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President Elect Bush and his National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice have both indicated they will be paying more attention to Latin America than previous administrations have. The current administration's only contribution to Latin America has been the ill conceived Plan Colombia, a scheme that is reminiscent of the early days of Vietnam. Let's hope the Bush administration is more constructive. So far it sounds promising; Bush has stated he would like to see a Free Trade Area of the Americas. Below is an excerpt from an interview Charlie Rose had with Condoleezza Rice.
Rice: The Governor of Texas is a Texan and a Governor. And he has much stronger views I think, about, for instance, the importance of Latin America and Mexico. He is very clear on the importance of this hemisphere. That is something that he brings to this that probably no candidate for the United States has brought in like ... You know it's really wonderful to go with him to Mexico and watch him speak to them in Spanish. It's really wonderful to go across the border and see that he's cheered by Mexican citizens as much as he is by Texas citizens.
Rose: So one thing you're saying is that in a Bush Administration there would be more of a focus on Latin America than there has been in the past by any administration.
Rice: Absolutely, by any administration.
another snippet:
Bill Price: This is Bill Price from the Council of the Americas. And Condi, we're very glad to hear of the President's great interest in Latin America and the need for trade. I wonder if you could give us any more specifics on how you would plan to get fast track, and how soon you had planned to get it?
Rice: Governor Bush has said that fast track authority is one of the very earliest things that he would ask for, and he believes ... he thinks like an executive. He says you have political capital; you have to spend it. And what you choose to spend it your political capital on early very often gives you a real advantage and that I think he would be prepared to go to Congress and argue very hard. That is one of the first things that he wants to do because he believes that FTAA is extremely important, that getting Chile finally into the NAFTA realm, and extending some of the benefits that we're experiencing in NAFTA is very important.
foreignrelations.org
This is a good commercial link:
imakenews.com
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