Follow-up....
U.S. neighbors turn away
Andrew Reding IHT
Friday, April 4, 2003
The wages of indifference
NEW YORK Much has been made of the split that developed in Europe over whether to join the United States in its war with Iraq. Almost unnoticed, though, has been the split that has developed in the Americas, leaving the United States virtually isolated in its own backyard.
To put it bluntly, France never got a chance to cast its Security Council veto because opposition from the United States' closest economic partners in Latin America ensured that the resolution could not pass. France may be the scapegoat, but Latin America was the resolution's undertaker.
Both of the United States' partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement, Canada and Mexico, have broken with Washington over Iraq. Elsewhere in Latin America, the only sizable nation whose leadership backs Washington is Colombia, a war-torn nation that is the third-highest recipient of U.S. foreign aid after Israel and Egypt.
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien of Canada, whose proposed compromise UN resolution was labeled a nonstarter in Washington, says he will not back the military effort in any way. His natural resources minister openly criticized President George W. Bush, saying "I think he's let down not only Americans, but the world, by not being a statesman."
[...]
"Anti-Americanism" has been signaled as a primary source of concern in the post-Sept. 11 world. As "anti-Americanism" rises throughout the Americas, it is clear that Washington's indifference to the concerns of its continental neighbors is beginning to compromise its own interests.
The writer is a senior fellow of the World Policy Institute in New York, and an associate editor of Pacific News Service in San Francisco.
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