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Chavez Gives Obama A History Book

MARK S. SMITH | April 18, 2009 03:12 PM EST

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad — President Barack Obama offered a spirit of
cooperation to America's hemispheric neighbors at a summit Saturday,
listening to their complaints about past U.S. interference in the region
and even reaching out to Venezuela's fiery leftist leader.

While he worked to ease friction between the U.S. and leaders at the Summit
of the Americas, Obama cautioned them to resist a temptation to blame all
their problems on their behemoth neighbor to the North.

"I have a lot to learn and I very much look forward to listening and
figuring out how we can work together more effectively," Obama said.

Obama said he was ready to accept Cuban President Raul Castro's proposal of
talks on issues once off-limits for Cuba, including the scores of political
prisoners held by the communist government. While praising America's
initial effort to thaw relations with Havana, the leaders pushed the U.S.
to go further and lift the 47-year-old U.S. trade embargo against the
communist nation.

To Latin American nations reeling from a sudden plunge in exports, Obama
promised a new hemispheric growth fund, an initiative to increase Caribbean
security and a new regional partnership to develop alternative energy
sources and fight global warming.

As the first full day of meetings began on the two-island nation of
Trinidad and Tobago, Obama exchanged handshakes and pats on the back with
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, who once likened President George W. Bush to the
devil. In front of photographers, Chavez gave Obama a copy of "The Open
Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent," a
book by Eduardo Galeano, which chronicles U.S. and European economic and
political interference in the region.

When a reporter asked Obama what he thought of the book, the president
replied: "I thought it was one of Chavez' books. I was going to give him
one of mine." White House advisers said they didn't know if Obama would
read it or not.

Lees verder: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/18/chavez-gives-obama-a-book_n_188582.html