A snippet from AQBlog… some really bad news for the LATAM Region (final comment under brackets is my own opinion):

U.S. House Committee Votes to Defund OAS During a July 20 markup hearing, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted in favor of cutting the entire $48.5 million that the United States contributes annually to the Organization of American States (OAS). “Let’s not continue to fund an organization that’s bent on destroying democracy in Latin America,” said Connie Mack (R-FL), who authored the amendment and is among GOP committee members who accuse the OAS of supporting anti-U.S. governments in the Americas. Committee Democrats contend the move signals backing away from multilateralism. “Here we are for a lousy $48 million willing to symbolically turn our backs on our own hemisphere,” said Gary Ackerman (D-NY). Foreign Policy’s Josh Rogin reports that the decision “is only the beginning of what looks to be a long and contentious debate over the fiscal 2012 State Department and foreign operations authorization bill written by chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL).”

[I miss those years when Republicans actually thought that International Relations were fostered by something other than a gun. When did the GOP get so stupid? Hey Tea Party and friends, what the hell is that tea laced with anyways?]