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Clinton in Costa Rica for Development Summit

   VOA News 04 March 2010
   Under  light  rain showers, Sec. of State Hillary Clinton walks up the
   stairs of her plane before leaving the airport in Brasilia, Brazil, 03
   Mar 2010

Photo: AP

   Under  light  rain showers, Sec. of State Hillary Clinton walks up the
   stairs of her plane before leaving the airport in Brasilia, Brazil, 03
   Mar 2010

   U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Costa Rica for a meeting
   of foreign ministers focused on economic development in the Americas.
   Clinton will take part in Thursday's Pathways to Prosperity conference
   with  officials  from  more  than  a  dozen  Latin  American  nations,
   including Peru, Honduras and Guatemala.
   She  is  scheduled  to  meet with female entrepreneurs just before the
   gathering, which is being held in the Costa Rican capital, San Jose.
   Later  in  the  day,  Secretary Clinton is expected to hold talks with
   outgoing  Costa  Rican President Oscar Arias, and with President-elect
   Laura  Chinchilla. She arrived in Costa Rica early Thursday as part of
   a  six-nation  tour  of  Latin America, which has already taken her to
   Uruguay, Argentina, earthquake-ravaged Chile and Brazil.

   Clinton  will wrap up her travels in Guatemala before returning to the
   United States at the end of the week.
   On  Wednesday, the top U.S. diplomat met with Brazilian President Luiz
   Inacio Lula da Silva.  She defended the Obama administration's foreign
   policy  approach, saying it is working in many places as the president
   reaches out to different countries.
   Secretary  Clinton  noted  the  United  States  would  like  to have a
   positive  relationship  with  Venezuela,  but  said  under the current
   circumstances, it is difficult.
   She  spoke  of  what  she  called "rhetoric" and "threats" coming from
   Venezuela,  where  she  said  President Hugo Chavez has been trying to
   stifle  the  press  and  is  taking  over  companies and their assets.
   President Chavez has been a long-time critic of the United States.

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