- Social:
Wilson Center
Associate director of the Latin American Program at the Wilson Center
PROFILE
Eric Olson
Guest
FROM Eric Olson
To the Point
After 54 Years, the United States Opens Its Embassy in Havana For the first time since 1961, the Stars and Stripes are flying over the US embassy in Havana. Secretary of State John Kerry praised President Obama and President Castro for making “a courageous decision to stop being the prisoners of history and to focus on the opportunities of today and tomorrow.” Eric Olson is associated director for the Latin American program at the Wilson Center in Washington, DC.
To the Point
The Deterrence Dilemma The Obama Administration claims that "immigrant family detention" stopped last year's surge of people fleeing violence and poverty in Central America. But newly established detention centers are called "gilded cages," and a federal judge has ruled that they're "inhumane." Last Friday, Judge Dolly Gee ordered 1700 women and children released from detention centers in Texas and Pennsylvania until immigration courts settle their claims for asylum. What are the options? Will Congress consider a billion dollar proposal to improve conditions in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala?
To the Point
The Tragedy of Immigrant Children — Travelling Alone President Obama boasts that illegal crossings of the Mexican border are the lowest in 40 years. But for kids, it's another story. The number of apprehensions expected this year is 60,000, ten times more than three years ago. They're running from extortion, rape and murder at home in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala--with more of the same in store as they travel northward through Mexico. We hear what happens when they arrive in this country -- as the humanitarian crisis continues — almost invisibly.
To the Point
Obama Meets Mexico's President Calderon The presidents of Mexico and the United States met in Washington today to try to improve relations the two countries, which have suffered over the release of US diplomatic cables critical of Mexico's handling of its drug war and last month's murder of an American law enforcement officer on a busy Mexican highway. At a joint press conference , President Obama pledged to stand with President Calderón in that country's bloody drug war. Eric Olson is a senior associate at the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
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To the Point
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
To the Point
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
To the Point
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
To the Point
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.