Obama Left Us with a Message in His Visit to Latin America

The president of the United States arrived in El Salvador last Tuesday from Chile, where he had praised Latin America for being a “region in motion, ready to assume a more important role in the world.” It is obvious that Central America is also included in the group.

When he arrived in the neighboring country, the sister nations were on the lookout for what would be announced to the large Hispanic region, particularly Central America. And after his ceremonial meetings with his counterpart Mauricio Funes and finishing a not very busy schedule in El Salvador, he announced some plans for the Isthmus.

One of them was the offering of $200 million to launch a program aimed at combating narcotic trafficking and in the support of security aimed at addressing the problem of immigrants.

Certainly, offers of this kind that show support for many regional problems are seen with satisfaction, but the expectation created by the arrival of a visitor of this level is almost always higher.

In Guatemala and in the rest of the isthmian countries, except El Salvador, there was still a strange feeling when Barack Obama announced on his trip he was contemplating visiting this last country. It was interpreted as an exhortation toward those of us who live trapped in absurd political, economic and social battles.

But when the outcome of the trip was known, the uncertainty was greater. And that is how they are working to understand the message that the visitor wanted to convey to us.

Honduras was still not convinced with his weak moves to keep the ship that is the government of Porfirio Lobo from running aground. Nicaragua inspired distrust with the intentions of its head of state, Daniel Ortega, who only seems to be working for his re-election. Costa Rica is a nation that rarely shows friendliness towards integration, which can only be considered a reference to sending messages of unity.

And Guatemala, immersed in a bitter election contest that has brought criminal violence, doesn’t seem to be fertile ground to give enduring lessons.

In a way, only El Salvador has shown evidence of sustaining a relatively stable economic policy and an administration that has shown signs of wanting to progress. This appeared to be the best place to which Obama called our attention, so that we can care more about solving the big problems that weigh us down and only serve to hinder our development.