Look for the Republican base to begin railing against nation building again.
Guatemala is also home to chronic hunger and widespread malnutrition, as Sam Loewenberg notes a recent news piece. The U.S. government will spend $25 million this year to attempt to alleviate the pain of some of this. But to shift millions of people out of hunger is a herculean task.
This all came to mind again, when a friend pointed out that a "frontrunner" for the USAID Administrator post, at least according to the windy personalities that populate the speculative, leadership vacuum that is current Washington, decided to take an actual job offer instead of waiting around for Obama to come calling.
Out in the field, a lot has moved into a "wait and see" mode. And as someone new to the ways of the federal government, I wonder how long we can go with a black hole in the center.
Cheryl Mills, Counselor to Secretary Clinton, and Paul Farmer, a prominent
Colombia
Uribe attended the ceremony and apologized to victims on behalf of the state.
Mrs. Hillary Clinton and also that we no longer believe in their negotiators.” Vice President Linera stated that negotiations would continue but that the Bolivian government had increasingly less hope of fair treatment by the
La Prensa and El Nuevo Diario continue to question why the OAS has been quick to criticize the removal of President Zelaya in
Jose Miguel Insulza has shown “great belligerence” with
Panama
Former assistant secretary of state Wendy Sherman, who was also North Korea policy coordinator in Clinton days, has also been mentioned for China and for undersecretary for economic matters at State and for head of the Agency for International Development. Another candidate for that latter job is Frederick Barton, a highly regarded former AID official who was a member of the Obama transition review team on development assistance and chaired an Obama campaign team on post-conflict reconstruction.
Whoever takes the AID job will have to rebuild an organization that's but a shell of its former self in terms of overseeing major development programs.
To messers. Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, & Stephen S. Nelson, a committee of the Danbury Baptist association in the state of Connecticut.
Gentlemen
The affectionate sentiments of esteem and approbation which you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of the Danbury Baptist association, give me the highest satisfaction. my duties dictate a faithful and zealous pursuit of the interests of my constituents, & in proportion as they are persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more and more pleasing.
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.
I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection & blessing of the common father and creator of man, and tender you for yourselves & your religious association, assurances of my high respect & esteem.
Th Jefferson
Jan. 1. 1802.
LEGISLATION:
- On Wednesday, April 1, the Senate passed unanimously an amendment
by Senators Kerry and Lugar, Chairman and Ranking Member, Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, to restore the 150 international
affairs part of the Senate FY 2010 Budget Resolution to the
President's request. Prior to the amendment, it was $4 billion
below the request.
- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a bill aimed at
spurring a "green revolution" to combat global food insecurity, in
part by loosening restrictions on using U.S. aid to buy food
overseas. The legislation would authorize $500 million for a new
emergency food assistance fund that could be used to buy food in
the affected region instead of buying it in the United States and
shipping it overseas. The bill also would create a global food
"czar" position at the White House, and would authorize $7.75
billion for agriculture research and exchange programs through FY
2014.
- The House approved on March 31, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve
America Act, which authorizes $10 million for USAID's Volunteers for
Prosperity Program. The measure was passed by the Senate on March
26.
- Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) Energy and Commerce Committee
and Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Energy and Environment
Subcommittee introduced legislation intended to create jobs, help
end dependence on foreign oil, and combat global warming. The
American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES also creates
an International Climate Change Adaption Program within USAID to
provide U.S. assistance for adaption to climate change.
Why on earth does anyone put up with this twaddle?
..but not anymore. Although some weeks ago in San Salvador, I felt a minor earthquake, once it was pointed out to me, I can't say that I seem to be all that sensitive to them. Last night, while I slept, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake shook the city...apparently. I didn't notice.
It's becoming more obvious by the day that Guatemala has become a new refuge for narco-money. Everywhere you look, there is new construction - fancy new malls, tall elegant highrise apartments - things that are generally beyond the means of most Guatemalans. A Colombian friend know the pattern. She grew up with it as a girl. Investments in complicated land deals generally serves as your best means to launder dirty money.
But of course, there are other ways. The old fashioned way for one. Come back to Guatemala with cash and stuff it in bank accounts. This doesn't seem to work out quite as well, thank goodness and a great deal is confiscated. However, by U.S. estimates, over the course of the last year and a half, at least $60 million has been laundered in the Guatemalan capitol. Yet another sign that narco-traffickers are moving south and away from the expanding war between cartels in Mexico.
Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills.
It is not the effort nor the failure tires.
The waste remains, the waste remains and kills.
It is not your system or clear sight that mills
Down small to the consequence a life requires;
Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills.
They bled an old dog dry yet the exchange rills
Of young dog blood gave but a month's desires.
The waste remains, the waste remains and kills.
It is the Chinese tombs and the slag hills
Usurp the soil, and not the soil retires.
Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills.
Not to have fire is to be a skin that shrills.
The complete fire is death. From partial fires
The waste remains, the waste remains and kills.
It is the poems you have lost, the ills
From missing dates, at which the heart expires.
Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills.
The waste remains, the waste remains and kills.
-- William Empson
So I was, to say the least surprised to hear what President Obama said in his inaugural:
"To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it."
That's quite a statement folks. Being where I am, I couldn't be more pleased.
Last night's was my first taste of the diplomatic style arrival. It's interesting and far more pleasant than the usual customs process. For instance, I was greeted by several office staff, one of which promptly set off to get my bags, while I waited with another in the "diplomatic lounge". No customs, no worries at all. How nice.
Let's just say that the Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times," seems incredibly apt.
With all this change in the air, my blog will be changing character too. From now on, it will be quite a bit more personal a lot more about Guatemala. As a country with a lot of natural gifts and historical difficulties, the Land of Perpetual Spring is sure to make for an interesting ride!
- Location:Washington, DC
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