Obama Said He Doesn't Mind Criticism on Libya Mission in Latin America

Andres Oppenheimer

In his first reaction to Latin American criticism of the U.N.-sanctioned military action in Libya, President Barack Obama said Tuesday he was not disappointed with the reaction and stressed that there was "strong international support" for enforcement of the no-fly zone.

In an interview with The Miami Herald, in which he talked at length about U.S. relations with key countries in the region, Obama said that the allied military action has "saved lives" and that it has caused "few, if any, civilian casualties."

Asked whether he was frustrated that Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay have reacted with various degrees of criticism to the military action, Obama said that "politics internationally are always complicated. You have a lot of countries that have a lot of interests."

But he added that "you have to keep in mind that we are initiating this under U.N. Security Council resolutions 1970 and 1973. This is not my judgment, this is the international community's judgment that when a leader turns his own army against his own people, and threatens to unleash them on a city and shows no mercy, then the international community has to act."

INTERVENTION

Referring to the strident criticism by Venezuela and its closest allies, he said that "there will always be the very few usual suspects who are going to be very critical of what the United States or Western countries do, no matter what. But here you have a situation where you had not only the Security Council calling for intervention, but the Arab League calling for intervention, you have the Gulf Council calling for intervention."

Colombia, Chile and Peru have supported the mission.

During the interview, Obama expressed hopes that the pending free trade deals with Colombia and Panama will pass the U.S. Congress, but refused to say whether it will happen this year.

ARGENTINA

He also expressed concern about a recent incident in which Argentina seized part of the cargo of a U.S. military plane that was carrying supplies for a joint military exercise, and said he follows events in Cuba and Venezuela closely, including Venezuela's alleged aid to Iran's nuclear program.

LEARNING SPANISH

On a lighter note, while talking about U.S. ties with Latin America, Obama disclosed that his two daughters have chosen to take "fairly intensive Spanish" at Sidwell Friends, the Washington, D.C., school they attend, and said he regretted not having followed up himself on the Spanish classes he took in school.

Obama said his 12-year-old daughter, Malia, told him, regretfully, during their stop in Santiago, Chile, "You know, Daddy, when we go to a country, everybody speaks English. But we don't speak their language."

He added, "Absolutely. I told her, the biggest regret I have is that I was too lazy in Spanish. I took Spanish, but I didn't apply myself, and as a consequence, I can understand a bit, and my pronunciation is pretty good when reading from a script, but I am not able to communicate effectively in that language."

It's going to be "important for Americans" to speak Spanish at a time when Latin America is increasingly important on the global economic and diplomatic stage, he said.

Obama Unlikely to Make New Gestures to Cuba Without Action From Havana

By Andres Oppenheimer

For a man who prides himself on having taken "unprecedented steps" to try to ease five-decade-old U.S. tensions with Cuba, President Barack Obama did not look eager to make new gestures toward the Cuban military regime when I interviewed him Tuesday.

The ball is in your court, he seemed to be telling Cuba.

Obama, who talked extensively about issues ranging from tensions with Venezuela and Argentina to the pending U.S. free trade deals with Panama and Colombia, said he has made some of the most significant changes in U.S. policy to Cuba in decades, but the Cuban leadership has not responded in kind.

"We have expanded remittances, we expanded travel, we have sent a strong signal to the Cuban people," Obama said. "The Cuban government made some gestures about releasing political prisoners and starting some market-based economies with small business opportunities. (But) we haven't seen as much follow-through as we would like."

Obama said that Cuban authorities must take some "meaningful actions," but was not specific when I asked what would be the minimum measures Cuba should take to improve bilateral ties.

Obama did not mention the case of Alan Gross, the U.S. contractor who was sentenced to 15 years in prison this month for taking telephone equipment to Cuba, but other U.S. officials have asked for his immediate release in recent days.

On the pending U.S. free trade deals with Colombia and Panama, I asked Obama whether he sees a better than 50 percent chance that he will send them to Congress for a vote this year.

"I won't put a number on it, but I am very interested in getting those deals done," he said.

But this year? I insisted. Republicans are accusing Obama of dragging his feet on both deals because of resistance from U.S. labor unions whose support Obama will need to be re-elected next year.

"I am sending my team to Colombia and Panama to see how we can quickly resolve any final differences before we put them to Congress," he said.

This year?, I insisted once again.

"Whenever you put a timetable, people complain if it happens even a week after your deadline, so I try to avoid those numbers," he said.

My translation: Obama is not ready to spend much political capital on the two pending free trade deals with Latin America, at least not yet. And if he doesn't do it this year, it's not likely to happen during an election year in 2012.

On reports that Venezuela is secretly helping Iran obtain uranium in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions aimed at stopping Iran's nuclear weapons program, I asked Obama whether he is concerned about this issue, and to what extent.

"We take non-proliferation very seriously," Obama said. "I wouldn't make categorical statements to you about these issues, but we are concerned that international law, international resolutions, are observed, and we want to make sure that they are observed."

My translation: Obama has been told by his top aides that recent allegations by top Republicans in Congress that Venezuela actively is helping Iran circumvent U.N. sanctions for its nuclear program are politically-motivated, and that there is no smoking gun yet tying Venezuela to Iran's nuclear weapons program.

On the recent U.S. diplomatic row with Argentina over the South American government's decision to seize equipment from a U.S. Air Force cargo plane that had landed there for a joint exercise, I asked Obama whether his White House spokesman had over-reacted when he described the incident as "serious," and whether the whole issue has already been solved.

"No," Obama responded. "It is serious in the sense that Argentina historically has been a friend and a partner of the United States. They have some of our communications equipment. There is no reason not to return it. And next time I see President (Cristina Fernández de) Kirchner, I will mention, 'Can we get our equipment back?' But it's not going to be a defining aspect of the U.S.-Argentine relationship."

My translation: Obama sees the Argentine government's decision to seize the U.S. equipment as a gross electoral propaganda move by Fernández de Kirchner's government to capitalize on anti-American sentiment in that country in anticipation of this year's presidential elections.

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