Obama Ending Americas Tour, Cuts Mayan Visit

[Judi Lynn]

Obama Ending Americas Tour, Cuts Mayan Visit
Obama's Latin America tour slightly trimmed as president attends to Libya
The Associated Press
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador March 23, 2011 (AP)

President Barack Obama is leaving Central America earlier than scheduled, cutting short a tour dominated by the U.S.-led military action in Libya.

The president eliminated a visit to Mayan ruins from his itinerary Wednesday, permitting him to leave a few hours earlier. Aides have taken pains to portray Obama as fully engaged in the deployment of missiles and warplanes in North Africa even as he devoted his public time to bridge-building with Latin American leaders.

But he couldn't escape the juxtaposition of missions.

The three-country, five-day tour meant to re-establish U.S. leadership in the region. The president traveled to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador, countries that have undergone political transformations over the past decades.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=13199509

[EFerrari]

1. I found some more Reuters pics of the Chilean protests.

I was actually looking for the ones from El Salvador.





The caption for this one says these people are indigenous Hondurans

[Judi Lynn]

2. Very interesting photos. The next to the last one does have indigenous Hondurans, in El Salvador!

Just found this one and recognized the man with the cross:




On the eve of U.S. President Barack Obama’s arrival, members of the Civic Council of
Indigenous and Popular Organizations in Honduras (COPINH) demand the U.S. withdraw its
support of Honduras President Porfirio Lobo in San Salvador, El Salvador, Monday March
21, 2011. The protestors gathered in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral where Obama is
scheduled to visit Wednesday the tomb of slain Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo
Romero.

Luis Romero
Looks as if someone in the first photo, standing in the group, was so overwhelmed with feelings he had to salute the burning flag! Oh, they all envy us, don't "they"?

Thanks for posting the photos.

[EFerrari]

3. It's very hard to know what is going on in the region

because all we usually hear up here is happy talk.

[Judi Lynn]

4. You have to wonder why they even have journalism schools any longer,

since actual journalism died so long ago, or was it simply "disappeared"?

They're probably training them to AVOID disclosing any part of the truth about things which really matter.

[naaman fletcher]

5. Al Jazeera does

The quality of the reporting and editing is simply amazing.

[Bacchus39]

7. I would certainly recommend some in country investigative reporting for our friends who can't make

heads or tails of what is happening in Latin America.

[naaman fletcher]

8. I'll be

In Cartegna in may if you will be near by we should meet up.

[Bacchus39]

9. hey thanks, there is a good chance I'll be in a neighboring country in late May and early June

but if not, I definitely want to get back to Colombia.

[EFerrari]

6. Last night I watched an interesting BookTV segment

on the "underground" papers of the 60s.

Maybe we need some "on the ground" little papers, all over the world. It would be yet another way to connect thinking people as well as a complement to the net (which is still mostly free -- for now).

[rabs]

10. Firsthand report

Spoke to my daughter this afternoon. She lives in Santiago and works for a European multinational that has projects in Brazil, Uruguay and Chile.

I asked her about the Obama visit, she said:

1. The usual leftist protest groups were out, but this time joined by the Greens who are opposed to the secret U.S.-Chile nuclear cooperation accord signed on Friday.

2. The poorer people in Renca got a kick out of the visit by Michelle to a local school.

3. The middle-class people who had to work were pissed, because they went to lunch on Monday noon and when they tried to return to their offices, all roads in a radius of 30 blocks from La Moneda were closed. That meant most of downtown Santiago.

4. The wealthy and the well-to-do who live in the barrios altos, Manquehue, Las Condes, Providencia, did not give a crap about the visit. They stayed home to avoid the mess caused by the motorcades.

All in all, to most Chileans it was a visit that will be most unmemorable.

[Bacchus39]

11. don't forget between 200 and 400 protesters were in Rio depending on the source

O Globo or O Estadao. that just proves the level of hatred for Obama in Brazil now doesn't it??

[rabs]

12. You just keep digging yourself deeper into a hole

Obviously you have never lived in Brazil.

But had you lived in Brazil, especially Rio, you would know that Sundays are a sacred day for the cariocas; it is a day for Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon and other beaches.

But for millions, it also is a day for their true passion, futebol.

So even, as you claim, that if only 400 or so protested, that is quite a sacrifice, to give up the beach and Maracana.

Oh, it is O Estado de Sao Paulo, not O Estadao.

I lived/worked/studied in Rio for a little over two years. Ever heard of Laranjeiras? Probably not, but here's a brief wiki description.

É um bairro nobre da Zona Sul do Rio de Janeiro de classe média e classe média alta com condomínios de classe alta. É uma das vizinhanças mais antigas da cidade, iniciada no século XVII, com a construção de chácaras no vale ao redor do Rio Carioca, que descia do Corcovado, no atual Silvestre. Por isso, o bairro também foi anteriormente chamado de "Vale do Carioca".