"Ultimo dia del monstruoso"

The folks that run the school (and the folks that drive the taxis, and work in the restaurants, and walk through the park) have all been counting down the final Bush days for the last two weeks.

Went last night with fellow student Emily for a celebratory dinner, along with her teacher, her host family, and their son's friend. Wonderful people. The father, Saul, (who is also a teacher) gave a nice toast about how the rest of the world is also happy "to see Obama realize the dream of Martin Luther King."

Later on I asked if Guatemalans really felt any sort of hope about Obama, and they all assured me that people are really hopeful and excited. I asked if they had reservations, because I am a skeptic and I never trust the things people tell me. Saul said, of course. We are hopeful about Obama but we know this economic system is a problem.

Anyway, related, something promising about trade policy by Laura Carlsen of Mexico City's Americas Program. I know nothing about her or her organization, but it was an interesting read about the likelihood of a NAFTA renegotiation under Obama. Carlsen recognizes that we're all guessing at this point, but notes right away that Obama recently told President Calderon that we need to revise labor and environmental standards in the agreement. I thought this part was super interesting:

The industrial policy that Obama outlined clashes ideologically and legally with NAFTA and other free trade agreements. It hasn't been lost on the rest of the world that the U.S. government is adopting measures such as massive subsidies and bailouts that it has sought to deny developing countries under free-trade rules. Robert Kuttner at The American Prospect refers to this as "the sin of committing industrial policy" and warns that it's only a matter of time before a trade partner registers a suit against Obama's anti-crisis measures. This would be an excellent opportunity to expose the hypocrisy of our trade policies and chart a new course.

Anyway, a Canadian student here tells me that Canadian companies have been suing the US for years over timber duties illegal under NAFTA, so maybe that snippet is not that interesting after all. But it's worth a read if you've got a few minutes.