A Whole New World ...

We have entered a new age... an age where politicians aren't afraid to think out of the box, color outside the lines, or draw new maps.  Maps, apparently, that lack the rest of the Americas.  "Fracaso" to both the parties for failing to engage the question of guns and drugs in the US relationship with Mexico, for ignoring Cuba, skipping over US coups in Latin America, disregarding the failed war on drugs through interdiction, and the apparently invisible economic relationship of intertwined labor and capital with this hemisphere.

Bye Bye (Sez) Brazil

I missed this coverage in the mainstream US press regarding Pres. Obama's visit to Brazil, but apparently the welcome was not so friendly "Down Rio Way." Says the Daily Mail:

Barack Obama's visit to Brazil had a very unpromising start after police had to quell riots against the U.S. in Rio de Janeiro with rubber bullets and tear gas.

Police cracked down on the crowd after protesters hurled a Molotov cocktail at the consulate door, the O Globo newspaper reported on its website.

I was alerted to the story by one of my students who was present at the riot and was surprised to see the protests. Apparently much of the language of "Obama Go Home" (Fora Obama) centered on his seeing a sanitized version of Brazil while he was there, as well as their desire to have him lift the blockade against Cuba. There may still be a bit of lefty-resilience left in Brazil after all.



To be balanced, however, I should note my student said he heard far more women yelling how sexy they thought Obama was than being a Yankee devil.

Notes From LASA: Part 1

Brilliant. No other way to describe the presentations of panel 494: US-Latin American Relations in the Obama Era. Julia Sweig from the Council on Foreign Relations commented on presentations by Greg Grandin, Dan Hellinger (on Bolivarianism), Forrest Hylton (on Plan Colombia), Jennifer McCoy (Georgia State / Carter Center), and Julia Buxton (why the US CAN'T change). While Sweig - who has the ear of not only Hillary Clinton but also Fidel Castro - was fascinating with her insider discussion of the gap of what advisors on Latin America WANT to accomplish and what they CAN, the bombshell of the meeting was Julia Buxton with her explosive presentation on internal structural reasons for why the US simply cannot change its Latin America policy. Though Grandin, Sweig, Hellinger, and McCoy all tried to portray a rosy picture (as liberals from the US), Buxton, an activist from the UK, was fairly clear and specific in her analysis of the alliance between corporations, NGOs, and politicians that breeds stagnation in policy. I think that while the others want desperately to believe that there is indeed a relevant, effective left in the US of which they are a part, Buxton's indication that the absence of any major social innovation in the United States in over 50 years points to the similar stagnation in foreign policy.

Another great reason why LASA should be attended by more than the college professors.

A Kinetic Nobel Peace Prize vs. A Potential Nobel Peace Prize

How the president could turn a “potential” Nobel into a “kinetic” Nobel by engaging in a reform of Latin American policy.

1) Drop the embargo with Cuba. Numero uno. Top of the heap. If you want to inspire the world, El Presidente, drop this sham right now and strike a blow for international cooperation and sovereignty.

2) Drop the drug war in South America. Propping up the military in Colombia is a benefit to nobody. A massive resource draw on the United States and a human rights nightmare in el sur, just wake us up from this nightmare.

3) Commit to a dual reformation plan: Treat narcotics as a health issue in the United States and promote true free trade for Latin American agricultural products entering the United States.

4) A Marshall Plan for Mexico or Brazil. Mexico and Brazil are on the edge of entering into the next tier of development (particularly Brazil) and reasoned and well developed Marshall Plan for those nations could serve as an engine for the region. Not some interventionist Kennedy-style plan, but a real plan that allows for different paths toward development. For Mexico this may mean the real free flow of goods, services, capital, and … labor.

5) Take a real stand for indigenous rights. Refuse to do business with Latin American nations that refuse to treat indigenous populations with equality and dignity. This would have to include U.S. sponsored projects from the IMF/World Bank that have, at times, been incredibly detrimental to the indigenous.

Poor Guadalajara, So Far From God....

El Informador was not my paper of choice when I lived in Gdl, but I popped in the last couple of days to read the local coverage of the impact of the Canada/US/DF visit to one of my favorite Mexican cities. While the play by play was interesting, I enjoyed most a story about the impact of the visit on the Corona market near Hidalgo that was shut off from traffic - and from customers.

I'm good with the US going south to discuss its protectionist policies that will strip Mexico and Canada of billions in trade dollars, but it also served as an interesting reminder that we can't even visit Mexico without ripping the food out of somebody's mouth.

Se quedaron los bolillos y las flores...

GUADALAJARA, JALISCO.- Luces en el horizonte de la Avenida Hidalgo. Todo era quietud ahí, frente al Mercado Corona, donde las personas esperaban. “¿Quién va a pasar, disculpe?”, dijo un hombre que se acercó al barandal, como todos los demás. “¡Obama, Obama!”, comenzaron a gritar los niños.

Read more...

Oh, Man, This Chavez Guy...

The LA Times had its normal trashy coverage of Venezuela earlier this week, and I see the San Jose Mercury News has taken to printing smears instead of opinion columns. Granted, the original was a from the Washington Post, but I assume better of the SJMN.

While I'm of the mind it is time for Chavez to depart (for the sake of the program he started), I'm also of a mind that a serious document on US policy toward Latin America needs to be drafted by somebody who isn't part of the East Coast foreign policy club that does little more than re-hash Kennedy era approaches to Latin America.

1) Who in Venezuela is ready to take up the Chavista torch?

2) Who in the United States is ready to craft a quality policy assessment for the new administration?

3) Who in the new administration is going to listen?

President Elect Obama on Latin America

This link was President Elect Obama's position on Latin America made in Miami on May 23, 2008.

This link gives you a Senate speech from 2007.

This link gives a video of a speech made in Alexandria Virginia. It is only shows partial statements, so the context may not be full.