Obama's Visit

The key to understanding the events and the possible repercussions of Barack Obama’s visit to the isthmus of Central America after passing through Mexico is as complicated as it is simple. While the north’s vision, like that of the majority of large political, economic and commercial blocs, is that of a complete whole, each one of the nations in the region has its own interests, so limited that they contrast and clash with those of their neighbors.

It is necessary to emphasize that the daily work for the so-called Northern Triangle carries a mark of safety, but further south the priorities are different. Even though they are not immune to violence, they recognize that they can prevent it with social policies whose center lies in education.

“I am here to listen … [to] concerns …” were the words of the head of the White House to which each of the presidents responded immediately. “We either export our products … or we’re going to end up exporting our own people,” was one of Laura Chinchilla’s more direct commentaries. This was more than a mere hint from the Costa Rican president that she placed the cry of the region’s people above its business relations with the large northern nation — a nation that has closer economic ties with Europe and China and is the recipient of massive displacements of young people from Costa Rica.

The Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes chimed in, “President Obama took from here a recommendation that … we must work not only in repressing crime but also work on prevention,” to which President Daniel Ortega [of Nicaragua] added, “we need conscious support of the United States government to attack the common drug trafficking enemy, the countries in the region that are placing people to die in a war that we did not start.”

Was everything said? Obama was cautious about immigration reform, which the presidents of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador were specifically interested in hearing about. These lands in particular are experiencing a shocking exodus of citizens, reflecting the lack of employment there, as well as the spiral of violence and increasing poverty.

“I’m not interested in militarizing the struggle against drug trafficking,” assured the U.S. president, who described the solution to the problem as a “joint effort.”* Obviously, the heaviest weight of this communal responsibility should fall where the problem has its origins — the centers of production and places of final consumption between which, due to features of geography, lies Central America.

It is too early to know the results of President Obama’s brief visit, but one must push for the belief that they will be fruitful, mutually beneficial, and herald a partnership that exports products instead of people and works to reduce poverty and strengthen coexistence. Only then can the countries of Central America be active partners, not just suppliers of cheap labor and endorsers of international organizations.

*Editor’s Note: The original quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.