SAN JOSE (Reuters) – The Venezuelan government’s suggestion that an American citizen it has detained is a spy is “ridiculous,” U.S. President Barack Obama said in a television interview recorded on Saturday during a visit to Costa Rica.

Venezuela said late last month it had detained an American called Timothy Hallet Tracy, accusing him of financing opposition student demonstrations after April’s disputed presidential election and saying he had clearly been trained as an intelligence agent.

SAN JOSE, May 4 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said in
Central America on Saturday that the United States might be able
to help relieve that region’s growing energy demands by
exporting liquefied natural gas, a move opposed by some U.S.
businesses and environmentalists.

At a development forum that ended his three-day trip to
Mexico and Costa Rica, Obama held out the prospect that surging
supplies of natural gas in the United States could be sold in
the area to help reduce its energy costs.

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) – President Barack Obama signaled on Friday that a proposal to add a same-sex partnership measure to an immigration overhaul should not be allowed to derail the entire legislative effort.

Obama has used the prospect of new immigration laws as a major selling point for stronger U.S. relations with Latin America on a three-day tour of Mexico and Costa Rica that ends on Saturday.

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, May 3 (Reuters) – U.S. President
Barack Obama signaled on Friday that a proposal to add a
same-sex partnership measure to a U.S. immigration overhaul
should not be allowed to derail the entire legislative effort.

Obama has used the prospect of new immigration laws as a
major selling point for stronger U.S. relations with Latin
America on a three-day tour of Mexico and Costa Rica that ends
on Saturday.

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Friday he does not foresee a scenario in which he would send U.S. ground troops to Syria and outlined a deliberate approach to determining whether the Syrian government had used chemical weapons in a 2-year civil war.

Obama insisted that the United States has not ruled out any options in dealing with Syria as the United States investigates whether the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – President Barack Obama told the Mexican people on Friday that he sees a “new Mexico” emerging, with a deepening democracy and growing economy, and that Mexico and the United States should be viewed as equal partners.

“I have come to Mexico because it is time to put old mindsets aside,” Obama said in a speech to university students. “It’s time to recognize new realities, including the impressive progress in today’s Mexico.”

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama gave his blessing on Thursday to a new security arrangement with Mexican leader Enrique Pena Nieto, in which Mexico will make reducing violence a priority over hunting drug cartel kingpins in the war against organized crime.

The two presidents said they also want to step up trade and business ties that have been overshadowed by the battle against drug trafficking.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Thursday he is comfortable with a U.S. government agency’s decision to allow over-the-counter purchases of a morning-after pill for anyone 15 and older.

Some critics have complained girls that young should not be allowed to purchase the pills without a doctor’s approval. But Obama told a news conference in Mexico City that the decision was based on “solid scientific evidence.”

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Mexico on Thursday for a visit he hopes will draw attention to Mexico’s emerging economic might, even as worries about containing drug-trafficking and related violence remain an inescapable subtext.

Obama meets with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and is then due to hold a news conference at 4:10 p.m. CDT (4.10 p.m. EDT).

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – It sounds like something teenagers need before borrowing their parents’ car, but “permission structure” is actually a phrase being tossed around by President Barack Obama to describe his efforts to make deals with Republicans.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Obama expressed frustration with resistance to his ideas among congressional Republicans, saying that he thought “deep down” some of them wanted to “do the right thing” but worry about such consequences as being challenged in primary elections.