What Wikileaks Teaches Us About Obama and Latin America

[Judi Lynn]

Published on Thursday, February 10, 2011 by CommonDreams.org
What Wikileaks Teaches Us About Obama and Latin America
by Rebecca Ray

President Obama has given little indication of the strategy for his upcoming trip through Chile, Brazil, and El Salvador. Will "the great listener" promote cooperation and understanding, or carry on the Bush administration’s approach of fighting against regional alliances?

Words of Wisdom from Past Leaders

Diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks show that last year Chilean President Bachelet urged the Obama administration to avoid separating South American nations into ideological pigeonholes:

President Bachelet emphasized the need to understand the nuances of Latin America’s leaders and their countries rather than lumping them into populist and pro-western camps … emphasizing that Morales was very different from Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.

In prior years, Brazil has urged the US to establish direct dialogue with administrations that have clashed with the US. In a 2009 visit:

…both Garcia and Amorim used the opportunity to encourage the United States to establish 'a direct channel of communication with President Chavez.' Amorim suggested that a good USG-GOV dialogue would have an impact on the domestic situation in Venezuela, as well, because much of the opposition to Chavez has ties to the United States.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/02/10-7

Editorials:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=587836&mesg_id=587836

[Peace Patriot]

1. Great post! I did an analysis of it in "Editorials & Other Articles"

Comment no. 2 here
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x587836

[amyrose2712]

2. K&R nt