LATIN AMERICAN AND US POLITICS

Latin American and US politics



Latin American and United States Politics

Introduction and Background

Relations between the U.S. and Latin America are at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War. Since the attenats, September 11, 2001, Washington's interest in the region has declined in favour of the Middle East. Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a think tank working on U.S. Latin America, the U.S. cannot shoulder the responsibility of this situation. The lack of political and economic reforms, social tensions and inequalities, and a tendency to populism and the confrontation with the great northern neighbour also explains the current impasse (Aguilar, 1978).

Coercion

The application to another of either physical or moral force. When the force is physical, and cannot be resisted, then the act produced by it is a nullity, so far as concerns the party coerced. When the force is moral, then the act, though voidable, is imputable to the party doing it, unless he be so paralyzed by terror as to act convulsively.

Cohesion

A cohesive community is one in which all members feel both a shared sense of belonging and an ability to contribute to it.

The economy

On the economic front, although trade relations with Latin America are important (150 billion dollars of exports), they find their limits in the absence of free trade agreements with some states, and the inability to impose the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas). This failure became clear when G. Bush fled the Summit of Mar del Plata in Argentina. Access to energy resources in the region (oil and natural gas) also compromised by the continuing tensions with Venezuela, and the new deal is that the election of Evo Morales in Bolivia (Debray, 1967).

Discussion

United States can play a strategic role in promoting economic freedom, stability and growth in Latin America - something that has not done for nearly a decade. This means reversing the current policy characterized by bailouts, protectionist measures and mixed messages for the region. It also means that Washington end its destructive war against drugs in the region, which is in contrast to the main priorities, in U.S. foreign policy. In drug-producing countries such as Colombia, the war on drugs is fuelling corruption and violence, financing terrorism, undermining the rule of law and weakening the institutions of civil society. The impact of the war on drugs that run the United States has been invisible to this country, but the consequences in Latin America at odds with the stated objective of promoting Washington's free markets (Girard, 2001).

The rhetoric in favour of free trade must be accompanied by political action consistent with the language. The U.S. Congress should support the unilateral reduction of trade barriers to goods from the region and to negotiate free trade agreements with countries that are willing to do so, starting with Chile. United States then would highlight the successes of countries carrying out reforms in the region to reward without penalizing others. The disparate performance of countries that embrace economic ...