One Year Later: Obama and Latin America

Ray Walser / January 16, 2010

One year after taking office, President Obama has yet to usher in the new dawn in relations with Latin America he talked about during his campaign. It was a huge promise, given his predecessor’s visits to the region, free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama, the newly created Millennium Challenge Account directing more effective aid to countries there, the Merida Initiative for fighting drugs in Mexico, and the continuing success of the Clinton-era Plan Colombia.

Thus far, the Administration’s involvement with the Americas has been more reactive than proactive, dominated as it has been by a fuzzy strategic vision, unplanned events, obstructionists in Congress, and resource constraints.

Early in the new Administration, the White House made it clear it would not push Congress to approve the trade agreements Bush signed with Colombia and Panama, thereby rebuffing advances from two traditional friends and weakening economic relations further. (more…)