Monday 06 October 2008, San José, Costa
Rica
POLITICS-US: Bush Seen
as Out of Touch on Latin
America
By Ali Gharib
WASHINGTON (IPS) -
The policies of the
George W. Bush
administration lag
behind public opinion on
a host of issues
relating to Latin
America, according to a
new poll of likely
voters across the U.S.
The poll, released
Friday by Zogby
International, polled
over 2,700 people and
found that most of them
are in favour of
revising policies
towards Cuba and think
the "war on drugs" is a
failing effort.
Other questions found
that likely voters are
split on a path to
citizenship for the
estimated 12 million
undocumented migrants in
the U.S., and
pluralities support
revising the North
American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA),
attaching human rights
conditions to the
proposed U.S.-Colombia
free trade agreement,
and lowering tariffs on
imported ethanol fuel
from Brazil.
"The poll results
indicate that American
public opinion is far
more open and flexible
on issues of importance
for U.S. relations with
Latin America than
current policy would
suggest," said Peter
Hakim, president of the
Washington-based
Inter-American Dialogue,
which worked with Zogby
on the poll.
Among the most striking
results of the poll was
the sharp
dissatisfaction of
respondents regarding
the "war on drugs",
which has landed
millions of U.S.
citizens in jail and
strongly affects U.S.
relations with some
Latin American
countries, especially
leading producers of the
coca plant -- the raw
ingredient of cocaine --
such as Colombia and
Bolivia.
Three-quarters of those
surveyed said that the
"war on drugs" is a
failing effort. Strong
majorities held this
position across every
demographic breakdown --
little difference could
be found between age
groups, religions,
political affiliations,
and regions.
Another poll result that
showed a striking gap
between policy and
public opinion came on
the question about Cuba.
Asked if, with longtime
Cuban ruler Fidel Castro
out of power,
respondents thought that
it was time to revise
Cuba policies, nearly
six in 10 said yes.
U.S. Cuba policy, a
pattern of strained
relations since Castro
led a communist
revolution in 1959 on
the island-nation of 11
million, has vacillated
between periods of
increased liberalisation
and heightened tensions
-- the latter being the
focus of the Bush
administration, which
has upheld a strict
embargo and tightened
travel restrictions for
Cuban-Americans.
But unlike the "war on
drugs" question, the
Cuba question did get
more mixed results.
More than four in five
of Democratic
respondents thought that
Washington's Cuba policy
needed to be changed.
But only 35 percent of
Republicans supported
changing policies. A
majority of 60 percent
of independent voters
supported revising Cuba
policies.
The disparity of
opinions on Cuba policy
can also be clearly
viewed across the
ideological spectrum.
From the farthest left,
self-identified as
"progressives", to the
farthest right, the
"very conservative"
(excluding
libertarians), a clear
pattern becomes
apparent.
Ninety-five percent of
progressives, 76 percent
of liberals, 70 percent
of moderates, a third of
conservatives, and 22
percent of those who
identified as very
conservative supported
revising Cuba policies.
On a question asking if
all U.S. citizens should
be allowed to travel to
Cuba, 68 percent of
respondents said yes --
again with 85 percent of
Democrats responding
affirmatively and a
plurality of 46 percent
of Republicans
supporting the idea.
A majority of 60 percent
of respondents also
think that "U.S.
companies should be
allowed to trade with
Cuba," but a plurality
of 44 percent of
Republicans were against
the idea.
These numbers supporting
a change in Cuba policy
have grown significantly
over the past year. A
July 2007 Zogby
Interactive poll found
that just over half of
U.S. respondents thought
that the U.S. should
lift the travel
restrictions and
embargo.
But it appears that the
anti-Castro
Cuban-American community
may still have a firm
grasp on U.S. policy.
Speaking more generally
about the results of the
poll, Hakim of the
Inter-American Dialogue
said, "It also suggests,
however, that public
opinion may not be all
that relevant in
decisions regarding
policy issues of
greatest concern to
Latin America -- that
these may be largely
determined by smaller
groups with intense
sentiments about the
issues."
Similarly, amid
deteriorating relations
with Venezuela --
including the recent
mutual expulsion of each
others' ambassadors -- a
plurality of respondents
to the poll said that
they prefer
strengthening diplomatic
ties with Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez, a
vociferous critic of
U.S. policies.
Forty-six percent of
those surveyed took this
position, although the
next largest bloc, just
over a quarter of
respondents, favoured
cutting off Venezuelan
imports.
Another recent issue in
U.S. relations with
Latin America has been a
proposed free-trade
agreement with Colombia.
Human rights groups,
such as Human Rights
Watch, have called on
the U.S. Congress to
reject the treaty
because of questionable
connections between the
Colombian government of
right-wing President
Álvaro Uribe and a
pattern of anti-union
violence.
The Zogby poll asked
respondents whether the
trade agreement should
be ratified as is, with
additional human rights
conditions, or defeated.
While more than a third
of respondents said that
they didn't know enough
about the issue to
decide, a plurality of
just over a quarter of
respondents supported
ratification with human
rights conditions added.
About 18 percent of
respondents supported
passing the agreement as
is.
On a question about
importing Brazilian
ethanol, just under half
of respondents favoured
reducing the 54 cents
per gallon U.S. tariff,
and a quarter opposed
the idea.
With rising energy
prices, alternative
fuels such as ethanol
are in vogue. While the
U.S. produces its own
ethanol, it is made from
corn in a much less
efficient process than
Brazilian production of
sugar-based ethanol.
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