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Expectations for the Fifth Summit of the
Americas
Tom Loudon
There are high expectations for the upcoming
Summit of the Americas, happening April
17-19 in Trinidad and Tobago. It will be
President Obama's first opportunity to
dialogue with Latin American and Caribbean
presidents. Many hold out hope for a new
direction for United States policies towards
our neighbors in the hemisphere.
We continue to look for signs as to what the
administration has in mind. At an event last
week in Washington, Jeffrey Davidow,
coordinator of the Summit for the Obama
administration, offered a few clues. Davidow
said that the US would "focus more on
dialogue and collaboration, be pragmatic,
and look for concrete results, social
inclusion and look to reduce extreme
poverty." It is not clear yet how these
words will translate into actions and if
they will mean new policy directions.
Davidow also said that instead of
international treaties, the US will be
looking for "ad hoc" groupings, of
governments, NGOs and businesses, and varied
forms of collaboration, depending on the
interests of each country.
In a subsequent press conference, Davidow
responded to a question about free trade
agreements (FTA's) by saying that the Summit
may not be the best place to take on
bilateral issues, but that they want to
"move rapidly in relation to Panama and
getting the Panama trade deal approved by
Congress," and "to move ahead on the
Colombian trade deal as well, and that this
will be done probably more slowly because
there are still some benchmarks that have to
be met."
These statements confirm what we had
previously suspected, this administration
will move forward on FTA's. In other words,
little has changed from the days of the Bush
administration in that respect. Rather than
questioning the model, which has clearly
served to increase inequalities, the
administration proposes minor "fixes." We
need to continue insisting on a change to
the model.
When asked about reestablishing diplomatic
relations with Bolivia, Davidow said, "We do
have diplomatic relations. We just do not
have ambassadors." He went on to say: "I
think we need to have more communication,
and certainly as a goal, we would like to
see the kind of diplomatic relationship that
we've had for quite a long time with Bolivia
and Venezuela restored." Again, encouraging
words, but the proof will become evident
shortly.
To date, the signs indicate that the
administration's actions aren't
corresponding to their words. The recent
trip of Vice President Biden to Chile and
Costa Rica reveals a preference for a
conquer-and-divide strategy - a historical
tactic of the United States. The Chilean
government is the most right-leaning of the
South American leftist trend in recent
elections. The decision for Biden to visit
Costa Rica, with the attempt to convene all
Central American countries, was a diplomatic
affront to the Central American Integration
System (SICA) established in 1991. Because
Nicaragua currently holds the pro tem
presidency of SICA, the proper course of
action for Mr. Biden would have had SICA
host the meeting. As a result, Presidents
Ortega of Nicaragua and Zelaya of Honduras
boycotted the meeting in Costa Rica.
Another disturbing signal: President Obama
has chosen to spend the two days prior to
the Summit in Mexico, with one of the few
conservative presidents left in Latin
America. Concurrently, Hugo Chavez has
convened a meeting for presidents of the
ALBA countries, where he will be joined by
the leaders of Nicaragua, Honduras, the
Dominican Republic, Paraguay and a
representative from Cuba. They have stated
that they will be working to develop common
positions to bring to the Summit.
President Obama will likely be surprised by
what he encounters in Port of Spain. The
dramatic changes which have happened in the
region over the last several years have not
yet been internalized by our State
Department. Formulas from the past are
doomed to fail. Unless he begins to accept
this reality, US relations will continue to
be out of touch.
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