Caribbean Visit

++President Obama held a town hall at the University of the West indies branch in Kingston, Jamaica yesterday. You would never know unless it had been posted on WhiteHouse. Gov

++It is unbelievable that he was the first American President to visit Jamaica in 30 years.

++It really is worth watching because the students ask better questions than our press corps, who seem to be asleep right now. 

++In answering the students' question, President Obama generally talked about conversations with the heads of state at Caricom and the Jamaican Prime Minister. He spoke about debt forgiveness programs,sustainable development, how the Caribbean should deal with the normalization of American relations with Cuba. Some of the answers started to get specific in terms of IMF deals with Jamaica.

++President Obama announced a multi-million dollar program for young leaders both in terms of education and business training. 

++Questions ranged from the normalization and streamlining of immigration guidelines to the legalization of marijuana. One woman from the Turks and Caicos asked how her small country can survive only on tourism when the United States is cracking down on offshore banking. 

++Another student asked how the Caribbean should react to the new investment of the Chinese into the region. President Obama was shrewd on this one. He said that as he told African states they should welcome the investment,insist that local people are given the jobs in this projects and that any investments are in the national interest. He also said that should apply to American investments.

++Before traveling to Panama, President Obama had his second phone call with Raul Castro about the Summit of the Americas. 

++President Obama said that the State Department review of Cuba as a terrorist country was finished and that President Obama would remove them. The GOP opposes this but would need 2/3rds in the Senate to override the President.

++John Boehner is against it claiming that Cuba is funding the Colombian guerrillas. As I have written, Havana has been hosting peace talks between the FARC and the Colombian government. The United States within the last month have designated a team of negotiators on this issue. FARC has maintained a ceasefire during this time.

++Conservatives are screaming that Cuba must return Joanne Cheismard, who had been involved in a bank robbery and killing an NYPD cop three decades ago. 

++President Obama's biggest headache at the Summit will be the Colombian President challenging the sanctions against Venezuela.