AN OPPORTUNITY TO RECONNECT IN INDONESIA
Chico Harlan
The Washington Post, November 9, 2010
JAKARTA, INDONESIA - During its two-year wait for a visit from President Obama, Indonesia found other ways to celebrate the country's most famous former resident. Indonesian authors produced dozens of Obama books, one of them 5,400 pages long. A look-alike starred in a commercial for heartburn medication. About 12,000 Indonesians applied for a 14-day Obama-centric vacation package, with chances to meet Obama's former barber and gym teacher - all while television cameras followed the action, filming a reality show.
Obama's arrival Tuesday in Jakarta, then, restores a bit of authenticity to a relationship that has grown increasingly complex and outdated, held together by boyhood ties but not presidential ones.
Indonesia's post-inauguration euphoria, heavy on rhetoric about hope and change that mirrored Obama's own, has yet to turn into disillusionment. Rather, Indonesians talk about Obama as they might talk about a family member who has grown distant. There is mild criticism, easy forgiveness and a yearning for a stronger connection.
Obama's election spurred dreams of U.S. reconciliation with Muslim-majority nations. Yet even moderate Islamic groups here lament Obama's perceived lack of urgency in Middle East peace talks and consider the detente half-done. After proclaiming himself America's first Pacific president, Obama hindered outreach efforts by canceling earlier visits to his boyhood home - first when pushing for the health-care overhaul, later when tending to the gushing oil in the Gulf of Mexico.
(...) [artículo aquí]
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