Two key United States lawmakers say that Washington should allow its citizens to travel to Cuba to help promote 'democratic reforms' in that country. Veteran Republican Senator Richard Lugar and Democratic Congressman Howard Berman insist that the Cuba travel ban has been obsolete and should be discarded as a foreign policy measure.
Since the United States 2004 election cycle, a network of Cuban-American donors and political action committees (PACs) has donated in excess of 10 million US dollars to more than 300 US federal candidates in order to thwart any changes in the US embargo of Cuba, claims Public Campaign, a US citizens group working for “clean money, clean elections”
United States Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke said Monday that US policymakers are mindful of the sliding US dollar. Bernanke said he is attentive to the decline in the currency and is working to help ensure that the dollar is strong.
Brazilian Foreign Affairs minister Celos Amorim warned that relations between United States and Latinamerica are deteriorating and called on President Barak Obama to begin a dialogue with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.
United States trade deficit widened in September by the most in a decade, reflecting rising demand for imported oil and automobiles as the economy rebounded from the worst recession since the 1930s.
A new report from researchers at the International Monetary Fund sees at least three candidates that could eventually challenge the US dollar's role as the world's dominant reserve currency: the Euro, the Yen and the Chinese Yuan.
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has urged the United States to withdraw all its military forces from Afghanistan. Gorbachev told CNN in an interview on Sunday that withdrawal from Afghanistan should be the goal.
Brazilian president Lula da Silva warned his peer Barack Obama that South America “does not need US bases” in Colombia to combat narcotics trade and suggested he look after “US drugs consumers”.
The unemployment rate in the United States rose to 10.2% in October, which was its highest rate since April 1983, according to figures from the US Labour Department.
Unemployment in September was 9.8%.
The United States Senate finally approved Thursday evening the nomination of Arturo Valenzuela as Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, putting an end to three months of Republican veto because of the Obama administration policy towards Honduras.