The North Also Exists

By Michael Shifter
El Colombiano, November 16, 2010

Una versión de este articulo en español está disponible aquí.

By now the message coming from Latin America is clear.   The region is more assertive and confident than ever and wants to stand apart from the United States.   Brazil is booming and has become a power on the global stage.   The region’s middle class is expanding.   China is deepening its economic connections in many countries.  

Even Colombia, which has been so closely tied to the United States in recent years, is looking for more breathing space and is pursuing new relationships in Latin America and globally.   Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia’s new President who is certainly friendly towards the United States, still hasn’t visited Washington, DC.   He is focused on other foreign policy priorities. 

All of this is good and healthy and a measure of how much the world has changed in recent years.  The United States does not have the preeminent position it once did (as clearly reflected in the outcome of last week’s G-20 meeting in Seoul, South Korea).   A number of Latin American countries are not only growing strong, but are making progress on the social front, reducing poverty and even inequality.  Again, Brazil stands out. 

However, (and with apologies to Mario Benedetti and Joan Manuel Serrat), the North also exists.  The US may not be what it used to be, but it remains an important actor in the hemisphere, and in the world.   For Latin America, more constructive cooperation with the US represents an opportunity for even better economic and social performance.  With an economy valued at some 16 trillion dollars, the United States offers a tremendous market for goods and services coming from Latin America.  

Despite the current difficulties in the US economy, remittances to the region are over 60 billion dollars, and make up a significant part of the foreign exchange in many countries.    Washington may be polarized, and the political system dysfunctional, but US universities are still a source of cutting-edge science and technology.  Innovation in various sectors is vital. 

It is hard to see how global problems that affect Latin America – from drugs to criminality to climate change – can be adequately addressed and resolved without the participation of the United States.  True, the political realities make progress difficult – and there is a natural tendency to try and come up with answers without the United States (as reflected in the Community of Latin American and Caribbean Nations, launched earlier this year in Cancun, Mexico).  But given the continued importance of the US on virtually all global questions, any answers are bound to be partial and not sustainable.

The Santos administration is smart to move on and make up for lost ground in Colombia’s relations with its Latin American neighbors and also with Asia, China especially.   The struggling US economy and the poisonous political climate in Washington make it uncertain that the pending bilateral free trade agreement with Colombia will be approved any time soon, though with a Republican-controlled House of Representatives the prospects for passage may be somewhat brighter.   The US-Colombia relationship remains strategically important.   Security and development cooperation continue, and economic ties are increasing.  

As Colombia and other Latin American countries pursue their separate and collective agendas and aspirations, the United States should not be forgotten.