Hispanic Caucus urges Senate to confirm Obama’s pick for El Salvador ambassador

[Judi Lynn]

Hispanic Caucus urges Senate to confirm Obama’s pick for El Salvador ambassador
By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, December 6, 3:51 PM

WASHINGTON — Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Tuesday pressed the Senate to swiftly confirm President Barack Obama’s nominee for ambassador to El Salvador, casting Republican opposition as denying a Hispanic woman a rare shot at a prestigious diplomatic post.

In gloves-off political terms, seven members of the caucus said the Senate’s failure to approve Mari Carmen Aponte, a Washington lawyer and Hispanic activist, would send a message to Latinos nationwide that partisanship trumps qualifications.

“What really makes me mad about this delay and obfuscation is the willingness of my Republican colleagues in the Senate to sacrifice a remarkable Hispanic woman in order to express dissatisfaction with the administration,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.

Aponte has served as ambassador in San Salvador since September 2010 after Obama, looking to bypass Republican opposition to her nomination, made her a recess appointee. But her temporary tenure is about to run out and GOP lawmakers are resisting a determined administration effort to secure Senate confirmation.

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/whitehouse/old-boyfriend-rumors-anger-over-gay-rights-essay-could-undo-us-ambassador-to-el-salvador/2011/12/06/gIQApfjdYO_story.html?wprss=rss_national

[Peace Patriot]

1. It would be interesting to know what this is really all about.

When first term Senator jim DeMint (SC-Diebold) was running Obama's foreign policy in LatAm, in 2009-2010--what he did was hold up all of Obama's LatAm appointments as blackmail to force Obama to support the rightwing military coup in Honduras (--a coup that benefited, among others, John McCain, who has telecommunications interests in Honduras, as well as U.S. transglobal corporations who are now benefiting from rightwing death squad murders of trade union leaders and other advocates of the poor in Honduras). (And another interesting effect of that hold up of Obama appointments was that the U.S./Bushwhack ambassador to Colombia, William Brownfield, was kept in place in Colombia while he made certain arrangements to cover up the Bush Junta's part in the Uribe crime wave, including negotiating a secret U.S./Colombia military agreement that granted "total diplomatic immunity" to all U.S. military personnel and all U.S. military 'contractors' in Colombia.)

So what is the blackmail deal here, I wonder. It could have to do with the Obama administration tolerating a leftist government in El Salvador and not seeking to overthrow it. It is not a terribly strong leftist government. It got scared off from joining ALBA by the U.S.-backed (and probably Bush Junta-designed) coup in Honduras. Still, it favors workers and the poor over transglobal corporate monsters and is the same party that fought a guerrilla war against the blood-soaked, U.S.-supported fascists during the Reagan Horrors. Elected? Pshaw! What do U.S. fascists care about "elected"? Nada. Elections are a joke here (what with Diebold/ES&S and the 'TRADE SECRET' code) and they would be a joke in El Salvador and other LatAm countries if Latin Americans were asleep (as our people seem to be) and hadn't put in awesome civic effort on honest and transparent vote counting and other election practices. So, do they want Obama to throw the FMLN out in favor of a fascist regime?

This could part of the broader picture--that is, El Salvador is an important little peg in the Pentagon's "circle the wagons" region--Central America/the Caribbean. For instance, it is adjacent to Honduras, with use of Honduras, once again, to infiltrate Nicaragua and overthrow its leftist government, very likely in the planning stages (or in progress). It also has a Pacific coast, which the Pentagon may be eyeing it for coordinating naval operations (they are building a new naval base in Honduras and have reconstituted the U.S. 4th Fleet in the Caribbean).

The fascists in the Scumbag Congress clearly want to force Obama to do something, possibly with regard to El Salvador, but they possibly also have a well hidden motive, probably filthy with corrupt interests.

[Bacchus39]

2. she was romantically involved with an alleged Cuban spy

http://dailycaller.com/2010/03/18/senators-grill-obama-nominee-mari-carmen-apontes-ties-to-cuban-officials/

El Salvador has practical interests in maintaining strong ties with the US considering the very large population of Salvadorian immigrants here. versus say joining something like ALBA that would have very little benefit for the country.

[Peace Patriot]

3. LOL! nt

[Judi Lynn]

4. Wikipedia: The Daily Caller

The Daily Caller is a news website based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a focus on politics, original reporting and breaking news, founded by journalist and political pundit Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel, former adviser to former Vice President Dick Cheney. The Daily Caller launched on January 11, 2010.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daily_Caller

<Snort.Honk.Helpless giggle spasm.>

[Bacchus39]

5. so??? is that the issue regarding the appointment or not?

feel free to look for other sources.