Harper heads to Mexico for summit
09 August 2009 | 
Author: Professor |
CBC News 09 August, 2009
Leaders of the United States, Mexico and Canada begin a two-day summit in Mexico on Sunday, to address a range of issues, including drugs, energy, trade, travel and the global economic downturn.
U.S. President Barack Obama, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Prime Minister Stephen Harper are gathering in Guadalajara for dinner Sunday night, followed by three-way talks on Monday. At the top of their agenda is where America's economic recovery is heading and how policies to boost growth will affect the three trading partners. The leaders will also grapple with the issue of Mexican gangs blamed for the flow of illegal drugs in North America. On the trade front, they will talk about Washington's "Buy America" provisions, slipped into the Washington's $787 billion US stimulus package by Congress last February.
The campaign is intended to generate jobs within U.S. borders. Another topic is Canada's new visa rule for Mexicans and its impact on tourism and business. Ottawa announced last month that travellers from Mexico and the Czech Republic will need visas to enter Canada because of skyrocketing numbers of refugee claimants from the two countries. This will be Obama's first so-called "Three Amigos" summit. U.S. President George W. Bush kicked off the trilateral tradition in 2005 with the first summit, held near his Texas ranch. Obama and Harper will meet again at the White House on Sept. 16, U.S. officials announced on Friday.
(original link)
Professor's Notes: Referring to this, the latest North American Union meeting as the "Three Amigios" summit is more appropriate than WE may first think. Unlike Governor Arnold endlessly pseudo-quoting one of his immorality plays that made him famous and therefore a legitimate political leader, this glib dose of sugar to ease the pain of the bad medicine being forced down OUR throats has some meaning. Exactly like the 1986 movie, this N.A.U. summit stars a grinning American who believes his own hype but relies on the work of and silence of his co-stars, who's names aren't included on the marquis when the curtain is rasied to unveil the completion of the latest peice of the trilateral new world puzzle.
