banged pots and pans in protest while he spoke at the Summit of the Americas on Saturday:

As seen in the video above, the cacophony of noise from the “cacerolazo” was done at apartment complexes near the Atlapa convention center in Panama City during the plenary session of the conference. The banging was accompanied by several yells of “Fuera Maduro”, derisive whistling and at least one Venezuelan flag with the acronym “S.O.S.” written on it.

The “cacerolazo” was heard not only outside of the Atlapa center but also allegedly within several of the locale’s rooms. (It does not seem that the protest was heard in the conference room where leaders from across the Western Hemisphere discussed regional matters).

Today’s protest followed a similar “cacerolazo” that occurred on Friday evening as Maduro and his wife entered the convention center. The couple was reportedly “unmoved” by the demonstration.

“Venezuela is stuck in a political, economic and social crisis, and we must prevent that which is preventable,” declared Lilian Tintori, wife of imprisoned Venezuelan opposition activist Leopoldo López, prior to visiting Panama during the Summit. Meanwhile, nineteen former Ibero-Americn leaders signed a declaration last week denouncing the “changes to constitutionality and democracy” in Venezuela.

During his intervention at the Summit, Maduro claimed that he was an “anti-imperialist” and blasted a March 9th executive order from U.S. President Barack Obama. The order placed sanctions against seven Venezuelan officials accused of human rights abuses and named the South American country as a "national security threat".

Americas Summit Consensus Reached on Drugs, Organized Crime

The sixth edition of the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia ended on Sunday with the absence of a final declaration. Despite the disagreement among countries over issues like Cuba, the Falklands and drug legalization, consensus was reached in other areas.

Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos announced that countries at the summit agreed to give the Organization of American States (OAS) a mandate to examine illegal drug policies.

“Many assumptions are made over how to carry out the fight against drugs. Nobody knows exactly how to do it and this must be analyzed,” said Santos at the end of the summit.

Americas Summit Ends Without Final Declaration

A lack of consensus over several divisive issue has led to the absence of a final declaration at the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia.

The thirty-one heads of government who attended the conference “dialogued sincerely” and in a “frank manner,” said Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos. “The lack of a final document does not mean that the summit was a failure,” said Santos at a press conference this afternoon.

One of the most disputed topics at the conference was the involvement of Cuba at future summits. “Most of the states back the inclusion of Cuba and hope that this can become a reality,” said Santos today. Meanwhile the ALBA bloc said that they will “not participate in any future Summits of the Americas without the participation of Cuba.” (The presidents of Ecuador and Nicaragua boycotted this year's summit due to the exclusion of Cuba).

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: February 16, 2012

* Honduras: According to “an internal Honduran government report obtained by The Associated Press” most of the inmates in a Comayagua prison where a major fire took place on Tuesday hadn’t been convicted of any crime.

* Central America: Guatemala’s conservative president, Otto Perez, and El Salvador’s leftist president, Mauricio Funes said that they would consider some form of drug legalization.

* Mexico: Police captured a suspected methamphetamine producer who is also a fugitive in the U.S.

* Cuba: Cuba’s Foreign Minister said that his country would be willing to attend the upcoming Summit of the Americas but rejected the idea of rejoining the Organization of American States.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews (“Body after body has been brought out of the raised Comayagua jail in Honduras after what is now recognized as the world's worst prison fire.”)

Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, CBS News, USA TODAY, BBC News, CNN

Daily Headlines: April 24, 2009

* Europe: To some the image of Che Guevara is that of a revolutionary icon; to Polish equality minister Elzbieta Radziszewska his image may be whitewashed and banned.

* Latin America: Despite all the exaggerated criticism surrounding Barack Obama’s recent encounters with Hugo Chavez, the U.S. leader’s presence at the Summit of the Americas may’ve boosted his ratings on foreign policy.

* Peru: Lawyers for ex-President Alberto Fujimori filed an appeal to overturn his recent conviction for human rights abuses.

* Venezuela: The mystery behind the deaths of 21 Venezuelan polo ponies in Florida may’ve been solved.

