Obama and Latin America
One would imagine that America's southern neighbours would have been electrified at the prospect of a black person running their northern neighbour. Guess what?
Only 29% thought a Barack "bio-fuel" Obama victory would be good for their country; 8% thought the other cove would be better; and - wait for it! - 30% believed there would be no difference whatsoever, while full 31% were totally ignorant of the proceedings. That means a whopping 61% were indifferent to the so-called "epochal" election.
Being so close to Uncle Sam, these guys know that nothing changes for them; indeed, after 9/11, when Europe, Canada and even Iran were crying rivers, Latin Americans did not mount a single vigil; they felt that America deserved it. One more observation: a few years ago the first Amerindian president, Evo Morales, was elected Bolivia's president - the world did not even notice!
Why? For one thing, persecution of both slaves and natives was less intense in the Iberian colonies than the Anglo-Saxon one up above; secondly, Bolivia hurts nobody but itself, while America hurts everybody, including some of its own people.
As a Latin American leader once lamented: "So far from God, and so close to America".
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