Tuesday, February 18, 2014

No 'Three Amigos' Summit for Obama This Time

Just another glaring example of lack of leadership 
and poor standing in the world affairs.
National Journal
"When President Obama flies to Mexico on Wednesday to meet with his North American counterparts, he'll be reviving a continental leaders' meeting that George W. Bush envisioned as an annual event when he hosted the first one in 2005. That one went so well it was dubbed the "Three Amigos Summit." Then-Mexican President Vicente Fox praised Bush, saying he had "mastered the traditional male hug of Mexican culture, the abrazo."
"But Obama is not really the hugging kind."
"And he, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper are not really acting much like amigos these days. So don't expect a lot of abrazos during Obama's time in Toluca, the capital of the state of Mexico, about 40 miles southwest of Mexico City. There are problems among the leaders of the continent's three countries.
Mexico City is displeased that Obama has failed to push through immigration reform in the United States. And Ottawa is displeased that Obama has taken five years to make up his mind on its proposed Keystone XL pipeline into the United States with still no decision in sight. "Canada has been very frustrated over the years that the Keystone decision has been put off, delayed," said Joshua Meltzer, an expert on global trade at the Brookings Institution. He expects Harper "to push a little bit" to get Obama to move faster now that the State Department has issued its findings on the climate impact of the pipeline. 
The schedule calls for Obama to meet separately with Peña Nieto soon after arriving in the Mexican president's hometown. Then, after a lunch with both of the other leaders, the U.S. president will have what the White House is calling a "walk and talk" with Harper." 
Continue Reading 

1 comment: