Thread: US Snubbed At 1st South American-Arab Summit (A Must Read)

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U.S. Snubbed At 1st South American-Arab Summit

WORLD VIEWS: U.S. snubbed at first South American-Arab summit; tourism down in U.S. as border controls discourage visitors; Taiwanese president pressured to deal with Beijing
Edward M. Gomez, special to SF Gate

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

WORLD VIEWS: U.S. snubbed at first South American-Arab summit; t...
05/17/2005

"The symbolic message of the snub couldn't be huger," observed Larry Birns, head of the Council of Hemispheric Affairs, a nonpartisan Washington think tank specializing in Latin America. "[M]ind-boggling in its significance," as Birns put it, the big snub came at the Bush administration's expense. The offending event: the first-ever Summit of South American and Arab Countries, which brought together representatives from 34 countries in Latin America and the Arab world to discuss trade and foreign-policy issues, completely bypassing the United States.

To Washington's alarm, the historic gathering, hosted by Brazil's left-leaning president, Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, in the capital city of Brasilia, confirmed that there is "a growing tendency in Latin American states to break out of the ghetto of U.S. diplomacy." (The London Line)

In Brasilia, Silva said the goal of discussions between Latin American and Arab countries was and will be to change the existing world order, in which, as he put it, "the rich keep getting richer, [and] the poor keep getting poorer." (Xinhua/China Daily)

Delegates to the Brazil confab pledged to collaborate in such areas as "tourism, transportation, scientific research, education and information technology," the Arab League's secretary-general, Amr Moussa, noted. They agreed to stay in close contact until their next gathering, in Morocco, in 2008. (Al-Gomhuria)

The Brazil summit comes as Latin American leaders are criticizing Bush's proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, a plan, they point out, that would restrict access to U.S. markets and continue Washington's handouts of taxpayer-funded subsidies to certain American industries, thereby not really promoting "free" trade after all. (The London Line).

In Brazil, on the subject of superpower, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, one of the biggest thorns in Bush's side, blasted the United States' "hegemonic ... pretension to [want to] be the owner of the world." In a way, Chavez added, "this summit is a kind of response to that pretension." "The Americans aren't going to be the owners of the world," he affirmed. "The owners of the world are all of us." (El Universal, Venezuela)

No international gabfest like Brazil's ends without a high-reaching -- or at least grand-sounding -- declaration. In Brasilia, the Latin American and Arab delegates' concluding document denounced the United States' "economic sanctions against Syria, [said that] global rules of commerce are hurting the poor and suggest[ed that] intellectual property rights don't always apply in poor countries." It also rejected terrorism "in all its forms and manifestations" and called for an international forum to be convened to define just what terrorism means. (It asserted that terrorism's current definition has been established by the world's rich countries.) (Xinhua/China Daily)

For its part, the Bush administration took the implied criticism from the Brazil conference in stride. "We hope our friends in the hemisphere do not fall back on the failed policies of the past," a U.S. State Department official stated. He said, "We will work with any country, provided its leader is democratically elected." (The London Line).

* * * *
"The U.S. is for sale." That's the message prospective German vacation travelers have been hearing lately. As the dollar plummets in value against the euro, travelers with pockets full of Europe's strong currency are finding that hotels, tourist attractions and shopping in the United States are cheaper than ever. (Der Spiegel)

At the same time, though, strict immigration rules that have been implemented since the terrorist attacks of September 2001 have been discouraging vacationers, students and businesspeople from heading to the United States.

As word spreads that incoming foreigners may be subjected to fingerprinting and eyeball-scanning procedures, Australia, South Africa and Asia have been "siphoning off" tourists that might normally travel to America. (Financial Times)

The U.S. government has also said that travelers from certain countries must start carrying biometric face-recognition passports by late October; the American travel industry fears that some nations will not be able to issue the high-tech passports in time, further discouraging their citizens from making trips to the United States. (Der Spiegel)

For Saudi Arabia, whose leaders are personally close to the Bush family and whose university system is patterned after the American one, tougher visa requirements for Saudi citizens wishing to enter the United States "are compelling our students to go elsewhere for higher studies," an official in the kingdom's higher-education ministry told Arab News.

