Hugo's Gift Keeps on Selling

(NEWSER) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gave President Obama a Spanish-language book today about the historical ravages visited on Latin America by colonial powers, Politico reports. The English title of the 1971 book by Eduardo Galeano is The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent. The gift came as Obama met with Chavez and other Latin American leaders. More»

Condemnation of Honduran coup parries accusations of US complicity

(NEWSER) - President Obama confounded Hugo Chávez’s attempts to implicate Washington in the Honduran coup by calling for President Manuel Zelaya’s reinstatement, Simon Romero writes for the New York Times. When the coup was announced, Chávez immediately suggested that the US was financing Zelaya’s opponents or, as happened during a coup against Chávez himself in 2002, knew of the coming putsch and did nothing to stop it. More»

Odds are, summit will be full of awkward moments

(NEWSER) - President Obama got a warm welcome on his recent Europe trip, but he shouldn't expect the same from Latin America, the Washington Post reports. At the upcoming Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, the new president is likely to face some tough questions, and potentially awkward moments, as he meets leaders from a region battered by the economic crisis. More»

Dem's speeches good for language-learners, more inspiring than local pols'

(NEWSER) - The Japanese version of Amazon.com features an unlikely bestseller: the collected speeches of Barack Obama, with Japanese translation and accompanying CD, Reuters reports. Obama’s inspiring but straightforward rhetoric is perfect for teaching English in a country that hankers to learn the language. He “uses words such as ‘yes, we can,’ ‘change’ and ‘hope’ that Japanese people can memorize,” the publisher says. More»

Summit leaders increasingly want to end war on drugs

(NEWSER) - With an election year well under way, President Obama went to the Summit of the Americas in Colombia determined to talk about trade deals and the economy. Unfortunately, many of the other leaders wanted to talk about the failed war on drugs and legalization, reports the LA Times . "In spite of all the efforts, the illicit drug business is still buoyant, drug addiction in all countries is a serious public health issue, and drug trafficking is still the main provider of funding for violence and terrorism," said Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. More»