FOREIGN POLICY/MIKE PENCE/NORTH KOREA/SOUTH AMERICA/TRUMP PEOPLE: “U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is postponing his plans to travel to Brazil this month in order to ensure foreign policy resources are focused on President Donald Trump’s coming talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Pence’s spokeswoman said on Thursday [5-3-18]…No exact date or location has been announced for Trump’s meeting with Kim but it is expected to take place in late May or early June. Pence did not want divert any attention from the talks, Farah said. Pence’s trip had been expected to include a stop in Manaus, a city near the border with Venezuela. The Trump administration has been critical of Venezuela’s government and has been weighing new sanctions against it. Pence had also been scheduled to visit Rio de Janeiro on May 30 and meet with Brazilian President Michel Temer and cabinet ministers in Brasilia on May 31, a Brazilian government source told Reuters last month.”
-Roberta Rampton, “U.S. Vice President Pence postpones Brazil trip as North Korea talks loom,” Reuters, May 3, 2018 7:02 am