Washington's tighter travel restrictions will affect U.S. travelers, too: On Dec. 31 of this year, the new Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative will go into effect, requiring all American citizens to eventually "have a passport or 'other accepted secure document' to enter or re-enter [the] United States." The Caribbean travel industry is shuddering at this development, which, it fears, will lead to a decline in the number of Americans traveling easily to the region and back home. (Caribbean Net News)

Until now, U.S. travelers have only had to present a driver's license, a birth certificate or a Social Security card to be admitted to most Caribbean countries, which have made Americans' entries relatively easy because they have wanted -- and needed -- those tourists' dollars.

By contrast, "Caribbean nationals have been irritated by the [long-standing] U.S. requirement that they must have passports and visas to enter the U.S. ...." They became "even more irritated with travel [to] the U.S. when the ... Department of Homeland Security required visitors to be fingerprinted, and photographs [to be] taken of their eyeballs at U.S. ports of entry." So far, many travelers from the Caribbean have regarded these procedures "both as ... intrusion[s] on their privacy and as a humiliation." (Caribbean Net News)

* * * *
Now that China has passed a tough-sounding "antisecession law" that asserts that the communist giant can and will use "military force should Taiwan move toward formal independence" (Reuters/Swissinfo), political rivals of Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian are urging him to deal more directly with Beijing to help calm increasingly tense relations between the mainland and the island China regards as a breakaway province.

The problem, though, is that Chen, head of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, staunchly supports Taiwan's independence. Dealing directly with the communist government on the mainland would go against his political principles and, in effect, undermine his leadership.

Meanwhile, Chen's political rivals are daring to communicate directly with Beijing. James Soong, head of Taiwan's People First Party, just returned from China, where he met with Chinese President Hu Jintao during what he called a "bridge-building" mission. (Central News Agency, Taiwan)

Soong's trip came on the heels of a similar junket by Lien Chan, chairman of the Kuomintang (the Chinese Nationalist Party), another of Chen's political opponents. Lien's headline-making face time with Hu last month marked the first meeting of top Chinese communist and Taiwanese nationalist leaders since 1945. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Predictably, Lien and Soong's China trips have not gone down well with Chen or with the many Taiwanese who strongly support the island's sovereign status. (China Post)

In their encounters with Hu Jintao, an editorial in The Taipei Times scoffed, both Lien and Soong "behaved as Beijing's script dictated," neither politician daring "to bring up the name 'Republic of China,' let alone stress that the Republic of China is a sovereign country." In their talks with Hu, the newspaper admonished, Lien and Soong "denied [the] Taiwanese their right to choose independence by dismissing it as an option altogether. They are therefore genuine enemies of democracy and hold the people in contempt."

A commentator in the Hong Kong-based Asia Times urged Chen to let the world clearly know "that China and Taiwan reunification will surely be a possibility, but ... Taiwan will never give up the claim for its own sovereignty and independence." (Asia Times)

Still, as China, emboldened by the antisecession law, rattles its saber a little louder, Soong insists that the Chen administration should not wait to reach out to Beijing. "There will be no better chance than now," he said. (Central News Agency)
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Author, artist and critic Edward M. Gomez is a former diplomat and correspondent for Time magazine in New York, Tokyo and Paris.

BB, very important find!!

WORLD VIEWS: U.S. snubbed at first South American-Arab summit; tourism down in U.S. as border controls discourage visitors;
What.......less ILLEGALS?

Taiwanese president pressured to deal with Beijing
We have major problems brewing here! Deserves vigilence.


"The symbolic message of the snub couldn't be huger," observed Larry Birns, head of the Council of Hemispheric Affairs, a nonpartisan Washington think tank specializing in Latin America. "[M]ind-boggling in its significance," as Birns put it, the big snub came at the Bush administration's expense.
Anything that says, "HEMISPHERIC" and "THINK TANK" is not to be trusted. Preface it with a sign saying, "BEWARE."

