Hemispheric Group Calls for Major Changes in Americas Policy

Excerpt: An elite inter-American commission sponsored by a think-tank that is considered close to likely key policymakers in the administration of President-elect Barack Obama is calling for sharp break in U.S. policy toward Latin America, a substantial opening toward Cuba, greater diplomatic engagement with Venezuela, and a major reassessment of its war on drugs.

In a 32-page report entitled "Rethinking U.S.-Latin American Relations" [.pdf] released by the Brookings Institution Monday, the 20-member "Partnership for the Americas Commission" is urging Obama, among other things, to lift all restrictions on travel to Cuba by U.S, citizens and take other steps to ease the nearly 50-year-old U.S. embargo against Havana, and to put far greater emphasis on reducing demand for drugs at home and the export of guns to Mexico.

The Commission, which was co-chaired by former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and Washington's former ambassador to the United Nations, Thomas Pickering, is also calling on the U.S. Congress to phase out tariffs on ethanol imports from Latin America and subsidies on corn-based ethanol as part of a larger initiative to develop sustainable energy resources, combat climate change, and foster greater regional integration.

It also calls for the creation of a new "Americas Eight" (A8) that would serve as an umbrella of eight heads of state in the region, including at least the U.S., Mexico, and Brazil and other countries with the continent's largest populations and economies, that would serve as a "steering committee" to promote the "partnership" between the northern and southern subregions and revitalize hemispheric institutions like the Organization of American States (OAS).

"A valuable window of opportunity soon will open for the U.S. government to rethink its relations with and policies toward the LAC [Latin American and Caribbean] countries," the report declared, noting both the advent of the Obama presidency and the bicentennial celebrations in 2009 and 2010 of independence of many Latin American countries. Both should lead to "fresh thinking and new policies."
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