Americas

A New York businessman whose case was championed by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) has been released from prison in Bolivia, the Associated Press is reporting.

Jacob Ostreicher was granted house arrest after waiting 18 months in jail without charge in an alleged money laundering scheme. Ostreicher had maintained he was being set up by corrupt Bolivian officials, and recent events appear to confirm his story: 10 Bolivian officials – including two prosecutors and the top legal adviser in Bolivia's Interior Ministry – have been arrested and accused of belonging to a shakedown ring, the AP reports.

Ostreicher became a household name on Capitol Hill after Smith, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs human rights panel, held a hearing on his case earlier his year. The congressman even visited Ostreicher in jail in Bolivia and accompanied him to a court hearing Smith said at the time was “beset by irregularities.”

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The National Intelligence Council predicts an end to the era in which the U.S. is a sole world power.

The Obama administration has asked the World Trade Organization to probe alleged restrictions of U.S. exports to Argentina in the latest sign of deteriorating relations with the leftist government of President Cristina Fernández. 

The United States wants the global trade body to set up a dispute settlement panel to investigate Argentina's alleged use of “non-transparent and discretionary import licensing requirements that have the effect of unfairly restricting U.S. exports.” Argentina is also accused of disadvantaging U.S. exports by “requiring importers to agree to undertake burdensome trade balancing commitments in exchange for authorization to import goods.”

“Argentina’s persistent use of protectionist measures broadly impacts all U.S. exporters of goods to Argentina,” U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Thursday. “It is vital to American workers that our exporters obtain fair and equal access to foreign markets, as required by our trade agreements. Today’s step reflects the Obama Administration’s commitment to ensuring that our trading partners play by the rules so that our companies can compete on a level playing field.”

The president pledged to work with President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto on border issues along with "regional and global issues."

President Obama is sending Vice President Biden to attend Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto's inauguration on Saturday, the White House announced Monday.

The candidate of the center-left Institutional Revolutionary Party won election to a six-year term in August but won't take office until Dec. 1. He is scheduled to visit Obama at the White House on Tuesday for talks about immigration reform, border security and other issues.

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The State Department warned visitors to Mexico on Tuesday that U.S. officials may not be able to help them because of heightened restrictions on government travel.

“U.S. government employees and their families are not permitted to drive for personal reasons from the U.S.-Mexico border to or from the interior of Mexico or Central America,” reads the latest travel advisory. “Personal travel by vehicle is permitted between Hermosillo and Nogales but is restricted to daylight hours and the Highway 15 toll road (cuota).”

The Obama administration is urging students to learn the history of U.S.-backed medical experiments in Guatemala, which deliberately exposed patients to sexually-transmitted diseases.

The United Nations' General Assembly on Tuesday condemned the U.S. embargo on Cuba for the 21st year in a row by an overwhelming vote of 188-3.

The only countries to vote against the measure were Palau and Israel, both of which get millions of dollars in aid from the United States. The Marshall Islands and Micronesia — which, like Palau, are in a compact of free association with the United States that provides for their defense — abstained.

Asked about the lopsided vote, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday the United States stands by its policy despite near-universal international objection, saying it was aimed at “creating better ties” with the Cuban people.

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House Republicans will call up two Democratic bills this week that would amend policies in the U.S. territories, including one that would direct all appeals of Virgin Islands Supreme Court cases to the U.S. Supreme Court.

H.R. 6116, from Del. Donna Christensen (D-VI), puts into effect a recommendation from the Judicial Council of the Third Circuit, which said the Virgin Islands Court is sufficiently developed to warrant direct review by the Supreme Court. Today, those appeals are heard by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

The 15-term lawmaker is a former House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman and has bipartisan Senate support.