by Assistant Secretary of Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta S. Jacobson

At the Sixth Summit of the Americas, held April 14-16 in Cartagena, Colombia, the United States and our hemispheric partners agreed on far more than the media has reported.  In a reflection of the equal and pragmatic partnerships that have characterized the Obama Administration’s policy in the Western Hemisphere  leaders agreed on a number of concrete steps to address some of the most important challenges we face.  We launched several regional initiatives focused on educational opportunity, electrical interconnection and access, expanded access to broadband, and economic competitiveness, that will benefit citizens in the hemisphere for decades to come.  President Obama also reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the bilateral and regional security initiatives that are helping make people throughout the hemisphere more secure in their daily lives. Most leaders in the Americas came focused on this forward-leaning, 21st century agenda and the United States was eager to partner with them in Cartagena.

by Professor David Hinds

If you have not been around long enough or have not studied Guyana’s political history, you may be tempted to misinterpret the noise coming from the ruling PPP in the wake of the budget cuts made by the Combined-Opposition as genuine hurt.  Guyanese should not be fooled by the PPP’s antics. That party is driven by two things—maintaining its hold on Executive power at a minimum and in the final analysis regaining the iron grip on the Indian Guyanese community so that its total hold on power can be restored at the next election.  Every action of the PPP is geared towards achieving these objectives.