[Beck_isright]

Pinging anyone who still thinks Citi is a great investment, LOL:

"Last week the Argentinian president, Nestor Kirchner, said he would win the debate with Mr Bush in their one-to-one meeting in Monterrey "by a knockout"."

[Support Free Republic]

Rank	Location	Receipts	Donors/Avg		Freepers/Avg		Monthlies
31	Colorado	260.00	10	26.00	293	0.89	125.00	9

Thanks for donating to Free Republic!

Move your locale up the leaderboard!

[McGavin999]

AHA! They want to finger print us too, that's fine by me. Of course it will cut their tourism 75%, but that's OK. And if they don't come here? I think we'll manage to survive. Just think of all the aid money we'll save.

[Paleo Conservative]

The Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva, is scheduled to meet Mr Bush on the sidelines of the summit. But he is not the only Latin American president under pressure to stand up to what many view as US bulldozer tactics.

I thought those were Israeli tactics.

[goody2shooz]

I don't give a poop about about most of the countries to the south. Too many are basket cases, and continually whine about the U.S. as though it's our fault.

The true sign of maturity is to admit responsibility for your own actions and stop blaming others.

[Helix]

"The president, Hugo Chavez, last week called the US national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, "a real illiterate" after she condemned his closeness to Mr Castro and reluctance to call a leadership referendum. "

Please! Compared to Dr. Rice, Hugo Chavez's IQ falls somewhere in the mineral range.

[DumpsterDiver]

To me, this conference is more about how the U.S. should be giving more handouts to Latin America than it is anything else. This article points out the billions already flowing to Latin America in the form of remittances.

The Awkward Truth About Fighting Poverty
By Marcela Sanchez
Special to washingtonpost.com
Thursday, January 1, 2004; 10:33 PM

In less than two weeks, the leaders of the 34 democracies in the Americas will meet in Mexico at a special summit to address one central question: How, as economies grow and wealth is created, can societies benefit as a whole?

The leaders will arrive in Monterrey with ambitious strategies for solving the great problem of wealth inequality. Even though the truth of the matter is that in one fascinating, unique and seemingly unstoppable way, wealth is being distributed right under their noses. And all leaders should be hard pressed to address the moral and fundamental dilemma that this fully functioning system now poses.

I am not talking about any far-reaching land reform program or micro-enterprise lending initiative. I am talking about remittances -- the billions of dollars sent every year by migrants in the United States and elsewhere to their families in Latin America. By last count remittances totaled more than $32 billion annually -- an amount so great that it surpasses foreign aid, trade and investment for several countries in the region and now has a place on the short list of the leaders' top considerations for regional economic growth.

[Excerpt]