Last Friday's Economist recommended three goals for the president's Latin America trip that begins today:

• In Brazil he should negotiate trade for ethanol that can help the US reduce its dependence on oil.
• In Colombia he should discuss US assistance in the battle against cocaine gangs and violence.
• In Mexico he must address issues of immigration and find a way to allow more Mexican laborers to arrive in the US legally.

I think Bush should heed this advice. We must work to improve relations in Latin America in a way that will be beneficial to us all.  

A number of my friends working on development are moving to India. Why? Because it is a fascinating case study. The contrast of extreme poverty and extreme economic and technological development is a model that begs investigation.

In yesterday's NYTimes, there was an article very relevant to my work at the Global Fund for Children: "Stricter Law Fails to Diminish the Demand for Child Laborers in India." As the article examines, child labor in India is a key example of these contrasts.

I'm very interested in the role of media to affect development policy and attitudes towards international affairs. Last night was the launch of YPFP's Global Development Series, and it proved that young people from many professions are engaged in discussions of global poverty -- in this case Business and Development. So does the recent surge of Hollywood and documentary attention to development issues, specifically in Africa, affect this interest?

In last Sunday's NY Times Week in Review, Manohla Dargis argued that it does not. In a piece entitled Africa, at the Cineplex, Dargis writes that although "Most American films about Africa mean well" the plethora of these films "may also be counterproductive to the stated aims of the people who make these films."

Somalia has been without government since 1991 when President Barre was ousted and the nation fell into lawlessness and clan warfare. That's 16 years as a failed state.

Today a New York Times Editorial reads "Moment of Opportunity in Somalia," and urges the US and UN to seize this unique chance to broker a peace between the formerly ruling Islamic Courts Union (forced out by the Ethiopians last month) and the internationally recognized transitional government led by Abdullahi Yusuf.

This will take the help of the Arab League, the African Union, an international peacekeeping force, and a dose of good fortune. I hope our government will take a stand for peace at this important time.

There's an interesting piece in Foreign Policy about the revolution in mobile phone banking for the poor. Less than half the population of most developing countries has access to formal bank accounts, but a soaring number of poor people have access to mobile phones. Enter any shantytown in Africa, and you'll find people who might not have food speaking on their cell phones.

The World Bank estimates that 1 in 9 Africans have mobile phones, a total of over 100 million people. Across Asia and Latin America, mobile phone usage for poor people is also skyrocketing. Banking through mobile phones (or m-banking) could give all these people first-time access to financial services.

Nicholas Kristof's op-ed yesterday spoke of the success of US grassroots movements to end genocide in Darfur. I was suprised to see this, as so far the millions of dollars and celebrities and student movements have proved little in the way of results for the people of Sudan.

In Kenya last spring, I met with a Sudanese man who works with children in Khartoum. He had never traveled outside the region, and he had absolutely never heard of US movements to "Save Darfur." When I explained that back in Washington thousands of people had gathered that week on the Mall with celebrities such as George Clooney and Barack Obama, he was surprised and confused. "It makes no difference to us here," he said. "There is no way that information will reach us."

Five years ago today, the first al Qaeda prisoners from Afghanistan were delivered to the US military detention camp in Guantanamo, Cuba.

Today there are protests in many parts of the world, but little mention of this anniversary in US newspapers and no action on the part of our government.

More than 770 captives have been held at Guantanamo in the last five years, and only 10 have been charged with war crimes. 395 people of more than 30 nationalities are still held at Guatanamo today.