Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

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Mexico: Obama arrives for summit

Obama Heads to Mexico Amigos Meeting Strained by Keystone

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s frustration with U.S. President Barack Obama’s failure to approve the Keystone XL pipeline may make this installment of the North America summit, known as the “Three Amigos,” the frostiest since the annual meetings began almost a decade ago.

At the one-day meeting tomorrow in Toluca, Mexico, with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Harper, Obama is bringing an agenda focused on trade, education, border security and stopping drug trafficking. Yet 20 years after the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect, the U.S. and Canada are at loggerheads over a $5.4 billion collaboration that would carry oil south from the thick sands of Alberta to American refineries along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana.

Hey, Canada has the oil, and will sell it.

Obama arrives in Mexico for summit that may show NAFTA strains

Rather than re-debate NAFTA, Obama is expected to press Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to speak with one voice as they negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed trade bloc that includes 12 countries around the Pacific Rim.

Comment from prior post:

In the 1980′s Reagan had Saudi Arabia increase oil production to drop the price and hurt the USSR’s cash cow. Why can’t we allow Keystone XL to be completed to kill Venezuela’s cash cow? Canadian heavy blend and Venezuelan crudes are all the same type of crude oil which are used by several very major Gulf Coast refineries. Other crude oils cannot economically replace them.

Indeed!

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Monday’s North American summit: Just how bad was it?

The North American summit that the US media ignored was a disaster that the foreign media reported: IBD explains how Obama Alienates Canada And Mexico At Three Amigos

Obama’s neglect of our nearest neighbors and biggest trade partners has created deteriorating relations, a sign of a president who’s out of touch with reality. Problems are emerging that aren’t being reported.

Fortunately, the Canadian and Mexican press told the real story.
…
Energy has become a searing rift between the U.S. and Canada and threatens to leave the U.S. without its top energy supplier.

The Winnipeg Free Press reported that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned Obama the U.S. will have to pay market prices for its Canadian oil after Obama’s de facto veto of the Keystone XL pipeline. Canada is preparing to sell its oil to China.

Until now, NAFTA had shielded the U.S. from having to pay global prices for Canadian oil. That’s about to change.

Canada has also all but gone public about something trade watchers have known for a long time: that the U.S. has blocked Canada’s entry to the eight-way free trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an alliance of the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Peru, Chile, and Singapore. Both Canada and Mexico want to join and would benefit immensely.

With the media’s “layers of fact-checkers,”

U.S. media dutifully reported Obama’s false claim that Canada, our top trading partner, is too protectionist

But the Canadians know the truth,

Canada’s take was far more blunt: “Our strong sense is that most of the members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership would like to see Canada join,” said Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in essence revealing that it’s the Obama administration alone that is blocking Canada, and suggesting that payback on energy was coming.
…
Things were even worse, if you read the Mexican press accounts of the meeting.

Excelsior of Mexico City reported that President Felipe Calderon bitterly brought up Operation Fast and Furious, a U.S. government operation that permitted Mexican drug cartels to smuggle thousands of weapons into drug-war-torn Mexico. This blunder has wrought mayhem on Mexico and cost thousands of lives.

The mainstream U.S. press has kept those questions out of the official press conferences, while Obama has feigned ignorance to the Mexicans and hasn’t even apologized.

In short, the summit was a diplomatic disaster for the U.S. and its relations with its neighbors north and south.

It should have been the easiest, most no-brainer diplomatic task Obama faces.

Go read the whole thing, while at the same time keep in mind that Obama diverted the press conference into the issue of Obamacare and the SCOTUS.

And he got his Constitution facts wrong.

UPDATE,
Linked by Moe Lane, and Instapundit. Thank you!
Linked by HACER. Thank you!

And now,
Canadian PM Harper: The Price The US Pays For Canadian Oil Is About To Go Up, Up, Up, Thanks To President Ladies’ Tee. AFTER KEYSTONE, WE’D RATHER SELL OIL TO CHINA (h/t Instapundit)

“Smart diplomacy”, folks, “smart diplomacy”…


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“Smart diplomacy”: Finger-wagging good

After bowing to Hu and bear-hugging Lula, it was time to wag a finger at Harper:

The look on Harper’s face, I can’t read. He’s either cowed or repressing his own anger. He appears to be looking directly at Obama’s finger. He is making a fist. Anyone want to supply a caption?

Here’s the photo:

Meanwhile Michelle Obama Debuts Solo Diplomacy in Mexico City. She’s scheduled to visit with Mexican First Lady Margarita Zavala, stop by the Museum of Anthropology and History, the Siete de Enero elementary school, and give a speech at the IberoAmerican University.

That ought to go well.

At least Michelle didn’t wag any fingers while in Haiti.

——————————–

I’ll talk about Michelle Obama’s Mexico trip in today’s podcast at 11AM Eastern.

Related reading:
Michelle Obama Arrives in Mexico

Michelle Obama launches solo agenda on Mexico tour
Mexico, Haiti trip defining Michelle Obama international image
Robin Givhan examines Michelle Obama’s first trip abroad alone

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French delegates walk out on Ahmadinejad at Geneva

I first heard about this during this morning’s conference call with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper:

Delegates walk out on Ahmadinejad at Geneva. First a guy in a clown suit threw a red nose at Ahmadinejad, and after he was removed from the premises, Ahmadinejad continued with his speech.

Then came the good part:

At this point the Iranian president’s speech moved to the subject of Israel and the Palestninians.

“As was the case after World War II, armies occupied other territories and people were transferred from territories. In reality, under the pretext of compensating for the evil done in the name of xenophobia, they in fact set up the most violent xenophobes, in Palestine.”

“The Security Council made it possible for that illegitimate government to be set up. For 60 years, this government was supported by the world. Many Western countries say they are fighting racism; but in fact support it with occupation, bombings and crimes committed in Gaza. These countries support the criminals,” Ahmadinejad said.

“Governments must be encouraged and supported in their fights at eradictating this barbaric racism. Efforts must be made to put an end to Zionism,” he said.

As he spoke, France walked out of the room in protest. Some twenty delegates were seen leaving the room.

The French are showing great gumption recently.

During the conference call, PM Harper was asked about the incident. PM Harper stated that he didn’t know about it and that he doesn’t like anything that smacks of violence towards a speaker but to the extent the reaction demonstrated a reaction to Ahmadinejad’s position, he thinks it’s OK: “Anything that shows there’s strong opposition to that, is a positive thing.”

UPDATE
Among those who walked out on A-jad were envoys from the UK and Finland, and

Later, other protesters shouted down from the balcony as the Iranian president carried on his address.

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