Latin America to U.S. - DROP DEAD!!!

Latin America summit excludes U.S. and welcomes Cuba

Dec 17, 2008
By Raymond Colitt

COSTA DO SAUIPE, Brazil (Reuters) - Latin American leaders on Tuesday blamed the global economic crisis on rich countries and welcomed Communist-run Cuba at a summit meeting designed to weaken U.S. influence in the region.

The presence of Cuban President Raul Castro at the meeting in northeastern Brazil was touted as a sign of Latin America's growing independence from the United States, a far cry from the Cold War era when Cuba was expelled from the Washington-based Organisation of American States.

"Cuba returns to where it always belonged. We're complete, we're forming a team, a good team," said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the region's most vehement U.S. critic and Cuba's closest ally.

"The most positive thing for the independence of our continent is that we meet alone without the hegemony of the empire," Chavez said in reference to the United States.

Previous summits of Latin American and Caribbean leaders have always included former colonial powers Spain and Portugal or the United States.

Castro, on his first foreign trip since taking over from his ailing brother Fidel Castro earlier this year, said an unfair, world economic order benefiting rich countries and multinational companies was in crisis.

"It's the demise of an economic model," he said.

Cuba's admission on Tuesday into the long-standing Rio Group of more than 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries brought renewed calls for an end to the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

Castro said on the eve of the summit meeting here that he was open to meeting with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to discuss the issue.

I don't know about y'all, but in these tough economic times, with the United States suffering a trillion dollar deficit..... this seems like a hell of a good time to stop sending that $62,000,000,000 (Billion) we send in Foreign Aid to Latin America each year. That's probably what they used to pay the bill for this little shindig!!!!

Let Chavez write the check......!