Image- Time (1962 photo of Che Guevara)
Online Sources- The Telegraph, The Latin Americanist, BBC News, MSNBC, csmonitor.com

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

Today’s Video: “What Is The Summit of The Americas?”

The Fifth Summit of the Americas starts today from Trinidad and Tobago and will unite leaders from most of the Western Hemisphere. A myriad of issues will be addressed during the conference including regional relations with Cuba as well as the U.S.’s role in the Americas.

But what is the Summit of the Americas all about? Howcast.com provides this brief and informative overview of the international conference:

Online Sources- Xinhua, Reuters, YouTube, Al Jazeera English

Not All Americans Welcomed at the Summit of the Americas

Cross-Posted at VivirLatino

A poet friend of mine invited me to join a Facebook Group called , "AMERICA" is not U.S.A. AMERICA is the name for a whole continent". This US-centrism has been a peeve of mine for at least ten years now, specifically from when I lived in Chile and found myself in the very difficult position of defending my Latina/Puerto Rican identity (Yes, Kai I'm talking about being Rican again, sigh).

Now the idea of who is "America" comes up again against the context of The Summit of the Americas, which started yesterday in Trinidad. Love him or hate him, President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua raised a good point at the start of the Summit, saying:

“It is not of the Americas , because Cuba is missing, Puerto Rico is missing,”

So how can you have a Summit of the Americas without two nations facing important challenges rooted in colonialism?

Tepid reception for Obama at T & T summit?

What awaits U.S. President Barack Obama at the upcoming Summit of the Americas? Guest contributor Lauren Conover had this to say:

As President Obama heads to Trinidad and Tobago this weekend for the Summit of the Americas, he may not get a very warm reception. It will be the first time he has met leaders such as Hugo Chávez, Evo Morales and Daniel Ortega. It is also likely that some of Latin America's heads of state will blame the United States for the world's economic crisis. "You have to be willing to accept that Latin Americans, who are experts in crisis after creating many of their own, will say 'We didn't create this one,' " José Miguel Insulza, secretary general of the Organization of American States.

While Latin America leaders are expected to push Obama on lifting the embargo on Cuba, Venezuela's Chávez has declined to comment thus far about the recent relaxing of travel and remittance restrictions for Cuban-Americans and Brazil's Lula has made it clear that he does not wish to see President Obama embarrassed about the issue. For his part, President Obama has stated that his main goal at the Summit to listen and bring a message of partnership.

Image- Guardian UK
Online Sources- AP, Mercopress, UPI, washingtonpost.com

Today’s Video: An olive branch to Cuba?

According to senior White House officials, U.S. president Barack Obama is expected to announce the relaxing of travel and remittance restrictions to Cuba:

The expected changes to U.S. policy are to also include permitting U.S. telecom firms to apply for licenses in Cuba. Yet the decades-long trade embargo is to remain intact as well as “sending gifts or other items to high-ranking Cuban government officials and Communist Party members.”

The anticipated diplomatic actions come four days before the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago. U.S.-Cuba policy is expected to be a hot topic at the summit; most hemispheric leaders have recently called for eliminating the trade embargo on Cuba.

Congress is currently considering whether travel restrictions to Cuba should be removed for all U.S. visitors.

Online Sources- YouTube, USA TODAY, marketwatch.com, CNN, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, PoliticalPunch, The Latin Americanist

Daily Headlines: April 13, 2009

* Peru: The White House’s diplomatic offensive ahead of this week’s Summit of the Americas continued on Friday when President Barack Obama spoke with Peruvian counterpart Alan Garcia.

* Mexico: Mexican immigration agents caught 88 Central American migrants trying to illegally cross the border.

* Chile: In order to counteract the worst economy in nearly a decade Chile’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the fourth time this year.

* Latin America: Days after being placed on a tax haven blacklist by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Uruguay, Costa Rica and two other countries were removed from it.

Image- esmas.com
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Voice of America, LAHT, Bloomberg, BBC News