Remember Latino voters, Latin American leaders tell Obama

The Daily Star, AFP, Laurent Thomet, November 2012 

People vote at a polling place in the heavily Latino East L.A. area during the
 U.S. presidential election on November 6, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.
David McNew/Getty Images

                              

MEXICO CITY: From neighbor Mexico to emerging power Brazil, Latin American leaders welcomed US President Barack Obama's re-election Wednesday as some urged him to remember the role Latinos played in his big win.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon, whose government has urged Washington to enact immigration reform to regularize the status of millions of Mexican migrants illegally in the United States, congratulated Obama and wished him "success" in his second term.

In a letter, Calderon said he was convinced both nations will "continue to widen and deepen their cooperation and coordinate their work for the benefit of prosperity, security and competitiveness in Mexico and the United States."

While Obama has disappointed many Latinos for failing to fulfill a 2008 campaign promise to enact comprehensive immigration reform, Mexico has received US aid to combat drug trafficking.

Calderon's successor Enrique Pena Nieto, who takes office on December 1, wrote on Twitter that he would personally congratulate Obama in an upcoming US trip and wants to work with him "for the benefit of our nations."

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff also congratulated Obama, a sentiment shared by other governments across Latin America.

Ecuador and Bolivia pointed out that Obama's victory over Republican Mitt Romney was in part thanks to the support of the 52 million-strong Hispanic community, the largest minority group in the United States.

"Ecuador congratulates President Barack Obama on his victory and asks him to always remember the significant Latino vote," Deputy Foreign Minister Marco Albuja tweeted.

Bolivian President Evo Morales said Obama should pay back Latinos by lifting the decades-old US embargo on Cuba.

"We were told Obama won in the United States, but with the Latin American vote, with the Latino immigrant vote. Now, how will he pay back the Latino migrants?" the leftist leader said.

Guatemalan President Otto Perez pressed Obama to act on his country's request to include Guatemalans in the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, which allows migrants from designated countries to legally stay in the United States for a period of time.

"We hope that the next government will follow through on the TPS request and stop the mass deportations," Perez said, referring to the expulsion of more than 33,000 Guatemalans between January and October.

Related Article:

Native shamans in Peru give Obama the win