Better Neighbors

CARIBOU ON EAST FRANKLIN ST., CHAPEL HILL, NC - “I didn’t come here to debate the past," said President Obama at a gathering of Western Hemisphere leaders on Friday. "I came here to deal with the future.”

I'm not sure why I find the picture so puzzling. Is it Obama's smile or Chavez's? Am I a victim of prior US propaganda against Venezuela, or an armchair policy maker with a friend who lives outside Caracas telling me things are so bad, folks there may soon start eating each other?

Obama's is a wry smile. He's moves ahead of Chavez on just how US relations with Venuzuela will go, from which he obviously derives comfort and confidence. Chaves has the beaming smile of a litter runt that says simply, "Thanks for the recognition!"

The New York Times reports an exchange of "warm words" between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Cuba's leader, Raúl Castro, a clear sign that the US is placing an emphasis on straightening out relations with our close neighbors, particularly in an age when nuclear nonproliferation is declining and home sites for nuclear launch silos are all about location, location, location.

Perhaps Obama and Chavez are genuinely happy to meet each other and hope for a friendship of sorts that could lead to good things.

New York Times photo / Pool photo by Mariamma Kambon