"[T]here's been a troubling sense of anachronism in this administration's rhetoric toward Latin America," writes AS/COA's Christopher Sabatini in The Hufffington Post. He recommends a set of initiatives to renew U.S. policy in the region, from changing the nature of Brazil relations to engaging the business community.
With the recent death of a Cuban hunger striker and harassment of the Ladies in White dissident group in Havana, U.S. President Barack Obama criticized human rights conditions on the island. His March 24 statement came ahead of a large Miami-based rally supporting dissidents.
In the wake of the murder of three people with U.S. consular links in Ciudad Juarez, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton headed up a cabinet-level delegation to Mexico on March 23. The bilateral summit built on the Merida Initiative with an eye to improved security, but also strengthened communities and institutions.
A dispute over U.S. cotton subsidies took another turn this week when Brazil announced plans to suspend intellectual property rights on some U.S. products. That and retaliatory tariff measures are slated to take effect in April, though both sides hold hopes for negotiations.
Brazil's Iran ties and a devestating earthquake in Chile have been the main focuses of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Latin American travels this week. Her trip, from February 28 through March 5, brings her to Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.
"The strategic equation in the Americas is changing and a lot is riding on Secretary Clinton's visit," says COA's Eric Farnsworth. "Managing the U.S. relationship with Brazil, a rising global power with big ambitions, is one of the most important strategic issues in the hemisphere," he added.
"Having taken decisions that are insular and singularly unhelpful to the US, Latin Americans cannot then complain when the US administration prioritizes other areas for its attentions," argues COA's Eric Farnsworth in this letter to the editor, published in the Financial Times.