Obama Defends Handshake, Urges Cuba to Free Prisoners

Bolivia, Ecuador latest to repudiate US anti-drug operations

(NEWSER) - Some Latin American countries are pushing back against the US by cutting off DEA operations, the Christian Science Monitor reports. President Evo Morales, saying DEA agents "worked to conduct political espionage," gave them 3 months to leave Bolivia. Ecuador, meanwhile, has refused to renew the US lease on a key airbase, which an American official says creates a "serious gap" in drug-interdiction operations. More»

Threatens to cut oil shipments

(NEWSER) - In a dramatic move in support of Bolivia, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez yesterday slashed diplomatic ties with the US, booting the American ambassador and calling home his envoy from Washington, reports Reuters. The socialist leader has also threatened to stop all oil shipments to the US—Venezuela’s largest customer—and plans to freeze relations with Washington until “there is a new government in the US that respects the people of Latin America.” More»

(AP) - Honduras' ousted president, bolstered by international support, said he will return home to regain control and urged soldiers to stop cracking down on thousands of supporters who have protested his overthrow. Flanked by Latin American leaders who have vowed to help him regain power, Manuel Zelaya said yesterday he would accept an offer by the OAS secretary-general to accompany him back to Honduras. More»

Nations eye alternative regional group

(NEWSER) - Venezuela would jump at the chance to join Cuba as an Organization of American States outcast, reports the AP. The never-shy Hugo Chavez claims the OAS, which suspended Cuba in 1962, serves US interests and says the two countries could form an alternative regional group. Cuba's foreign minister agreed, calling for Latin America and Caribbean states to form a body that "serves our people rather than the Empire." More»

(NEWSER) - Latin American and Caribbean leaders praised President Obama today for reaching out to Cuba and urged him to end America's trade embargo with the communist nation, Reuters reports. After Brazil, Venezuela, and Caribbean nations applauded Obama's call for a "new beginning with Cuba" at a summit in Port of Spain, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pressed Obama to "advance rapidly" toward that goal. More»