THIS IS GREAT - AT 9:55 A.M. ET:  At the recent Americas conference - the one where President Obama did his reach-out to Hugo Chavez - the former president of Costa Rica, and Nobel laureate, Oscar Arias, gave a speech.  It was delivered behind closed doors, but details are leaking out.  In it, Arias snapped back at Latin American "leaders" who blame the United States for their countries' problems: 

"When the Industrial Revolution started in Great Britain, other countries joined that train, including Germany, France, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. But the industrial revolution passed over Latin America like a comet, and we didn't even notice. We certainly lost an opportunity.

"Fifty years ago, Mexico was richer than Portugal. In 1950, a country like Brazil had a per-capita income that was higher than that of South Korea. Sixty years ago, Honduras had a bigger per-capita income than Singapore. . . . We in Latin America must have done something wrong."

COMMENT:  Please read the whole thing.  It's well worth it.  But be aware that in American colleges, students are subjected to professors who tell them that the United States plundered Latin America, and that's why the Latin American nations are in the shape they're in.  I doubt if Mr. Arias's words will find their way into many American college courses. 

May 9, 2009