Inter-American Relations

The NYT had a very interesting article on US-Latin American relations in today's edition: Latin American Allies of U.S.: Docile and Reliable No Longer.

Many of the observations are correct, but it paints a picture of a fictional past when Latin Americans would have applauded US military interventions and where it always supported the US in the UN.

Neither is true.

It has long been the case, even when relations were otherwise good, that Latin American nations, especially Mexico, tended to vote against the US in the UN. Indeed, as tyhe much weaker of the two, Mexico otften found that the only way to have ay strength at all vis-a-vis the US was via international institutions, such as the UN. (The book by Jorge I. Dominguez and Rafael Fernandez de Castro, The United States and Mexico: Between Partnership and Conflict makes this case quite well).

Really, what the NYT is judging against (as did many at the time when Mexico didn't vote our way in the Security Council) is what the pressumed new Bush-Fox relationship would be, not what it had become.

And in terms of mass populations, Latin America countries have always been wary of US military actions, so this is nothing new.

Indeed, while I would say that general US-Latin American relations are good (or what would pass as good), the bottom line is that Washington has been otherwise engaged and has been ignoring Latin America, aside for some trade negotiations.

Now, it is true that there are some key issues in Latin America, some of which I noted the other day.

Some things to keep an eye on:

The finalization of CAFTA.

Continued financial and military aid to Colombia.

The reemergence of the Bolivian drug problem.

The Chavez administration in Venezuela.

The development of the FTAA, and especially coming to terms with Brazil.

Preparing for post-Castro Cuba.

And, no doubt others I am forgetting at the moment...

However, on balance, this story isn't nothing particularly new, not in terms of recent events, nor in terms of historical norms.

One thing I will agree with, however, is that the administration needs to pay more attention to the region, which was its stated intentions, prior to the events of 911.

Posted by Steven Taylor at January 9, 2024 08:26 PM | TrackBack