G20 Summit Los Cabos

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By Fernando Rodriguez  

While American President, Barrack Obama, acknowledged a slow world economic recovery, he also emphasized an innate confidence that the G20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, would be a productive meeting of the world’s mightiest economic powers, which might bring about positive changes in an economic downwards trend that such a gathering is seeking to find answers to.
    U.S. President Obama shook hands with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Mexican President Felipe Calderon at the beginning of  a vitally important  bilateral meeting during the G-20 Summit, Monday, June 18, 2012, in Los Cabos, Mexico. President Obama and Russian President Putin met for the first time since Putin returned to Russia's top job and Obama’s reunion with Mexican President Calderon is seen as a much overdue re-visitation to the much complicated immigration and drug wars issues that hqave plagued this country and that of our neighbors to the north.
    U.S. ambassadors mentioned being overly “encouraged" by news from European leaders this week about their plans for tackling the continent's debt woes and strengthening economic growth.  
    Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, speaking Tuesday at the close of the first summit agenda, said Europe was closing in on key decisions aimed at stabilizing the eurozone. Those steps, he said, include a stronger framework to strengthen the continent's financial system and helping countries like Spain and Italy borrow at sustainable interest rates.
   "We're encouraged by what we heard from the European leaders today and by the broad focus around the world we're seeing to the need to strengthen economic growth," Geithner said.
   A senior U.S. official said Europe would offer a "more forceful response" than they have contemplated to date during the much anticipated Brussels summit, scheduled a few weeks from now.
   Concerns about the economic crisis in Europe among the Group of 20 were eased slightly by the outcome of Sunday's elections in Greece.
   President Obama's spokesman issued a statement late Sunday night , congratulating the Greek people for voting to keep in office a party that supports their country's economic bailout by other European nations. A victory by the opposition in a hotly debated election, could have led Greece to leave the euro zone, a move Obama and other world leaders had warned might lead to a deeper global economic crisis.    
    Still, Europe's debt and banking problems still threaten the health of the world economy, and they will likely dominate the intensified G20 meetings that started Monday in this Mexican seaside resort.
   Mike Froman, President Obama's Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economics, recently predicted that the summit in San Jose del Cabo, will likely focus primarily on Europe, saying, “It is the dominant risk to the global economy at the moment.   
   “Europe is our largest trading partner and a key part of the global financial system.’’ said Forman. “ And therefore, it is very important to the United States and the rest of the world as they work through their issues.” The financial woes occurring in Europe are one factor hampering the U.S. economic recovery, which, in turn, could jeopardize Obama's reelection.
     Froman says the United States of America president and other G20 leaders are anxious to learn about Europe's plans. “At Los Cabos, the G20 looks forward to hearing more from the European leaders on the progress of their efforts to stabilize their banking system and promote growth, and to hear what their vision is for taking this effort toward fiscal and financial union," he said.
  In addition to group meetings on this and other economic issues, US President Barrack Obama will meet one-on-one with several other world leaders. The first of Obama’s scheduled meetings is with summit host, Mexican President Felipe Calderon; whose PAN political party is widely predicted to be defeated in elections that will occur in a hotly contested election on July 1, 2012.
    As for what impact the G20 Summit is having locally, elementary and junior high school campuses around Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo have been shut down during the week-long summit. Almost everywhere, wherever townspeople normally go, they can’t. The roads leading in an out of town have been shut down during this 2-3 day global-meeting hiatus.
   All water sporting events at Medano Beach have been shut down, during G20 Summit week, and the once heavily populated beach has been practically empty and eerily quiet during the past few days. Federal Mexican Soldiers on high alert have been seen all over town. Giving this world renowned, tourist city, a false sense of security; as local residents are unable to go about their daily lives or routines, as a precaution to keeping so many visiting world leaders safe, while they hammer out the best way to save the planet, economically.