Protesters disrupt oil, gas lease sale
NEW ORLEANS – Protesters opposed to drilling in the Gulf of Mexico disrupted an oil and gas lease sale Wednesday, chanting and waving signs as government officials read bids from companies for the right to explore and develop fossil fuels offshore.
Government officials said afterward that the sale – for tracts in the central and eastern regions of the Gulf – raised a total of $156 million in the central region but no bids were made for the eastern region. The $156 million was the fourth lowest total for sales in the central region since sales started in 1983, officials said.
Obama tries to mend ties with Argentina
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – President Barack Obama acknowledged Wednesday that U.S. relations with Latin America’s dictatorships in the 1970s damaged its image in the region, but said he hoped the release of long-classified documents about Argentina’s “Dirty war” would rebuild trust.
The Obama administration announced that it would declassify thousands of documents that could shed light on the period.
Obama noted that fighting communism was a focus of America’s foreign policy in the 1970s
Associated Press
