I was recently interviewed by Anthony Carranza for an article on US relations with Latin America for El Comercio, one of the largest newspapers in Ecuador with a 68k daily circulation and 152k for Sundays edition. This was quite a surprise and an honor to have the opportunity to be mentioned in a newspaper in Ecuador.
Here is a link to the original Spanish text of the article:
Anthony was kind enough to translate this article into English for us non-Spanish speakers. Here is the article that he wrote that was featured in El Comercio.
President Barrack Obama’s election victory has generated much enthusiasm and hope in Latin America. After being in office for more than a year, the reality has begun to settle in.
Being the first African American elected it was the awakening of a new era for foreign policy that could be the start of reestablishing old ties. Nevertheless, during the Bush administration the White House had other priorities and had distanced itself from the South American region.
“When Bush was in power diplomatic relations were poorly handled with many countries, particularly with south American nations,” said Political Scientist David Brooks and graduate from the University of Hamline.
However, the reality and perception from this administration began to create some similarities to the Bush administration based on some recent decisions made towards the region.
The most sensitive subject and controversy revolve around the additional military bases in Colombia. Under this new agreement, the U.S can remain there for ten years without any supervision in hot spots inside the country of Colombia.
This new agreement and increase in troops shows a strong allegiance and trust between the Obama administration and Uribe’s government. As a result, these events are one of the reasons that the Ecuadorian government expelled the U.S base located in manta last November.
Brooks strongly believes, based on the recent decisions to add more military presence, that this is a continuation of the same political strategy from his predecessor.
There has been tension and a diplomatic storm for the region in the last few years. Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Brazil were critical and weary of the implications of more U.S troops being deployed.
Although these events have left many questions remaining on what is left to come, Brooks recognizes the shift in rhetoric from the Obama administration toward Latin American nations. “There are some lingering differences to overcome in light of the tension that was built previously.”
The role of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be instrumental to advance and repair diplomatic relations. Weeks ago, Clinton sent a letter to President Rafael Correa accepting the invitation to assist the next meeting for the forum for the Union of South American Nations. This meeting will revolve around the subject of the military bases stationed in Colombia.The response from Clinton came in the same week when Sebastian Pinera was elected in Chile. The political influence that Chile exerts on the region will remain to be seen for now since most of South America is still left-leaning. Countries with political transformation to the extreme left like Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and most outspoken Venezuela have been critical of American policies.
Beyond the requests from Secretary of State to Ecuadorian President Correa, the agenda for now will be does not include the reunion of Obama with other South American nations. Last forum was marked with Obama exchanging handshakes with several well known political figures and then accepting books from President Hugo Chavez.
Sherrie Mazingo, retired professor and former editor from NBC Nightly News, is convinced in spite of all the uncertainty that Latin America will still reach out to the United States because of Obama’s message of change. ”
Even though the popularity that Obama had even before his Presidency was unprecedented when compared with his predecessors like Bush and Bill Clinton. But, Mazingo insists, “The Obama administration must be proactive and succeed in creating more allies with South American nations.”
Another interesting aspect to consider is the commercial exchange that exists already between the U.S and countries like Peru, Chile, and Colombia. However, there has been little advance with Ecuador and Bolivia.
Two months ago, Clinton had issued a statement questioning the treaties signed by Venezuela and Bolivia with Iran. It is noticeable that the dialogue is much more diplomatic, but still there are lingering feelings over the fact that both of these countries were considered part of the “axis of evil”. It was brought up during the last harsh encounter when Chavez compared Bush to the devil in his United Nations speech, which further widened the political separation and created more tension in the region.
One of the promises Obama made during his campaign was that when he took office the tone and rhetoric with countries in South America would change. There is still much work to be done and to overcome differences with some of the countries, which Mazingo heavily emphasized. She added that it is essential to strengthen relations and regain the already damaged US reputation across the globe.
One of the reasons the US has delayed to reach out to Latin America is in part due to the recession and financial crisis. The unemployment rate, the real estate meltdown and the healthcare reform has overwhelmed the American president. Still it seems that there is too much emphasis on Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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