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BY PETER HAKIM - Miami Herald
January 11
On Monday, President Bush will travel to Monterrey,
Mexico, for a summit meeting with the Western Hemisphere's 33 other elected
heads of state. Although a recent Zogby poll in Latin America deemed Bush the
hemisphere's most unpopular president, he still will be the center of
attention. Most of the assembled leaders want Washington fully engaged in their
troubled region and will be looking to Bush for signs of renewed U.S. policy
interest.
The news from Latin America has mostly been bad. The
region's economies have been flat for five years now, leaving ordinary people
poorer today than in 1996. Growth is projected to pick up, but not enough to
reduce poverty. Some countries remain trapped in economic crises. More
disturbing is the political turmoil raging in many nations. In the past four
years, four South American presidents have been forced from office by angry,
mobilized citizens. Confidence in democracy has plunged acrosss Latin America.
The deterioration in U.S.-Latin American relations since
9/11 has compounded these problems. Latin American governments are not only
disquieted by Washington's reordered international priorities; they disapprove
of U.S. unilateralism and resent Bush's ''with us, or against us'' posturing.
For the first time in years, anti-U.S. feelings have surged
in the region. For its part, Washington -- expecting Latin America's unswerving
loyalty in the battle against terrorism and rogue states -- has been
disappointed by the region's antagonism to its security policies.
True, the Bush administration has made headway on the
all-important trade agenda. The U.S.-Chile free-trade accord takes effect this
month; new agreements were signed recently with four Central American
republics; and another half dozen countries are in queue for trade deals with
Washington.
Still, trade is provoking more contention than
collaboration, particularly between the United States and Brazil. The Free
Trade Area of the Americas -- initially conceived as an ambitious,
comprehensive pact that would unite all 34 countries with common rules and
procedures -- now has been pared back to avert a U.S.-Brazilian clash.
What is left is a proposed agreement, widely referred to as
''FTAA lite,'' which would allow countries to pick and choose how much trade
liberalization they want.
Although the summit program omits trade (indeed, it has no
defining focus at all), Bush and the other leaders have no more important
challenge in Monterrey than getting the FTAA back on track, restoring its
potential to boost growth and competitiveness across the hemisphere, and
underpinning broader inter-American economic and political cooperation.
The United States, the hemisphere's economic colossus, has
to take the initiative and offer concessions on the make-or-break agricultual
issues. If this is too much to ask Bush during an election year, he should join
with the other presidents to extend negotiations beyond the current December
2004 deadline. Then it is up to Brazil to buy into a strong FTAA.
U.S. leadership on trade is not enough, however.
Washington's initiative is needed on other troublesome regional issues as well:
• The most urgent is Venezuela's dangerous political
impasse. The proposed recall referendum on President Hugo Chávez is the best
chance to resolve the stalemate democratically and peaceably. Keeping that
referendum on course in the coming months will require steady, insistent
pressure on Chávez and his opponents to stick by the rules, from the United
States and other nations.
• Despite recent gains, Colombia's democratic government
needs continuing external support to contain the pervasive violence of
illegally armed groups and strengthen the authority of the Colombian state. The
United States has provided ample military aid but should intensify efforts to
secure more political support from Colombia's neighbors.
• The recent turbulence in Bolivian politics underscored the
need for U.S. leaders to rethink the overseas war against drugs and give great
emphasis to strengthening national institutions and offering alternative
economic activities.
• More active leadership from Washington, as well as greater
support from other nations, is needed to resolve Haiti's increasingly violent
political deadlock and worsening humanitarian crisis.
• Reenergizing U.S.-Mexican relations is essential to U.S.
efforts to reengage Latin America as a whole. The White House has proposed
measures that could regularize the immigration status of Mexicans who entered
the United States illegally. This would be encouraging to everyone gathered in
Monterrey.
A common agenda
Since 9/11, Washington's top priority -- global terrorism --
has been distant from Latin America's concerns about reviving growth and easing
social and political tensions. Bush's biggest challenge at Monterrey will be to
convince the region's leaders that the United States and Latin America still
share a common agenda of problems and that Washington is ready to cooperate in
solving them.
The friction over the United States' security policies will
persist -- but if Washington systematically engages the problems of Latin
American nations, they in turn will be more inclined to cooperate in the fight
against terrorism. |
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