The Obama administration’s State Department released its Fiscal Year 2010 budget request to Congress last week, offering clues about what U.S. economic and military aid to Latin America might look like in a year.
The first available document tells us how the Obama administration would allocate money to Latin America and the Caribbean across six key programs: International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INCLE), Foreign Military Financing (FMF), International Military Education Training (IMET), Economic Support Fund (...
On April 30, the U.S. Department of State released its annual Country Reports on Terrorism for 2008. Of all Western Hemisphere countries, Cuba remained on the list of "State Sponsors of Terrorism" while Venezuela was singled out as having been "re-certified as 'not cooperating fully' with U.S. antiterrorism efforts under Section 40A of the Arms Export and Control Act...
Over the past month, Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) and Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY) have introduced separate bills in their respective chambers that attempt to address U.S. public security and drug policy. Each bill aims to set up a bi-partisan commission to address failed U.S. policies and provide recommendations for improvement. While Representative Engel's bill (H.R. 2134) "Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission Act of 2009...
Over the past week, a spotlight has turned onto an ongoing lawsuit against U.S. oil company Chevron-Texaco before a court in Ecuador. The Washington Post, NPR and 60 Minutes have all run stories on the...
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing on April 22, 2009 to discuss the foreign policy priorities of the Obama administration (watch the webcast here). Falling only three days after the Summit of Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, Latin America was a focus of many of the committee members’ comments, questions...
House Armed Services Committee Report 110-652 on the 2009 National Defense Authorization Act included a requirement for the Secretary of Defense to submit a written response to eight concerns the Committee had on the efforts of SOUTHCOM to transform itself. This report was due by July 31, 2008, yet we were just able to get a copy of it (PDF). Congress was concerned with the possibility that...