In Colombia, Obama to face pressure on Cuba, drugs

[Judi Lynn]

In Colombia, Obama to face pressure on Cuba, drugs
By Julie Pace
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated: April 11, 2012, 5:29 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama will face fresh pressure on Cuba and illegal drugs when he meets this week with Latin American leaders, some of whom have grown skeptical of his promise to forge a new era of partnership.

Obama will join more than 30 heads of state in the coastal Colombian city of Cartagena for the Summit of the Americas. Notably absent will be Cuban leader Raul Castro, as well as the president of Ecuador, who is boycotting over Havana's continued exclusion from the hemispheric meetings.

The White House, wary of a foreign policy distraction in an election year focused largely on domestic issues, has tried to play down a push by some regional leaders to include Cuba at future summits, as well as discussions about decriminalizing drugs as a way of reducing cartel violence.

Instead, Obama will aim to highlight issues that are more politically palatable back home, namely the prospect of Latin America as a growth market for U.S. businesses. The White House says 40 percent of U.S. exports are to the Western Hemisphere.

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[msongs]

1. obama on the wrong side of both cuba and drugs. cuban "exiles" hold US hostage and

Im willing to bet the number of those exiles who ever lived in cuba has just has decreased immensely since the 60s

[Webster Green]

2. Obama is clueless on drugs.

He has nothing worthwhile to add to the conversation.

[lib2DaBone]

3. When Big Pharma said they were developing a MJ pill....

Obama began busting 75-year-old cancer patiients and medical MJ CLinics.

He has actually been tougher on MJ the Gerge W.