Obama and Raúl Castro set to meet in Panama and test US-Cuba thaw
Source: The Guardian
In the past decade, it’s been hard to imagine any event in the diplomatic calendar that US presidents looked forward to with less enthusiasm than the Summit of the Americas, the chief opportunity for leftwing leaders in the region to gang up on their powerful “imperialist” neighbour.
But after the recent deal between the US and Cuba removed the principal source of resentment, State Department officials say Barack Obama will be hoping for a warmer reception when he flies into Panama City on Thursday for his third gathering of counterparts from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean.
The two-day summit should prove a showcase for detente. Obama and the Cuban president Raúl Castro will make their first appearance together since they announced moves to normalise relations after more than half a century of cold war hostility. Their handshake is likely to be one of the enduring images of the Obama presidency.
There are hopes for a further breakthrough. State Department officials said a review of Cuba’s status as a state-sponsor of terrorism is “nearing its conclusion”, raising the prospect that Obama may announce the removal of Havana from the list during the summit.
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/09/summit-of-the-americas-us-cuba-warmer-reception
This Summit of the Americas is shaping up to be VERY interesting.
'The Obama administration meanwhile has more reason than ever to engage with its neighbours: the increasingly important Hispanic vote in the US, which wants progress on key regional issues such as drug policy, immigration, Cuba and the economy.'
Go read the rest of the article. Very good in-depth look at Latin America.
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Kudos to Obama to caring about Cuba.
this fist-fight in progress on an OP that was moribund when I went to bed last night!
GO FIGURE! Glad you appreciated it, anyway!
