Obama studies up on Latin America, proposes Cuban dialogue
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Miami Herald columnist Andres Oppenheimer noted over the weekend that Sen. Barack Obama has been doing his homework about Latin America.
In this video, Obama talks about the importance of direct diplomacy with Latin America and Cuba.
‘When I last interviewed him about U.S.-Latin American relations 10 months ago, Obama had trouble naming any head of state south of the U.S. border, and looked like a deer in the headlights when asked about the region’s headlines of the day.’ ‘But when I interviewed him again Friday in Miami, shortly before his first major speech on Latin American issues, he spoke confidently about regional affairs. He even mentioned two presidents -- by name,’ writes Oppenheimer.
The senator has called for ‘direct diplomacy, with friend and foe alike,’ saying he would meet with Cuba’s Communist leaders in hopes of advancing democracy on the island.
‘But as the ailing longtime Cuban leader fades from the scene and his brother and successor, Raul Castro, loosens the strictures on a society hungry for change, this year’s presidential candidates are confronted with a more complex Cuban American electorate to woo. ‘Sen. Barack Obama plunged boldly into these uncharted political waters Friday when he called for ‘direct diplomacy, with friend and foe alike’ in a speech to the Cuban American National Foundation, a group that has become more moderate in recent years but remains a bastion of anti-Castro sentiment. Obama said he would ‘turn the page’ on half a century of policy isolating Cuba,’ writes Carol J. Williams of the L.A. Times.