The Three Amigos Say Adios

OK, so it wasn’t exactly a hugfest. But when President Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon got together for a quick powwow in Mexico they vowed to work together on issues like the struggling world economy, battling the H1N1 virus and restoring Democratic rule in Honduras.  That’s got to count for something, right?

“The three amigos” summit, as it has been dubbed, wrapped up in Guadalajara Monday without any amazing new policies to share, but with a seemingly sincere pledge of cooperation.

NPR reports that by most accounts the three leaders can be commended for their swift reaction to the swine flu outbreak, referring to it as a “model of cross-border cooperation.” The leaders renewed their commitment to fighting the epidemic when the flu season begins anew this fall.

Not surprisingly, the economy was a hot topic, as protesters frustrated with the ailing world economy marched outside. The grand poobahs agreed that working cooperatively is necessary to get the world’s finances back on track. They also decided to work on improving border crossings and attempting to reduce the international bureaucracy that slows international commerce down. (Yes, we’ll believe it when we see it, too.)

"The global recession has cost jobs and hurt families from Toronto to Toledo to Tijuana," Obama said. "So we renew our commitment to work together in Ottawa, Washington and Mexico City."

The summit wasn’t all about trust falls and sharing circles, of course, and the leaders didn’t exactly skip along in unison at all times. Prime Minister Harper bugged Obama about the “buy American” provision in the stimulus package, while Mexico’s president lamented that some of their trucks have a hard time traveling into American soil.

But still, like any healthy relationship, you need to talk things out. We don’t expect perfection, but seeing the North American leaders trying to communicate gives us hope.

Photo courtesy of leovdworp via stock.xchang