This is a pretty good piece and I agree. The next pres will have to come up with a new plan or the defections will continue.


(IPS) With Washington's image in Latin America at its lowest ebb in memory, President George W. Bush's successor must pursue a "fresh approach" to the region -- one aimed, in particular, at reducing poverty and the yawning gap between rich and poor , according to a new report by the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) released last week.

The 14-page report, "Forging New Ties: A Fresh Approach to U.S. Policy in Latin America", argues that 20 years of U.S. economic prescriptions for the region, often called the "Washington Consensus", have "done little to improve the lives of ordinary Latin Americans", with the result that the U.S. has looked "at best indifferent" to their plight.

The failure of such policies has strengthened populist and social democratic movements, some of which rely on anti-U.S. sentiment, throughout the region, according to the report. Instead of portraying these movements as potential threats to U.S. security, Washington "should respond positively to the impulse behind (them)."


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It not surprising to see they already wrote Bush off as part of a solution to the problem. Under 8 years of his policies his successor will have a difficult time fixing this problem. He seems to has relly messed up where Chavez is concerned. Things have gotten a lot worse just in the past couple of years.

Problem is as I see it, the US is more concerned with corporations while the people suffer and starve. If they cannot find a common ground then the shift to the left will continue and become a bigger problem.

It seems we are so consumed with events in the ME we aren't keeing an eye on our own back door. Even the immigration issue seems to be getting ignored again.

Never fear, immigration will return and with a vengence.

Bush pushes trade accords and says it will promote democracy. What is it about giving corporations a free run that promotes democracy?


President Bush Friday urged the U.S. Congress to approve a set of free trade accords with Colombia, Panama and Peru. VOA's Brian Wagner reports that Mr. Bush said the trade deals will benefit U.S. business and boost democracy in the region.

President Bush made the speech in Miami, Florida noting it is crucial for U.S. trade with Latin America and other parts of the world. He said that $72 billion in goods and products passed through Miami's ports last year.

The president said the strength of international trade has helped push the area's economic growth and employment levels above national averages. "I think the case for trade is unmistakable in Miami, and we need to make that case all over the country. I've come to a place that has benefited from trade so others around the country can understand it can happen in their areas as well," he said.


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Here is his plan for now.


WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- President Bush on Saturday urged Congress to pass trade pacts with Peru, Colombia and Panama, and promised to strengthen job re-training programs and other measures to help workers displaced as a result of trade-related job losses.
"I know many Americans feel uneasy about new competition and worry that trade will cost jobs," Bush said in his weekly radio address.
He said the federal government is providing substantial funding for trade adjustment assistance that aids displaced workers, while also trying to improve federal job-training programs and provide "strong support" for community colleges.
Bush said that increased trade will help the economy grow overall and said each of the trade pacts offers specific benefits for the United States.


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promised to strengthen job re-training programs and other measures to help workers displaced as a result of trade-related job losses

Why propose trade treaties knowing full well it is going to cost jobs? I thought the whole point was to create jobs.

It does they just do not say where the jobs will be created.

Yea, I guess they don't want to admit that it will cost good paying manufacturing jobs. That leaves more jobs to be filled by hamburger flippers.

There you go. The big corporations go south and displace local busnesses and those people head north. Sounds like a cycle to me.

Whatever happened to the free market system. These trade policies always seem to cost jobs. Doesn't make much sense to me.

It is about corporate profits and not jobs.

Damn! I wish I could remember the Peruvian activist that predicted all this.


BOGOTÁ, Colombia — The Bush administration has no closer friend in South America than President Álvaro Uribe, an Oxford-educated lawyer raised in the privileged world of cattle estates and elite schools. Hugo Chávez, the president of neighboring Venezuela, was born into poverty and rose through the ranks of the army before emerging as the chief scourge of American policy in the region.

Such ideological opposites might be expected to focus on historical rivalries between their countries, which were at the edge of war as recently as the late 1980s. Instead, they are rapidly moving to strike energy deals, resolve a boundary dispute and increase trade, with Colombia’s exports to Venezuela climbing to a record $4 billion this year.


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That's what you get for electing an idiot for president.