44, Day 89: Barack, Hugo Has Something for You

An ongoing log of the daily activities of the 44th president of the United States during his first 100 days:

-South American leaders today had the opportunity to push President Obama to end the embargo on Cuba, while Obama got the opportunity to cast the United States in a different light as leaders of Latin American nations convened in Trinidad. According to the Wall Street Journal's coverage of the meeting, chief economic adviser Larry Summers "said the president would return to Washington on Sunday with a stronger regional commitment to shared growth than had existed before" and the paper reported that there had been movement on a US-Colombian trade pact.

-At the summit, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez had a gift for the new American president--a copy of
Eduardo Galeano's book, The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, a decidedly anti-capitalist tome. Obama accepted the book and shook Chavez's hand. "I thought it was one of Chavez's books,'' Obama told reporters. "I was going to give him one of mine.''

-In his Saturday radio and internet address, Obama promised that the public soon would know which federal programs he plan to eliminate. On Monday, Obama will ask the Cabinet -- in its first full meeting of his presidency -- to come up with ideas for what to trim in their respective departments. "Without significant change to steer away from ever-expanding deficits and debt, we are on an unsustainable course," he said.

-Personnel watch: The president stands behind Steven Rattner, co-founder of the private equity Quadrangle Group, who now works for the Treasury Department and is the administration's chief adviser on restructuring General Motors and Chrylser. Last week, news broke that the government was investing Quadrangle for a possible connection of New York pension-fund kickbacks. "He's not accused of doing any wrongdoing," Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Friday. "And he's not likely to face any criminal or civil charges as it relates to this ... The pending investigation was something that Steve brought up to us."

by J. Jennings Moss

Sources: The White House, Bloomberg, the Washington Times, and the Wall Street Journal.