During his trip to Africa last week, President Barack Obama gave a powerful speech asking the region’s long-entrenched leaders to end corruption, respect freedom of the press and stop changing the constitution to remain in power indefinitely. I wonder why he doesn’t make the same speech in Latin America.
During a July 28 speech to the African Union at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Obama told African leaders that “Nothing will unlock Africa’s economic potential more than ending the cancer of corruption.”
“Corruption exists all over the world, including in the United States,” he added. “But here in Africa, corruption drains billions of dollars from economies that can’t afford to lose billions of dollars — that’s money that could be used to create jobs and build hospitals and schools.”
After his call on countries to take action against corruption, Obama spent much of his speech calling on governments to stop harassing independent media, and asking leaders not to stay in power indefinitely. Several of the African Union’s 54 member-countries have leaders who