In Brasilia, Silva said the goal of discussions between Latin American and Arab countries was and will be to change the existing world order, in which, as he put it, "the rich keep getting richer, [and] the poor keep getting poorer." (Xinhua/China Daily)
And here we have the UN playing both ends against the middle. That's it Kofi, push those dictators as hard as you can. It actually might be the only thing that saves our country from CAFTA. Thanx, keep up the good work.

In Brazil, on the subject of superpower, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, one of the biggest thorns in Bush's side, blasted the United States' "hegemonic ... pretension to [want to] be the owner of the world." In a way, Chavez added, "this summit is a kind of response to that pretension." "The Americans aren't going to be the owners of the world," he affirmed. "The owners of the world are all of us." (El Universal, Venezuela)
Behind the scenes we should find Russia & China pulling the strings.

No international gabfest like Brazil's ends without a high-reaching -- or at least grand-sounding -- declaration. In Brasilia, the Latin American and Arab delegates' concluding document denounced the United States' "economic sanctions against Syria
Here ya go........spit out of the UN's vile mouth. Syria being Iran's stooge and Iran having been given heavy duty Tech secrets concerning long range missles & ELECTRIC MAGNETIC PULSE from China This is very serious business!

It also rejected terrorism "in all its forms and manifestations" and called for an international forum to be convened to define just what terrorism means. (It asserted that terrorism's current definition has been established by the world's rich countries.) (Xinhua/China Daily)
The UN {including the above countries} have been DISCUSSING the meaning of the term "terrorism" for quite a few years. Wonder how much longer this is going to take?

* * * *
"The U.S. is for sale." That's the message prospective German vacation travelers have been hearing lately. As the dollar plummets in value against the euro, travelers with pockets full of Europe's strong currency are finding that hotels, tourist attractions and shopping in the United States are cheaper than ever. (Der Spiegel)

As word spreads that incoming foreigners may be subjected to fingerprinting and eyeball-scanning procedures, Australia, South Africa and Asia have been "siphoning off" tourists that might normally travel to America. (Financial Times)
Well now, isn't this cute! That will leave just AMERICANS who will be subjected to this invasive tactic now, won't it?

The U.S. government has also said that travelers from certain countries must start carrying biometric face-recognition passports by late October; the American travel industry fears that some nations will not be able to issue the high-tech passports in time, further discouraging their citizens from making trips to the United States. (Der Spiegel)

For Saudi Arabia, whose leaders are personally close to the Bush family and whose university system is patterned after the American one, tougher visa requirements for Saudi citizens wishing to enter the United States "are compelling our students to go elsewhere for higher studies," an official in the kingdom's higher-education ministry told Arab News.
GOOD BYE and don't let the door slam you guys in the asses

Washington's tighter travel restrictions will affect U.S. travelers, too: On Dec. 31 of this year, the new Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative will go into effect, requiring all American citizens to eventually "have a passport or 'other accepted secure document' to enter or re-enter [the] United States." The Caribbean travel industry is shuddering at this development, which, it fears, will lead to a decline in the number of Americans traveling easily to the region and back home. (Caribbean Net News)

* * * *
Now that China has passed a tough-sounding "antisecession law" that asserts that the communist giant can and will use "military force should Taiwan move toward formal independence" (Reuters/Swissinfo), political rivals of Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian are urging him to deal more directly with Beijing to help calm increasingly tense relations between the mainland and the island China regards as a breakaway province.
*** There is NO calming Bejing! Please everyone, understand that this is China's long standing declaration.........America is the ENEMY and must be destroyed. They have declared that they will be bringing back to the homeland all the historic lands. Their military buildup is astounding. Moving towards Taiwan is one of the choices to pull us into war. It's no joke---China has set up enough deals to force this into reality.

Soong's trip came on the heels of a similar junket by Lien Chan, chairman of the Kuomintang (the Chinese Nationalist Party), another of Chen's political opponents. Lien's headline-making face time with Hu last month marked the first meeting of top Chinese communist and Taiwanese nationalist leaders since 1945. (Sydney Morning Herald)