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| Chairs: | Charlene Barshefsky, Senior International Partner, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP James T. Hill, President, The JT Hill Group, Inc. |
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May 14, 2008
Council on Foreign Relations
Contact: Aerica Kennedy, CFR Communications, 202-518-3448, akennedy@cfr.org
"Latin America is not Washington's to lose; nor is it Washington's to save," finds a CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force. "U.S. policy can no longer be based on the assumption that the United States is the most important outside actor in Latin America. If there was an era of U.S. hegemony in Latin America, it is over," the Task Force concludes. However, "Washington's basic policy framework, however, has not changed sufficiently to reflect the new reality."
The report, U.S.-Latin America Relations: A New Direction for a New Reality, is chaired by former U.S. trade representative Charlene Barshefsky and former commander of the U.S. Southern Command General James T. Hill (U.S. Army, Ret.). The task force is directed by CFR Fellow Shannon K. O'Neil and advised by CFR Senior Fellow and Director for Latin America Studies Julia E. Sweig.
"Latin America has benefited greatly in recent years from democratic opening, stable economic policies, and increasing growth," says the report. But "Latin American nations face daunting challenges as they integrate into global markets and work to strengthen historically weak state institutions. These challenges increasingly matter for the United States, as deepening economic and social ties link U.S. well-being to the region's stability and development."
"U.S. policymakers must change the way they think about the region," says the report. The traditional tenets of U.S. policy—opening economies, strengthening democracies, and fighting drug production and trafficking—remain important priorities, but the Task Force has identified four areas that should provide the new basis of U.S. policy toward Latin America.
Migration:
Poverty and Inequality:
Energy Security:
Public Security:
The Task Force also recommends deepening U.S. relations with Brazil to promote global trade negotiations and manage energy demands; strengthening cooperation with Mexico to stop narcotics trafficking, increase U.S. investment in energy production, and reform immigration policies; using multilateral institutions to address foreign and domestic policies of Venezuela; and opening informal and formal channels of communication with Cuba. "The United States should initiate a series of steps, with the aim of lifting of the embargo against Cuba," says the report.
"By truly beginning to engage Latin America on its own terms, Washington can mark the start of a new era in U.S.-Latin America relations," concludes the report.
Independent Task Force on U.S.-Latin America Relations
Charlene Barshefsky, Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale, and Dorr LLP
R. Rand Beers, National Security Network
Alberto R. Coll, DePaul University College of Law
Margaret E. Crahan, St. Edward's University
Jose W. Fernandez, Latham & Watkins LLP
Francis Fukuyama, Johns Hopkins University
Peter Hakim, Inter-American Dialogue
James A. Harmon, Harmon & Co.
John G. Heimann, Financial Stability Institute
James T. Hill, The JT Hill Group, Inc.
Donna Hrinak, Kraft Foods, Inc.
Jim V. Kimsey, America Online, Inc.
Jim Kolbe, German Marshall Fund of the United States
Kellie Meiman, McLarty Associates
Shannon K. O'Neil, Council on Foreign Relations
Maria Otero, Acción Internacional
Arturo C. Porzecanski, American University
David J. Rothkopf, Garten Rothkopf
Julia E. Sweig, Council on Foreign Relations
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