Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) said the U.S. focus on Iraq has meant diminished attention to Latin America (WashPost). He spoke with Miami’s Radio Caracol on Monday. “We spend the same amount in Latin America in an entire year that we spend in Iraq in one week. That has created, I think, a void which people like [Venezuelan President Hugo] Chavez have been able to fill,” Obama said.

IRELAND: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) addressed U.S.-Irish relations at the Irish-American Presidential Forum in Scranton, Pennsylvania on Monday. McCain said he would increase trade between the United States and Ireland, and said he is committed to “furthering the bonds of cooperation that have been forged in Northern Ireland’s peace process”