[Peace-discuss] Thank You, President Obama, for Shaking Hands with President Chavez

[Robert Naiman]

It's worth noting that when Cuba was expelled from the OAS in 1962, it
wasn't for not being a democracy - think of all the countries that
would have been expelled between 1962 and today - it was because of
Cuba's ties with the Soviet Union. This is part of why people in the
region - including the head of the OAS - regard Cuba's continued
exclusion as absurd. Cuba's exclusion will fall, perhaps in the next
few months...When the Funes government takes over in El Salvador, the
US will be the only country in the Americas that does not have
diplomatic relations with Cuba...

On Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 11:18 AM, Jenifer Cartwright
<jencart13 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I especially loved that this flap served to emphasize that this was a
> meeting of DEMOCRACIES... and, tho' Cuba wasn't permitted to attend under
> those guidelines,  Venezuela was, because Venezuela IS a democracy!! And
> yes, soooo great that the detracters are moving the title up on Best
> Sellers' lists! Gosh, an informed electorate, what next?? Keep talking,
> Newt...
> What a great start to the week eh??
>  --Jenifer
>
> --- On Mon, 4/20/09, Robert Naiman <naiman.uiuc at gmail..com> wrote:
>
> From: Robert Naiman <naiman.uiuc at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Peace-discuss] Thank You, President Obama, for Shaking Hands with
> President Chavez
> To: "Peace-discuss List" <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
> Date: Monday, April 20, 2009, 8:44 AM
>
> The whole world was watching when President Obama shook hands with
> Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Most Americans, along with most
> people around the world, want the U.S. to try to get along with other
> countries, treat their leaders with respect, address disagreements through
> dialogue and negotiation, and look for areas of potential cooperation
> with countries with which we have disagreements on other issues.
>
> But Republican Senator John Ensign wasn't happy: "I think it was
> irresponsible for the president to be seen kind of laughing and joking
> with Hugo Chavez," said Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.
>
> Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich complained that by shaking Chavez' hand while
> smiling Obama had helped cause Eduardo Galeano's "Open Veins of Latin
> America" - the book Chavez gave Obama - to soar on best-seller lists.
>
> The basic fact that the Right won't acknowledge is this: we just had
> an election a few months ago, and Americans voted for the guy who
> wanted to talk, not the guy who wanted to keep pounding the table.
>
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/thank-you-president-obama_b_188895.html
>
> http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/4/20/93144/4027
>
> --
> Robert Naiman
> Just Foreign Policy
> www.justforeignpolicy.org
> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
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>
>



-- 
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org

"It's 11 AM in Washington. Do you know where your foreign policy is?"