First let me take a selfie, El Salvador's president tells UN

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, whose social media savvy helped win him power earlier this year, took a selfie before his maiden speech at the UN General Assembly, which he called "obsolete" and suggested scrapping.

In a dark suit and no tie, his hair slicked back in his signature style, the 38-year-old thanked the other leaders present and said he especially wanted to greet his wife and baby daughter sitting in the gallery.

"If you'll just bear with me a second," he then added, pulling out his iPhone 11, lifting it up to his grinning face and snapping a photo he later posted on Twitter to his 1.1 million followers.

"Believe me, many more people will see that selfie when I share it than will listen to this speech -- I hope I took a good one."

"A couple of images on Instagram can have more impact than any speech delivered in this assembly," he said, quipping that the annual summit of the world's leaders could be done by video-conference.

The conservative businessman and former mayor of the capital San Salvador was sworn into office in June in the small Central American country of 6.6 million people, tasked with turning around grinding poverty and rampant gang violence that are sending thousands fleeing to the United States.

He traded on his telegenic looks and promises of a break with the past, but critics have called him light on policy and substance.

TRUMP BROMANCE

On Wednesday, he held his first meeting with US President Donald Trump, a fellow prolific social media user and self-styled iconoclast whom Bukele has aggressively courted -- a contrast with his predecessor Salvador Sanchez Ceren, a leftist former guerrilla.

The 2 countries reached an agreement last week to curb illegal migration that opens the door for the United States to send refugees back to the violent Central American country, a move slammed by migrant rights advocates.

"For us, the United States is not only a partner and an ally, but also a friend," Bukele told reporters after that meeting.

"We're hoping that this meeting will only strengthen our relationship even more, and I think it will because, you know, President Trump is very nice and cool, and I'm nice and cool, too. We both use Twitter a lot, so, you know, we'll get along."

Talking to journalists on Thursday after his speech, he defended his show of bonhomie with the US leader.

"Someone made fun of the fact that I joked with Trump. Did they want me to come fight with him -- or for me put on a cranky face or something?"

On the controversial migration agreement, he appeared to agree that those Salvadorans fleeing to the US were involved in gangs.

"We've supported our natural and biggest ally," he said. "We've caught human traffickers, we've seized their money, their arms, false documents."

"El Salvador has to propose a positive migration, academic migration, business migration, work migration, not those with false documents or drugs."


source: news.abs-cbn.com

Obama blasts 'populist strongmen' in last UN address

Barack Obama used his farewell UN address Tuesday to castigate strongmen and populists, taking aim at Russia's Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump's rise at home.

Obama told the UN General Assembly that democracy was a better path toward prosperity than the "crude populism" that is mushrooming in the United States and around the world.

"Some argue the future favors the strong man," Obama said, in remarks sure to echo on the 2016 US campaign trail. "I believe this thinking is wrong."

"History shows that strong men are then left with two paths: Permanent crackdown, which sparks strife at home, or scapegoating enemies abroad, which can lead to war."

Obama's comments come amid a scorched-earth campaign to succeed him, which has seen a wave of popular support for Republican Party nominee Trump, who holds far-right stances on immigration and national security.

"Our country has been weak. We're letting people in by the thousands and tens of thousands," the businessman said Monday, attacking Obama.

Obama challenged that thinking in his address at the UN, saying: "We have to open our hearts and do more to help refugees who are desperate for a home."

"We have to imagine what it would be like for our family, for our children if the unspeakable happened to us."

Obama admitted, however, that a "course correction" was needed to smooth the serrated edges of globalization and neutralize "alternative visions" promoted by populists and zealots.

'Past glories'
He had a more direct message for his Russian counterpart, accusing Putin -- who has invaded Ukraine and deployed forces to Syria -- of trying using the military to gain global clout.

"In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force," Obama said.

Even as a Syrian ceasefire brokered by Washington and Moscow lay in tatters, Obama insisted diplomacy -- not force -- is the only way to end the brutal five-year conflict.

"There's no ultimate military victory to be won, we're going to have to pursue the hard work of the diplomacy that aims to stop the violence and deliver aid to those in need," Obama said.

On Monday the Syrian military declared the ceasefire over and 18 UN aid trucks were destroyed as they tried to bring relief to war-ravaged citizens near Aleppo.

Syria and Russia denied striking the convoy, with Moscow suggesting it may have caught fire.

Legacy on the line

The Syria crisis, perhaps more than any other, threatens to sully Obama's eight-year effort to improve America's standing in the world.

Obama arrived at the White House in 2009 to find America's reputation tattered by the war in Iraq and George W. Bush's distain for global forums.

Obama has been more cautious -- critics would say timid -- with using US power, refusing to intervene to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Before the UN, Obama restated the case for multilateralism and an America that knows the limits of its own power.

"I've noticed as president times when both America's adversaries and some of our allies believe all problems were either caused by Washington or could be solved by Washington."

"Perhaps too many in Washington believe that as well," he said to laughs from delegates.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com