Latin America

The night of September 9 appeared to fulfill all the promise underlying NBC Universal's ambitious $2.7 billion acquisition in 2001 of Telemundo, the second-largest Spanish language television network in the U.S. On that night, the NBC sibling carried President Obama's important healthcare address to a joint session of Congress-on a slight delay to allow for dubbing into Spanish-followed by its highest-rated program ever, which reached more than 5 million viewers.

Faith Smith, writing on the blog of Steve Clemons of the New American Foundation found it "difficult to say which side is democratic." She noted approvingly that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while criticizing the coup offered "no specific support for Zelaya."

The images were decidedly retro and jarring in their distant familiarity, as if a grainy old family film long left in the attic had been brought out for a screening. In defense of la patriala patria, army troops overpowered el palacio at dawn and placed el presidente on an airplane to be flown into exile, still wearing his pajamas. Sunday's coup in Honduras followed a script once so familiar it acquired cliche status, material even for a Woody Allen sendup.

In 1962, at a special meeting of the Organization of American States, the Uruguayan resort of Punta del Este became famous for something more than just luxury condos, restaurants and hotels, and catering to the Argentine aristocracy during the holiday season. At that meeting, Cuba was suspended from the regional body, with the Cold War pretext that its espousal of "Marxism-Leninism" and an alliance with the Soviet Union were incompatible with membership in the hemispheric club and its organizations.

Geopolitics makes for strange bedfellows indeed. After President Barack Obama's performance at last weekend's Summit of the Americas (and before that, on a quick visit to Mexico City) nearly everyone in Latin America and the United States was applauding the new president and fawning over his impressive performance. Everyone, that is, except for American conservatives, such as Newt Gingrich, and ... Fidel Castro. How in the world did Gingrich and an obviously rejuvenated Fidel end up as political blood brothers?

Jorge Castaneda, a professor of international relations at New York University and former foreign minister of Mexico, said that if Mr. Obama does meet with Mr. Chávez, even briefly, the president “runs the risk of bumping in and shaking hands and then ...

"There is a lot of tension between the Cubans and Chavez because Chavez has arrogated to himself the lead role in dissent and anti-Americanism in the hemisphere," he said. Steve Clemons, director of ...

"If you're doing something, and someone tells you a new era in US-Latin American relations has dawned, don't necessarily drop what you're doing," said Michael Lind, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. Mr. Obama faces the most urgent ...