Following up on my post last week about unrest in Zimbabwe while Mayor Tom Potter’s three-person delegation was visiting, according to the mayor’s office, the team returned safely to Portland on Tuesday night after 13 days abroad.
In sending the delegation, which included his wife, Karin Hansen, Potter concluded that providing humanitarian aid and shaking hands with locals in Zimbabwe did not amount to tacit support for Robert Mugabe’s regime. Potter himself pulled out of the trip at the last minute, citing concerns about the financial crisis at home.
Whether you think Potter handled the affair well or not, Mayor-elect Sam Adams says he plans on being even more engaged internationally when he takes office in January, with the goal of boosting international trade.
But it’s unlikely even Adams will top the muscular foreign policy of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. As revealed in The New York Times on Sunday, Luzhkov (pictured above) has pumped millions in financial assistance to breakaway Russian factions across Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Reaction to the story in Russia has been fascinating, with some Muscovites arguing that propping up Russian insurgents abroad is an excellent use of city money. Would you support Portland spending your local tax dollars fighting for progressive causes in foreign lands?
- With Potter Delegation in Zimbabwe, the News Doesn’t Look Good After May
- Potter’s Staff Meets Mugabe’s Opponents in Zimbabwe Just back
- Potter’s Wife Sho’s Support Among the
- In its continuing investigation of the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. Justice Department has requested that local police departments interview foreign visitors. [] The P
- Andy Roddick: Portland Is Not Like Moscow! Andy Rodd
