[Wash Times] President Obama told Latin America leaders in Panama Friday that the days of U.S. exploitation of the region are over, and that America owes a debt to the rest of the world for helping to bring equality to the U.S."We are respectful of the differences among our countries," Mr. Obama said at the Summit of the Americas. "The days in which our agenda in this hemisphere so often presumed that the United States could meddle with impunity, those days are past."
The crowd erupted in sustained applause.
Mr. Obama urged leaders in the region to embrace democratic principles, including public debate and dissent.
Recommended reading 'Rules for Radicals' by Saul Alinsky, now available in Spanish.
"It's not to say that my country's perfect, we are not. And that's the point," Mr. Obama said. "We have to wrestle with our own challenges from issues of race to policing to inequality. We embrace our ability to become better through our democracy."
Referring to slavery and Jim Crow-era segregation in the U.S., Mr. Obama also said that outside forces helped to improve life in America.