Obama’s Nightmares

The impossibility of discussing the topics that truly interest us has been made clear.

The population of the Western Hemisphere is already approaching one billion residents, 200 million of whom are living in poverty. As seen from Asia or Europe it would seem a monolithic block with technological and industrial leadership in the primary economy of the world. It consists of countries in the process of industrialization like Brazil and Mexico, an important mass of cross-continental Spanish-speaking nations with monetary and financial stability, and a multitude of islands with surprising income levels.

What we witnessed in the Sixth Summit of the Americas last week could not have been further from reality. Colombia showed off with an extraordinary social invitation filled with festivities, tourism and a demonstration of security that earned President Santos the title page of Time Magazine. The rest was a manifestation of controversies and disharmonies between the ideological interest groups of these countries, which were frankly antagonistic and incapable of uniting their forces.

A recount of the results: 47 mandates, without any concrete proposals, related to matters of poverty, inequality, information, education, health, access to technology, natural disasters and infrastructural integration. The impossibility of discussing the topics that truly serve our interests was made clear, while everyone agreed to “explore new approaches to strengthen the fight and be more effective,” a salute to the flag.

The common topic of legalizing drugs circulated in the air. One idea that was proposed was derived from Holland’s example, a country where drug addicts are considered to be ill — just like a nicotine or alcohol addict – a simple problem of public health. They treat the ill person, administrating therapeutic and illicit drugs, until they submit to a process of gradual detoxification and rehabilitation. The result of such a policy –were it to become a continental proposal – would be the virtual disappearance of the infinite and destructive “business” of narco-trafficking and the incorporation of production and transformation into a formal economy. The corollary, an encounter between Calvinist, traditional and war-faring visions, proved impossible to be converted into a valid topic for the next discussion. The topic of the inclusion of Cuba ran the same luck and closes the space for the Seventh Summit in the coming year.

The hardest hit was President Obama, who had to contend with an important case of corruption in his security team that affected his campaign. He has also been challenged with the task of leading an internal discussion about legalization without a foreseeable result, the problem with security on the Mexican border and Central America threatened by the North American arms and drug market, what happened to the Falkland Islands, and of course, the eternal topic of Cuba that has now become widespread across the entire continent. This puts him into an uncomfortable position that affects even more his highly sought after continental leadership role. To generate a positive result, it was necessary to release the fair trade agreement with Colombia.