Before arriving in Washington this past Sunday, President-elect Barack Obama, who has been very careful to observe all proper protocol with respect to his predecessor, had to confront a crisis of his own making. Obama is right when he refuses to comment on the Israeli offensive in Gaza. The United States has only one president at a time and only he determines North American foreign policy. Something different, though, are the decisions that Obama has made since November 4th, decisions that are fully and only his responsibility. Among these it’s worth noting the naming of those who will form part of his administration. There’s already one among those named who has withdrawn: the governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, who will no longer become the Commerce Secretary. Obama had offered him the post, an extremely relevant one given the crisis in which we are immersed, but Richardson, after having accepted the post, had to renounce it. He was pushed toward this decision by the investigation of a serious case in which he had given favors to a substantial contributor to his own electoral campaign for president. The rapidity with which the Obama team closed the investigation eloquently showed how difficult it would have been to defend the no-longer-appointed-Commerce Secretary. Obama has created a team in which he attempts to unite rival and current Democratic leaders: Biden, Clinton, Richardson. What is also missing are those personalities who can personify his electoral motto: “Change we can believe in.”
Antes de llegar el pasado domingo a Washington, el presidente electo Barack Obama, que ha guardado exquisitamente las formas hacia su predecesor, ya tenía que enfrentar una crisis fruto de su propia gestión. Obama tiene toda la razón cuando se niega a opinar sobre cuestiones como la ofensiva israelí en Gaza. Estados Unidos no tiene más que un presidente y sólo él fija la política exterior norteamericana. Cosa distinta son las decisiones tomadas desde el 4 de noviembre por Obama y que sólo a él competen. Entre éstas cabe destacar los nombramientos de quienes han de formar parte de su Administración. De entre ellos ya hay una baja: el gobernador de Nuevo México, Bill Richardson, ya no será secretario de Comercio. Obama le había ofrecido ese puesto, extremadamente relevante en los tiempos de crisis en que estamos inmersos, pero Richardson, tras aceptarlo, ha tenido que renunciar, acuciado por la investigación de un grave caso de trato de favor a un sustancial contribuyente de las campañas electorales del propio Richardson. La rapidez con que el equipo de Obama ha cerrado el caso es muestra elocuente de la difícil defensa que tenía el non nato secretario de Comercio. Obama ha hecho un equipo en el que intenta aunar corrientes y líderes rivales demócratas: Biden, Clinton, Richardson... También hacen falta personalidades que puedan encarnar el lema electoral «Change we can belive in», un cambio en el que podemos creer.
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[T]he letter’s inconsistent capitalization, randomly emphasizing words like “TRADE,” “Great Honor,” “Tariff,” and “Non Tariff”, undermines the formality expected in high-level diplomatic correspondence.