Since becoming Acting President of Cuba last July, Raul Castro has on several occassions offered to begin a dialogue with the United States. Each time, the offer has been rejected. Speaking to the Council of the Americas on February 21st, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez made it clear that this will not change, that the Bush administration will not deal with the “successor regime” in Cuba. Instead, Bush will continue efforts to bring down the Cuban government.

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President Bush’s effort to show Latin Americans that “you have a friend in the United States of America,” may be a hard sell during his five-nation tour of the region: A majority of Latin Americans view the United States unfavorably, recent multinational surveys show, and most disapprove of the Bush administration’s foreign policies.

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By Sami Moubayed

Nearly 20 years ago, I was a student at the American School in Damascus. We had to study US history and memorise parts of the US Constitution.

Running out of time, I (shamefully) tried to cheat before the exam, by scribbling the Preamble of the Constitution on the palm of my left hand, and the 10th Amendment on my right.

I was caught doing that, had to wash my hands, and forced to sit there for the remainder of the day, memorising chunks of the US Constitution.

I had to learn it the hard way. I eventually did, and grew up proud of my strong command of US history. I believed in US principles, democracy, opportunity, and the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".

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