Obama shows 'lack of respect' for Colombia: Former US official

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Colombia Reports

Obama shows 'lack of respect' for Colombia: Former US official
Monday, 27 June 2011 08:00
Stephen Manker

http://colombiareports.com.nyud.net:8090/pics/2011/06/roger_noriega2.jpg

The former U.S. assistant secretary of state says President Barack Obama is showing "a lack of respect" for Colombia, in an interview with newspaper El Tiempo.

"I do not understand the lack of respect from the administration of President Obama to Colombia. It is very rare. The other South American countries are watching how we treat our friends. But in my opinion, President Santos has managed these relationships appropriately," said former assistant secretary of state Roger Noriega.

According to the official, drug trafficking and "authoritarian populism" are the two great challenges facing the Americas.

"Authoritarian populism...is a model aggressively promoted by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. We have to recognize that Chavez and the Chavez regime has an alliance with drug traffickers, Iran and terrorist groups. This combination is very, very dangerous, and he has to talk candidly about what is happening."

Read more: http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/17229-obama-doesnt-respect-colombia-former-colombian-secretary-of-state.html

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Wikipedia note on Noriega's career:

From 1994 to 1997, Noriega returned to Capitol Hill as a senior staff member New York Congressman Benjamin Gilman for the House Committee on International Relations. Subsequently, he became a senior staff member of Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) for the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. In 1996, Noriega co-authored the Helms-Burton law which tightened the 40-year-old embargo on Cuba.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Noriega

[The Magistrate]

1. Criticism from This Shit-Heel, Ma'am, Suggests A Proper Course Is Being Taken

[The Magistrate]

2. Criticism from This Shit-Heel, Ma'am, Suggests A Proper Course Is Being Taken

[sharp_stick]

3. Criticism from this asshole

should be worn as a badge of honor by anyone involved. Personally I'd actively court a process that would piss Noriega and his buddies off.

[jwirr]

4. Authoritarian populism LOL. As opposed to Milton Friedman's

disaster capitalism? Sorry I much prefer the first to the second. These countries are reacting to what what we did to them since the 50s. If we did not want them to go "socialist" then we should have left their mixed economies of the 50s alone. Oh but no we wanted privatization so American corporations could exploit the cheap labor in those countries. What comes around goes around.

Lighten up President Obama.

[harmonicon]

5. So....

Venezuela is constantly seizing drug shipments from Columbia, because... ? Following this guy's logic, it's just to get he best price for their government sanctioned product. Why won't Obama respect the Columbian drug traffickers? All of his predecessors did.

[Enrique]

6. actually Colombia is getting closer to Chavez under Santos

and the great RW friend opposed the coup in Honduras, which the RW supported. It looks like Colombia is showing the Noriega and the RW a lack of respect.