A BRIDGE TOO FAR

 

 

President George W. Bush is scared like hell. Never did America face a diplomatic challenge such as this, since the cold war era. After political debacle in Iraq, the US is now facing another problem close home in Latin America. After major political fallouts in the recent years, a hostile looking Leftist alliance will be the last thing that US will want in the region. The Chavez-Castro-Morales troika that is fast pulling rugs beneath America’s feet has forced President Bush to initiate ‘course-correction’ measures in the region. The problem is, during his visit to Latin America, Bush will have to deal with each country individually as America has separate issues with them. For example, while Mexico has an immigrant related problem, Guatemala and Uruguay have reservations regarding Free-Trade agreement (CAFTA). Currently, most of the countries in Latin America are not only non- cooperative but also hostile to US due to its uncalled-for interference in their internal matters. For example, executives who were appointed to keep an eye on the region started supporting and opposing various candidates for elections in countries like El Salvador, Nicaragua and Bolivia, apart from Venezuela. The matter got out of US hand once left-leaning candidates started sweeping elections in the region. The greatest challenge came from Hugo Chavez who waged a diplomatic war with the US. Chavez was at his diplomatic best when he tried to buy votes for oil during the UN Security Council elections. The stand-off in UN finally woke US from slumber but it seems Bush has missed the bus. Fareed Zakaria, the international columnist for Newsweek, writes, “He’s visiting the right countries, and he has sounded the right themes, emphasising that the United States supports democratic government, open markets and ‘social justice’. But Bush’s new look at the region will not do much good. It’s too little, too late.” That sums it all up.