Honduras, Latin America: Week in Review
Obama Meets With Honduran President Lobo; Praises Return To Democracy
October 6, 2011 By Staff
Today in Latin America
Top Story — Honduran President Porfirio Lobo met Wednesday with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama at the White House to discuss economic and security issues, as well as Honduras’ recent return to the Organization of American States (OAS). Obama said that since Lobo was elected president the Central American nation has restored democratic practices and seen through a commitment to the country’s reconciliation in the wake of the 2009 coup that ousted then-President Manuel Zelaya. The U.S. president did add that “much work remains to be done” in Honduras, which has been plagued with high levels of violent crime especially toward opposition party members and journalists. The two leaders also discussed security issues as Honduras has become a major transit route for drug traffickers moving cocaine and other substances from South America into Mexico and the U.S. Lobo thanked Obama for his administration’s condemnation of the 2009 coup and for Washington’s friendship. “At a time of great crisis, you were there to help, and you were there to help us restore the family that is our nation,” he said.
Just Published at the Latin America News Dispatch
- The New York Immigration Coalition and the Fund for Public Advocacy launched a scholarship program Monday night aimed at undocumented students that would be eligible for the DREAM Act, if the federal bill were to pass.
Headlines from the Western Hemisphere
North America
- The acting director of the ATF said that a gun-running operation during the Bush Administration allowed weapons to be smuggled into Mexico.
- U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano defended Wednesday the Obama administration’s new policy of deciding which undocumented immigrants to send home first.
- Authorities in Mexico arrested one of the last major leaders of the quasi-religious La Familia drug gang.
- Three more alleged Zetas cartel members were arrested in connection to the Aug. 25 arson attack that killed 52 people in a casino in the Mexican city of Monterrey.
Caribbean
- Reuters assesses the continuing labor market reforms in Cuba.
- Haiti’s newly confirmed Prime Minister Garry Conille, a gynecologist and U.N. development expert, says he wants to inspire hope.
- Puerto Rican Gov. Luis Fortuño proposed a two-step election next year to determine the island’s status.
- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the Dominican Republic Wednesday, where she spoke in favor of making growth more equitable and offered $17.5 million in U.S. assistance.
Central America
- Honduran President Porfirio Lobo met with U.S. leader Barack Obama on Wednesday, who praised the Central American nation for its return to democracy.
- In a phenomenon linked to drug violence, thousands of young people in El Salvador are disappearing without explanation.
- The World Rafting Championships begin today in Costa Rica, where teams from 35 country’s will compete in a variety of races.
Andes
- Democrats in the House Ways and Means Committee opposed the U.S. free trade agreement with Colombia because it does too little to protect that nation’s workers.
- Ecuador will appeal an Aug. 31 ruling from an international tribunal in the Hague that gave Chevron $96 million in connection with claims made in Ecuadoran courts in the early 1990s.
- Police in Peru rescued 244 women, including at least 10 underage girls, working as forced prostitutes in a gold mining camp.
- Thousands of Venezuelans attended the wake of former President Carlos Andrés Pérez on Wednesday in Caracas.
Southern Cone
- Student leader continued talks with Chilean officials over educational reform in the Southern Cone nation.
- One of Dilma Rousseff’s Bulgarian relatives said she does not want to meet the Brazilian President due to an old family dispute.
- An Argentine goalkeeper saved five penalty kicks and converted a goal himself in the Copa Argentina.
Image: OAS – OEA @ Flickr.
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