Correa and Obama?

Certainly, as the politician and Chancellor Ricardo Patino says, a meeting between the Ecuadorian President (and current president of UNASUR) Rafael Correa and the exceptional president of the United States, Barack Obama, is not impossible.

How, when, where? It is very early to respond to these questions and even earlier still to toss out into the air, or on paper, speculations or rumors. But the possibility is hinted at for good reason and shall go a step further when the assistant secretary of state [for Western hemisphere affairs] of the United States, Arturo Valenzuela, makes a visit to Quito.

It would also be interesting that just after seven meetings with the Venezuelan president and Col. Hugo Chavez, and at least as many with the other esteemed Latin American governors, a meeting between Correa and Obama could be arranged, of course with the Ecuadorian government represented by UNASUR.

It’s possible, but not easy. Presumably, the agenda, the strategies and the long hand shakes from Washington’s big boss are all history.

But it would be very logical in view of the impossibility of meeting with each and every one of the governors of the region. Besides, with one of them, the prospects are simply nil. UNASUR and its number one are, well, good candidates for a meeting.

Ecuadorian-American relations are not really a model. But they aren’t bad either. President Correa has had moments of indignation with the gringos like when they forced him to remove his shoes at customs in Miami.

Or the day that the Yankee soldiers of the [U.S.] Embassy told him they were moving the means of creole intelligence [by closing the Manta air base]. Surely Mrs. Hillary is not happy when the Correa-Chavez musical duo works well.

Nor [is she happy] when Ecuador appears to be one of the most enthusiastic for an OAS without Yankees or Canadians, or for a city of Manta free of U.S. military bases. But normal diplomatic relations have been maintained, although Mr. Valenzuela will not be received by President Rafael Correa for the simple reason that he is traveling … to the United States.

There are also other interesting reasons, though still illusory, why this meeting might take shape. The countries of UNASUR continue to maintain relations with the United States, though they mandate the OAS as their main trading partner.

The super anti-gringo Venezuela is not far from exceptional. Lula embraces Fidel but Obama as well. Ecuador and others have been talking, for years now, with the United States to forge trade agreements.

Lima already has a Free Trade Agreement with Washington. Bogota is receiving a base, seven times the size of the one in Manta. Today’s meeting may very well be the origin of a meeting of foreign ministers, and from there, it’s only one step to the interview that Ricardo Patino imagined last night with much enthusiasm.