Obama and Latin America, One Year Later

One year after the election of the American President Barack Obama, the hour has come to ask ourselves if his ambitious campaign promises about Latin America are making headway, or, if — like others who have come before him — he is forgetting the region.

To give a quick rundown of his principal campaign promises for the region:

◘ Obama, who had never had much contact with Latin America before winning the presidency, promised to create “a new alliance of the Americas” to end “years of negligence” towards the region. Nonetheless, the promise remains untouched as a consequence of the economic downturn at the end of 2008.

◘ Obama told me in an interview during the campaign that, to obligate himself to always have Latin America in his thoughts, he would convert the U.S. and Latin American Summit — The Summit of the Americas — into an annual event instead of only meeting every three to four years, as they do now. This promise has yet to be realized.

◘ He also promised to appoint a special representative towards Latin America with the hopes of improving government bureaucracy and granting more attention to the region. Up until this moment, he has not done this.

◘ Obama promised to close the U.S. prison for terrorists in the Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay. Just as he assumed the presidency, Obama ordered the prison to be closed January 22, 2010. White House administrators now say that this date could be extended, but, he continues to promise the closing the detention center.

◘ Obama promised to enact immigration reform — including the legalization of millions of illegal immigrants — and to make this issue an “absolute priority” during his first year in office. Government administrators say they now hope to see it come before Congress in 2010.

◘ Additionally, he promised to “substantially increase our external aid to the Americas.” Although the economic crisis has delayed these plans, in April Obama endorsed the decision of the G-20 — an organization consisting of mostly industrialized countries — to widen IMF loans to developing counties, while at the same time increasing the level of representation of emergent economies in the Directing Council of the IMF.

◘ With respect to Cuba, Obama had promised to “immediately permit relatives limited remittances to visit the island.” As president, Obama has ordered and implemented both measures.

◘ Obama also promised to leave behind the unilateral policies of George W. Bush. The majority of Latin American diplomats applaud Obama for having condemned the ousting of the Honduran President Manuel Zelaya this past June 28th, and for having worked alongside the countries of the region to restore a righteous state in the country.

◘ Obama also promised more cooperation with Mexico. Mexican administrators recognize the merit of having endorsed the Merida Initiative to combat the trafficking of narcotics, and for ordering U.S. policy agencies to fight against the exchange of contraband arms from the U.S. to Mexico. They also applaud Obama for not suspending flights to Mexico when the H1N1 pandemic erupted in Mexico, while other countries including Cuba, Argentina, and many other Latin American countries did suspend their flights. When I asked the Mexican ambassador Arturo Sarukhan to critique Obama’s performance thus far regarding Mexico, he told me: “On a scale from 1 to 10, I’d give him an 8.”

In general, White House administrators say that the best Obama can do for the region is restore the U.S. economy. This will make commerce grow, increase foreign investment, and accelerate economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean.

My opinion: Obama has not converted Latin America into one of his principal priorities for foreign policy, nor is it probable that he will. In all honesty, it is not all his fault: he has had to concentrate his energy in reverting the economic crisis, and has not been able to designate his own team for Latin American because conservative senators of the Republican party have continued to resist accepting his nomination of Arturo Valenzuela as the Director of Hemispheric Affairs in the State Department.

Obama has achieved changing the image of the United States from the Latin American perspective, as the majority of surveys analyzing popular leaders in the hemisphere reveal. Now, the great determining factor is if he will use his political capital to fulfill his campaign promises in being “an implacable defender of Democracy” and helping the poor of this region.

I continue to believe that he will, although — in light of the circumstances, and his own priorities — I am less convinced than I was a year ago.