Looking Forward: Obama and Latin America
On the first full day of President Barack Obama's administration, newspapers throughout Latin America reported on the fanfare of the inauguration, the historical significance of the swearing in of the United States' first African-American president and the challenges that he must immediately confront. A few articles used the occasion to look at the future of U.S. policy toward the region and/or specific countries. Entire Region: Obama y América latina: La mejor agenda posible (Obama and Latin America: The best agenda possible), Clarín (Argentina), by Jesús Rodríguez "With an historic change in the United States, and upon the end of the region's cycle of transition to democracy, it is time to define common objectives and parallel strategies." Cómo podría Obama hacer una mejor política hacia América Latina (How could Obama make better policies toward Latin America), Semana by Maria Teresa Ronderos "The United States has discounted Latin America as an ally for too long. It is now time to start appreciating it." Colombia: Colombia- U.S. relations: Days of anguish, Semana "The Uribe government fearfully awaits Barack Obama, who thinks quite differently from the Bush administration." Venezuela & Colombia: Venezuela y Colombia: Cambio de relaciones? (Venezuela and Colombia: Change in relations?), El Comercio (Peru) "The expectation of how Barack Obama will manage U.S. policy toward Latin America is focused on the two countries that in the last few years became opposites in terms of their relations with the United States, especially in the affection of their leaders toward the outgoing President George W. Bush: the enemy Venezuela and the ally Colombia." Peru: EE.UU. y el Perú: Una nueva etapa de consolidación (The United States and Peru: A new stage of consolidation), El Comercio (Peru) "A new stage in bilateral relations has opened and it will depend on our leaders to make it even more solid and fluid, in order to benefit national interest and the majority of Peruvians." Venezuela: Maduro confía en que Obama rectifique declaraciones sobre Chávez, El Universal (Venezuela) "The Venezuelan government hopes that the new president of the United States, Barack obama, will rectify the declarations made about Venezuela and President Hugo Chávez, said the Minister of Foreign Relations, Nicolás Maduro, on Tuesday." Nicaragua: EU insiste en que el país debe resolver falta de transparencia, El Nuevo Diario (The U.S. insists that the country must resolve lack of transparency) (Nicaragua), by Ary Pantoja "...Commenting on U.S. President Barack Obama's speech, and linking it to Nicaragua, [U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua] Callahan said that if President Daniel Ortega's government does not respect fundamental principles and values such as democracy and human rights, 'he will find himself in serious problems' with the new North American administration."