News Headlines from the Near-Future: "Obama Reelected with 70% of the Latino Vote"

"Experts attribute margin to this moment captured at PHX Airport."

Get this Article to the President

The Economist, of all publications, has suggested a solution to the Posada Carriles issue that would send the admitted terrorist to Venezuela to face trial in exchange for the USAID subcontractor, Alan Gross. Gross was sentenced in Cuba last month to 15 years in prison for delivering video phones to the island's Jewish community. President Jimmy Carter returned from Havana empty-handed shortly after his conviction.

The article doesn't address the all but certain certain fallout in Little Havana, where Elián pt. II could ensue, but does point out that the initial extradition order issued by Venezuela was blocked by a Florida judge for specious reasons. The judge cited fear of torture in Venezuela, which the author claims, despite its many other problems, doesn't have a significant track record of torture.   

The Cubana flight 455 that Posada Carriles has admitted to bombing was headed from Barbados to Jamaica, could President Obama broker a deal where one of these two nations would put him on trial?

Obama's Latin Americanists

After seeing how powerful an unconfirmed Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs could be during the Bush administration, one Otto J. Reich, I would like to devote space on this blog discussing the Latin America team that President Obama is constructing.

First off, Obama's nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs:

The chileno and current Director of Georgetown's Center for Latin American Studies, Arturo Valenzuela, has been tapped for the above mentioned position at State. Although his vote has been delayed by Sen. DeMint due to to unhappiness with US policy regarding Honduras, his confirmation should come by next week.

So who is Valenzuela and what has he done? Well, it turns out he's no stranger to Democratic administrations having worked at State during Clinton's first term and moving to the White House during the second term to serve as Special Assistant to the President on National Security Affairs as well as a senior staffer at the NSC. He also advised Hillary Clinton during last year's campaign (which should allow him some autonomy at State, as one can see he's been a respected partner of the Clintons for nearly two decades) and Michael Dukakis during the 1988 election.

Although he has spent much of his life in the US, he returned to Chile frequently and became a trusted member of the opposition to Pinochet and helped organize the 'No' campaign in the 1988 presidential referendum. Overall, he appears to have mellowed into a centrist who, colleagues say, doesn't have much of an ideological bent.

Please stay tuned for recurring posts on Obama's guys and gals in Mexico City, Brasilia, and Foggy Bottom.

Lost for 47 Years, Cuba's Postal Service Finally Delivers Invitation to OAS Bash

President Obama was largely unsuccessful in convincing Republicans to vote for the stimulus and Europeans turned down his request for more boots on the ground in Afghanistan but it appears he's inspired the OAS to reach a comprise on Cuba's membership into the organization. Hey, if they were going to do it anyway, why not try to make sure it doesn't stymie his trickiest policy initiative in the hemisphere, right?

...Had Ortega dozed off?

The ball is now in the Castro brothers court.