This week Hilary Clinton will make her way to Latin America to attend the Organization of American States’ (OAS) 40th General Assembly in Lima, Peru as well as make additional stops in Ecuador, Colombia and Barbados as well as have meetings with CARICOM. Despite adding a few FTA’s over the last few years, the lack of attention the US has had on Latin America shows little difference between the last administration and the current one, according to many experts on US Foreign Policy in the region. While US concerns in the Middle East and economic treaties in Asia have dominated US security and economic concerns over the last few years, the closest allies and closets threats to the US are contained within the Americas. Latin Americanists do not mention for purely personal benefits that a lack of attention by the US in the region will do nothing but to open the US backyard to other foreign interests and create numerous missed opportunities by the US to increase and solidify relations with its allies in the region and produce a defined position on issues affecting Latin America as a whole. A lack of defined US support in Latin America has left allies such as Colombia to actively address their internal security concerns with little open support from the US and pushed Mexico into a state of chaos with relatively passive mention in US media in relation to the level of violence in Mexico’s recent drug conflicts. Economic relations with Latin America’s economic giants in Mercosur has also been left dead in the water, as an Americas wide FTA has been postponed indefinitely. China and the EU has displaced a coordinated US investment strategy in the Southern Cone, a region where the next superpower is rising while the US is tied to another superpower, China, with no solid plan for recouping its large debt with China nor to increase beneficial trade between the US and Brazil.
Clinton’s visit to the OAS from June 6th to June 8th has some pointed goals for the current US Administration. Issues concerning blocking Cuba’s admission into the OAS, the after effects of the ousting of Zelaya in Honduras, and the challenge of other inter-regional bodies created by many leftists leaders and supported by most nations in Latin America, without Canada and the US. One organisation of concern is that of the Union of South American States (UNASUR) in Ecuador. UNASUR is a NATO type organisation that is thought by some as gaining added legitimacy over the OAS. Clinton’s visit to the UNASUR chair in Ecuador hopes to reinforce American support in the OAS and cement US interests in the region, especially since the US has not been accepted as part of UNASUR. UNASUR was key in responding to UK oil interests and drilling off the coast of the Falkland/Maldives Islands, where Argentina claims rights over the islands and the waters surrounding the British colony. Another organisation formed outside the prevue of the US is the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), started by Chavez and Castro in 2004, it seeks to promote the interests of leftist leaders in Latin America. US concerns in this week’s meetings will most likely rally around limiting drug violence in Latin America and promote trade interests among US allies in Latin America. Dealing with natural disasters will also be a topic of concern for all, as Chile and Haiti continue to deal with the destruction of their respective earthquakes and the Americas continues to send aid and assistance despite it no longer being followed in the media. The impression however still shows a lack of interest in Latin America, and that Clinton will do just enough to keep the US in the game, but will do as much as to not play any serious role or define any clear policy in the region.
Clinton’s four days in Latin America will do nothing but give a slight taste of what it is like for those in the region to be on the radar of the Obama administration. Attention from the US towards Colombia will be a constant due to the debate on trade vs. human rights issues between the two countries and the resistance by many in the US for a Colombia FTA, despite the successes Colombia has had fighting internal terror and economic growth. The new post-Uribe era and Colombia’s elections and the issue of US bases in Colombia will also be a prime concern of Clinton, especially since those issues are a favorite topic for Chavez and his supporters in Latin America. A lot of attention may come to Latin America from Brazil’s and Turkey’s deal with Iran on its nuclear fuel, as well as Chavez’s ties with Iran and those in the Middle East who seek to link the two region’s in political debate. Nuclear and security relations between Venezuela and Iran, and Brazil’s policy involvement and economic agreements in the Middle East may bring the Clinton’s premier policy concerns into Latin America, but whether it is a benefit to Latin America to become enrolled in the Middle East is a question that only time can clarify. Attention at any cost usually roots future responses in chaos, but leaders and policies always change in Latin America, unfortunately this is not the case as much in the Middle East. The US needs to take Latin America into its greater policy developments, giving credit as its neighbour and respect the benefits and support of having such a diverse growing region in their own backyard. A lack of attention by the US hurts the US and its interests in the long run in the Americas.
