U.S. Foreign Aid Cutback Plan Sends Wrong Message
Andres Oppenheimer
HOME > WORLD > LATIN AMERICA
If President
The administration's foreign aid request to
Has
Now, as I was reading the administration's foreign aid proposal, I couldn't help thinking -- taking a line from columnist Lluis Bassets of the Spanish daily El País in a recent article about how the Obama administration looks at
Looking more closely at the proposed aid figures, most of the cuts for
U.S. officials say the drop is due to the fact that most of the helicopter and other heavy equipment purchases for
"It's hard to enter a different phase of a plan that has just started,"
The budget request also calls for more foreign assistance for
"It's a myopic view of the world," says
"But, politically, it sends the wrong message," Romero said. "People will say Obama is not paying attention to the region."
And would that be a crazy assertion? I asked. Romero responded, "Unfortunately, there is no thinking, there is no initiative, there is no nothing in regards to
In a telephone interview,
"The numbers for
My opinion:
The Obama administration can hardly be blamed for making marginal budget cuts here and there when it is fighting key wars in
What's much more worrisome is the absence of any major Obama initiative to promote closer economic ties with
Brazil Election to Offer Definite Contrast
Andres Oppenheimer
With Brazil's government-backed presidential hopeful Dilma Roussef rising in the polls, some of her most prominent critics are raising the specter that South America's biggest country will move closer to the radical left if she wins the October elections
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