Hemisphere Highlights, Volume IX Issue 4 - April 2010

Energy ministers from across the Americas met with other groups to launch the Energy and Climate Partnerships of the Americas. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates met with officials from Peru, Colombia, and Barbados to strengthen military and security partnerships. Mexico launched a national-level blue heart campaign against human trafficking. Worldwide support for earthquake victims in Haiti was reaffirmed at the United Nations Donor’s conference. Violent protests prevented thelegislative assembly in Nicaragua from convening for two days. The presidential race in Colombia heats up as the “U” candidate falls behind in polls. A visit by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin consolidated energy and military cooperation between Russia and Venezuela. A decision by the International Court of Justice ended a seven-year dispute between Uruguay and Argentina over paper plants along the Río Uruguay. In Brazil, President Lula da Silva defended his administration’s foreign policy at a ceremony April 21.