Countdown to the Summit of the Americas: Cozying up to Sudan’s Omar Bashir and Cuba’s Fidel Castro

Ray Walser / April 02, 2009

The Fifth Summit of the Americas kicks off in Trinidad and Tobago on April 17. President Obama will attend. U.S. diplomats are hard at work to make it the starting point for a “New Day” in Latin American partnership. Several Latin American leaders, however, are working hard to create difficulties and force U.S.-Latin America splits.

On his way to Iran this week, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez stopped off in Qatar. He wants Arab leaders to join him in creating a “petro-currency” to replace the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency as a stepping stone to a more multi-polar world. He extended an arm of solidarity to Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir. This is same leader served with an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in March 2009 on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. (more…)