Trump Is Destroying The U.S. Reputation In Latin America

Why did Donald Trump decide to skip the Summit of the Americas recently, and send the vic-president instead. The charts above could be a big clue. Most of the people in Latin America do not like or trust Donald Trump.

These charts use information from a survey of seven important Latin American countries (Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela) by the Pew Research Center in 2017. Note in the top chart, huge majorities in all those countries have no confidence that Trump will do the right thing regarding world affairs.

That lack of trust and confidence in Trump has resulted in a much less positive view of the United States in all of those countries.

In other words, Trump is trashing the reputation of the United States with our Latin American neighbors -- just like he has done in the rest of the world.

Latin America Agrees - U.S. Should End The Cuban Embargo

 (This cartoon on Cuban embargo is by Matt Wuerker at Politico.com.)

Recently, U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro negotiated a return to normal diplomatic relations between the two countries. And last month each nation officially opened an embassy in the other country. But one thing the president did not do was end the U.S. embargo of Cuba.

That embargo has now been in effect for over 50 years. It was instituted to put economic pressure on Cuba, and force it to change their government (to one more compliant with U.S. government policies and U.S. corporate greed). To say it has not worked would be an understatement -- and the other nations of the world long ago abandoned it. They all now trade with Cuba as though the embargo did not exist. That includes the nations in this hemisphere, especially the Latin American nations.

Latin American nations have tried to convince the United States for many years to allow Cuba into the Organization of American States (OAS), and to normalize relations with Cuba. Those goals have now been accomplished. All that really remains to be done is to end the embargo on trade with Cuba.

The reason President Obama couldn't end the embargo is because that embargo was imposed by Congress -- and only Congress can remove it. Unfortunately, Congress is controlled by right-wing Republicans -- and they still think they can gain politically from continuing the embargo (especially among their xenophobic base).

Latin American nations disagree. They want the embargo to end. The Pew Research Center surveyed at least 1,000 citizens in each of five of the largest and most powerful Latin American nations, and they found huge majorities of citizens in those nations want the United States to end the embargo against Cuba. They see it as divisive and counterproductive. The results of that survey are illustrated in the chart below:

Time For Sanford To Resign

It looks like it is time for Governor Mark Sanford to resign. After his disappearance for several days to Argentina for a tete-a-tete with his mistress "Maria", the calls for his resignation are starting to grow louder. It looks like even his wife thinks his tenuous position is not worth defending.

Mrs. Sanford told reporters, "His career is not a concern of mine. He's going to have to worry about that. I'm worried about my family and the character of my children." I really can't blame her for feeling that way. He not only publically embarrassed her and their children, but he broke the solemn oath he made to her on their wedding day.

Almost as bad, were the hypocritical lies Sanford seemed comfortable telling the American people. He was in the forefront of the "family values" clique of right-wing Republicans and a big wheel in the Promise Keepers organization. As a representative of both, he was quick to tell Americans how they should live -- and all the while he was violating his own words for at least the last year. He is the very definition of a hypocrite.

But the most important reason he should resign is his violation of his oath of office to the people of the state of South Carolina. He disappeared for nearly a week without telling anyone where he was going, not even his own staff (and to cover their ignorance, they cooked up a story about him hiking the Appalachian Trail). South Carolina citizens had a right to expect their governor to always be where he can be reached in case of an emergency.

Sanford has violated the trust of too many people. It is time for him to resign his governorship.

U.S. Sponsors Forum On Che Guevara

This is a perfect example of the difference between the Obama administration and the Bush administration. The Bush administration viewed the world in a very simplistic and unrealistic way. The world was divided into good and evil. There was no in-between. The good were composed of those people and countries who approved of the United States and agreed with our policies. Everything else was evil.

The Obama administration has a much more complicated view of the world. President Obama understands that just because a country acts in its own best interests rather than how the U.S. wanted, it does not necessarily mean that country is an enemy. Obama has decided to reach out to these countries on their own terms.

Last Friday, at the 35th International Book Fair in Buenos Aires, the United States sponsored and funded a forum on the revolutionary Che Guevara (who was from Argentina). Guevara was Fidel Castro's trusted right-hand in the Cuban Revolution, who dedicated his life to fighting for the poor and oppressed people of the Americas.

The forum featured two readings and a discussion about a new book on the iconic power of Che Guevara. It was attended by dozens of people, including local elementary school students.

The current administration is smart enough to realize that while many in the United States don't like Che Guevara, he is considered to be a hero in most of Latin America. The forum was a creative way to reach out to the Argentines (and other Latin Americans) and try to repair the bad feelings the Bush administration had created there.

This forum certainly won't hurt our efforts to bridge the political gap with Cuba either