The Obama Effect in Latin America
In his recent State of the Union address, President Obama failed to discuss U.S. policy toward Latin America, apart from a passing reference to the Colombia and Panama free-trade deals, and also these seven words: “Our ties to the Americas are deeper.” Other than that, there was nothing. Nothing about the ferocious drug violence next door in Mexico and Central America. Nothing about the erosion of democracy in Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Argentina. Nothing about Iran’s strategic alliance with Venezuela, or its growing regional footprint. Nothing about Alan Gross, the USAID contractor who has been sentenced to 15 years in a Cuban prison on bogus espionage charges.
Obama has consistently treated Latin America as an afterthought, so this was not exactly a huge surprise. But let’s go back to those seven words: “Our ties to the Americas are deeper.” Is that really true?
During his 2008 campaign, Obama pulled no punches in attacking the Bush administration over Latin America: “Its policy in the Americas has been negligent toward our friends, ineffective with our adversaries, disinterested in the challenges that matter in peoples’ lives, and incapable of advancing our interests in the region.” Yet George W. Bush signed free-trade pacts with Chile, Central America, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Colombia, and Panama; created the anti-drug Mérida Initiative; and boosted development aid to Latin America through the innovative Millennium Challenge Corporation.
Unlike Bush — and Bill Clinton, and George H.W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan — Obama has not spearheaded a major regional initiative of his own. He eventually got Congress to approve the Colombia and Panama trade accords (though only after Republicans captured the House of Representatives), and he has turned a portion of the Mérida Initiative into the Central America Regional Security Initiative. But in each of those cases, Obama was either completing or expanding on a policy that originated under his predecessor.
Indeed, for all his criticism of the Bush record in Latin America, Obama has not significantly changed U.S. policy toward any of the region’s biggest democratic powers. He has maintained close security cooperation with Mexico, but that cooperation has been undermined by the outrageous Fast and Furious scandal. Bush had warm and/or productive personal relationships with several Latin American leaders, including Lula da Silva of Brazil, Ricardo Lagos of Chile, Álvaro Uribe of Colombia, Francisco Flores and Antonio Saca of El Salvador, and Alejandro Toledo of Peru. While Obama’s one trip to Latin America (he visited Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador last March) was relatively successful, our allies and partners are still waiting for him to announce a large-scale hemispheric initiative. Their frustration was summed up a year ago by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who told an audience at Brown University that the United States had taken a “passive” and “disengaged” approach to the Western Hemisphere.
Obama has his foreign and domestic political strategies backwards. He should be nice to his political opponents in his own country and save the harsh rhetoric for other nations.
That would be great, but I honestly believe Obama hates us more than America’s enemies abroad. He certainly shows more empathy for them. Who can forget the way his adminstration supported Zelaya’s attempt to establish a left-wing dictatorship in Honduras? Although, to be fair, I suspect that was an example of Obama’s incompetence. He was simply to stubborn to back down and admit a mistake.
Meanwhile, Obama’s surrogates in the entertainment industry are being extra nice to minorities, to the point of supporting the most aggressive of their number in anti-white American propaganda. See http://yankeedoodlesoc.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/glee-goes-la-raza, .
he cant. like most liberal elites (read: contrarians) their opinions and actions (right or wrong) cannot be the same as the ‘unwashed masses that live in fly over states’. if they did they they would have to admit that we actually may beable to live without their sage like wisdom. Therefore whatever position common sense, history, logic, and facts take they have to take the opposite completly to be ‘above it all’ or use it to feign opressions.
I remember seeing a cartoon during the Reagan administration that had Ronald Reagan sitting behind his desk and a general standing in front of him. Reagan asks, “What are we going to do about El Salvador?” The general then replies, “Let’s buy it!” The cartoon stuck in my mind because so many of our problems in South and Central America could be solved by trade. We always think that we need to take these countries over with force, but never underestimate what the power of trade, or money, will do with these people. Even miserable little dictators like Ortega in Nicaragua are as corrupt as they come and would never turn down American “investments” in his country. They may hate us, but they love our money. And once you get these countries addicted to our trade and our cash, they will be less likely to do anything to offend us. If they know where their next meal ticket is coming from, they’ll be less likely to bite the hand that feeds them.
We should have a huge economic push in South and Central America. With all the oil and natural gas being found off the coasts of some of these nations, that would be a logical starting point for trade alliances with these countries. And if we become their best friends in trade, they won’t need the Iranians.
Trade and investments with our friends is fine but who in their right mind would want to invest in a country and build up a going business when the government in that country has a nasty habit of “nationalizing” those businesses that are successful? Once “nationalized” seeing those businesses run into the ground by having all the profits stolen by that government, and then having said government cry poverty and beg for foreign aid? Then, once that aid has started flowing, have that same government do nothing but cut us down at every opportunity while pocketing that same aid money instead of passing it on to their people. As to our true friends, ignore them, they aren’t making any noise.
At least that seems to be our foreign policy as far as I can tell.
Oh,now, come on! Obama sided with Manuel Zelaya in Honduras when he unlawfully tried to become a dictator. He is suing Arizona and other states over immigration laws. He made sure George Soros’ oil interests were supported in Brazil. What more do you want?
Don’t we know that only non-British western Europe is interesting to the Obamas and Clintons of the world? Heck, the Americas are so boring Obama can’t even think of reason to send a few drones on a raid somewhere. I believe the rest of the Americas will benefit from his neglect much more than they would from his attention.
The Obama/Clinton administration hate for the freedom-loving people of Honduras is utterly horrifying. The administration wielded their enormous power seeking to impose communism on U.S. ally, Honduras.
As long as people can remember, America was looked upon as a beacon of light. A country that stood against communism and stood tall and strong for FREEDOM and human rights. America is no longer that same country. Causing our enemies to rejoice and our allies to fear.
LA Universities Universities are full of 60 year old men with pony tails who embraced free love & frre weed and not free markets.
Another layer to that cake is the prevailing belief that government should support key industries and business, which is actually crony capitalism and results in a fossilized economy.
In order to survive herioc outlaw entrepeneurs defy the beaurocracy and start illegal businesses. They are street vendors, gypsy taxi drivers, small factories,…
These are the small businessmen of Latin America who understand beaurocatic tyrany and the people we must “ORGANIZE”.
Barry O Sotoro took the side of Hugo Chavez when Honduras got rid of the president/dictator wantabe in 2010. When the Carolina Senator went to Honduras on a fact finding mission, John Communist Kerry accused Jim Demint of treason. The fact is the ousted president was in El Salvador only a few hours before he turned up in the house in the Capital of Honduras. . He said he traveled by truck back to the capital. . the only way he could have made this trip in the time allowed is for him to have been allowed to land on the US Airforce base near the Capital and drove the short distance into the Capital. . someone in Washington D.C. needs to answer for that. . . God Help us if the mystery man from Chicago get reelected