“The government of Barack Obama has shown that it takes into account the need to maintain relations with Latin America,” affirmed Professor David Scott Palmer, political science expert at Boston University. But he warns that with the economic crisis and conflicts around the world, Latin America is not a priority and the resolution of the Cuban and Venezuelan conflicts will be delayed.
Palmer, who worked for the United States State Department for 12 years as president of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, knows the region well and speaks perfect Spanish. Invited by the University of Belgrano, he gave a conference last week on “policy towards Latin America and the new Obama government.” There he proposed some of the issues to which, in his opinion, the White House should pay attention.
“Obama came to power in the middle of a grave domestic economic crisis and a much weakened international image. The population had great expectations that there would be a change,” he pointed out. But he advised that “it is not very realistic to think that things would improve in such a short time.”
“The economic crisis, healthcare, the Middle East conflict, relations with Russia, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran and its desire to increase its nuclear capacity, North Korea,” he enumerated. Compared with all this, Latin America seems like a minor problem.
According to Palmer, the government of George W. Bush made some advances in the link with this region, “for example with some free trade treaties. Except for in the cases of Venezuela and Cuba, Bush did not leave a legacy of grave problems in Latin America as he left in other regions.”
In every way, Palmer pointed out that Obama has shown “recognition of the importance of dialogue, a desire to converse with its adversaries, especially Raul Castro and Hugo Chavez.” He considered positive the measures taken in relation to Cuba, like lifting the travel restrictions to the island for Cubans living in the U.S. and remittances that they can send to their families.
The expert also spoke about drug trafficking, which the White House should tackle multilaterally with Latin America. He justified the controversial agreement between Washington and Bogota that allows the United States to use military bases in Colombia: “The idea is that American forces can continue the war on drugs. It’s not about the presence of thousands of soldiers in the region.”
About Honduras he affirmed: “The initiatives of the regional community have not been able to resolve the crisis of the coup d’état. Some countries say that the United States should act, but others say they should not. If we have learned anything from past mistakes about our participation in Central America, it is that the parties involved need to resolve the conflict. Outsiders should not do it.”
How is the link between the United States and Argentina, he was asked. “Argentina has already indicated that it wants normal relations. The problems that came about from the Bush government have been left behind. The relationship will improve. There are no black clouds on the horizon.”
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