How to mend Latin American relations

By Lee Hamilton

June 16, 2008

Over the last several years, we have witnessed an erosion of U.S. influence in Latin America, one consequence of our heavy focus on counter–terrorism and events in the Middle East. It is time to start repairing our relationship with Latin America.

While it is unlikely that Latin America will become a top foreign–policy priority in the near future, it is increasingly important. The United States is no longer the only foreign power on the block in the hemisphere, though it remains the biggest. America is uniquely positioned to build strong and mutually beneficial relationships, alongside and in partnership with such Latin American giants as Brazil.

Latin America is also increasingly dynamic. It has experienced over 5 percent annual economic growth since 2004, reduction in poverty rates, decreases in government debt, increases in currency reserves, and the strengthening of democracy in a largely peaceful region. It supplies almost 30 percent of our oil (more than the Middle East), and constitutes an export market four times the size of China.

To have a constructive policy toward the region, we must engage in a forward–looking dialogue that accounts for Latin America's diversity in terms of geography, economic development, governance, culture and language.

We must demonstrate respect for countries of the region, listening to their leaders and people. Latin Americans are best equipped to address their own problems, though we can help with many of their challenges, including: poverty alleviation, improving public services, and reducing social tensions.

There are several specific challenges we should prioritize:

Mexico is embroiled in a bloody war against drug cartels that resulted in more than 4,000 deaths in the last year and a half, including the assassination of the nation's acting police chief in May. The U.S. and Mexican governments must work together to ensure both short–term security and long–term democratic needs are met. The Mérida Initiative, a proposal moving through Congress to provide $1.4 billion of aid over three years to help Mexico address our shared problems with drug cartels at the border is a good starting point.

Colombia supplies 90 percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States and continues to make impressive headway in battling the FARC guerrillas. Devising a better strategy for curbing America's drug consumption, which fuels the drug trafficking, would go a long way toward helping ourselves and our stalwart ally.

Free–trade agreements with Colombia and Panama should be approved in Congress. What Latin American nations want most is economic integration; access to our markets, capital, and technology; we can supply all three, but domestic backlashes against globalization, insufficient investment in infrastructure, and enhanced border security and inspections (which have slowed commerce) have stalled hemispheric economic integration.

Immigration is a vital issue.

Many Americans view immigration as a domestic issue. But the influx of immigrants — both legal and illegal — from Latin America, especially Mexico, reflects the abundant supply of unskilled workers and the continued demand for them in the U.S. work force.

The region sees our immigration policies basically as an exclusionary effort. We must find a fair and efficient way to secure our border and develop a system that meets our security and economic needs.

With Fidel Castro no longer in power, the time is right to re–evaluate U.S. policy toward Cuba. Latin American countries would welcome the integration of Cuba into hemispheric affairs.

There are countless other items that should be on our Latin American agenda: environmental protection, instability in Haiti, regional energy partnerships, and U.S. agricultural subsidies. It is time to redouble our efforts to confront these challenges and others in partnership with our hemispheric neighbors.

 

(Lee Hamilton is Director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University and Director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years.)