McCain Has Bold Vision for Improved Ties With Latin America

By Jim Kolbe
Published in the Dialogue’s Latin America Advisor, May 30, 2008

With unprecedented crises around the world that clamor daily for our attention, it is easy to overlook the region next door to us where greater stability is to be found. But taking friends for granted is not a foreign policy that can or should be sustained in the long run, and John McCain has made it clear that he will give greater attention to the Western Hemisphere in his presidency.  

Latin America—including the Caribbean—has a population of over half a billion people, and US investment in the region is more than $530 billion—20 times the amount of our investment in China. These facts underscore the vital importance of this region to the United States, both politically and economically. Yet all is not well within the region. The rise of leftist governments in Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua and, most notably, Venezuela, poses distinct problems for struggling neighbors. Colombia has had great success in battling narco-terrorists even as its neighbor, Venezuela, attempts to undermine its success by supporting guerrilla forces operating inside Colombia. Mexico finds itself in the throes of a pitched battle against drug cartels and criminal forces attempting to seize control of that country.  

Senator McCain believes this is the time for patient diplomacy, closer ties to the democratic countries in the region, and building a strong economic relationship. He has said the United States should build on the success of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and the free trade agreement with Peru by swiftly approving the pending agreements with Colombia and Panama. No action could provide a more concrete demonstration of American support for democracy than rewarding Colombia with closer economic ties to our own country. He has promised to seek Trade Promotion Authority as president so that additional trade agreements, including the overarching Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, could be pursued.

In a speech to Florida broadcasters last year, Senator McCain spoke about two "lefts" in Latin America—"the center-left governments with whom we can work closely and cooperatively, and ... the few populist, statist governments [that] oppose much of what the United States and its democratic partners stand for." Senator McCain went on to say we should be careful not to over-react to the former, while ensuring that the latter governments continue to be marginalized.

In the same remarks, Senator McCain made it clear that the United States can no longer treat Latin America as a junior partner—"like a little brother rather than as an equal." He continued, saying that "Latin America is not our backyard; Central and South America are not 'beneath' the United States." He has called for comprehensive immigration reform to reduce political tensions with our neighbors and minimize human suffering and disruption of lives.

John McCain has set out a bold vision for improved ties with Latin America. While holding high the banner of freedom for oppressed people in Cuba, he has made it clear the United States will engage our hemispheric neighbors as equals. In closing his remarks last year to Florida broadcasters, Senator McCain said:

"Relations with our southern neighbors must be governed by mutual respect, not dominated by an imperial impulse, nor by anti-American demagoguery on the other. The promise of North, Central, and South America is too great for that ... Ours can be the first completely democratic hemisphere, where trade is free across all borders, where security and opportunity are defended and advanced for all, and where the rule of law and the magic of the marketplace allow all peoples, north and south to reach their God-given potential."