Colin Powell did his level best yesterday to insist that the Bush administration is getting along swimmingly with our Latin-American neighbors.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, opening a brief visit to Brazil, said Monday that the Bush administration’s relations with Latin American and Caribbean nations were improving despite recent political turmoil in the region and lingering disagreements on trade and other issues.
“There are always problems, but I think we’re doing well in Latin America,” Mr. Powell told reporters accompanying him on his flight to Brazil’s financial capital.
Not surprisingly, Latin Americans don’t exactly see things the same way. As author Carlos Fuentes recently noted in the LA Times, Bush is “giving Latin America the willies.”
What is alarming about the Bush administration is its formal denunciation of the basic rules of international intercourse. With us or against us, President Bush declares starkly and simplistically. The U.S. acts according to its own interests, “not those of an illusory international community,” asserts national security advisor Condoleezza Rice.
Is it strange that many Latin Americans should see in these statements an aggressive denial of the only leverage we have in dealing with Washington: the rule of law, the balance obtained through diplomatic negotiation?
Not only out of self-interest, but also as participants in the global society, many Latin Americans worry that U.S. unilateralism is incompatible with the multilateralist nature of globalization. This was the warning issued by former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo at last year’s Harvard commencement. Add Chilean President Ricardo Lagos’ perception that the world community is postponing the urgent global agenda of creating an adequate social-program fund, strengthening human rights and overcoming the chasms between haves and have-nots. And top it with former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s plea to the French National Assembly: Fight vigorously against terror but also against the underlying causes of terror: hunger, ignorance, inequality and distorted perceptions of other cultures.
Where the Bush administration sees a healthy relationship with Latin American, Latin Americans see a relationship based on fear and mistrust.
But don’t worry, Bush “sit[s] down with the world leaders frequently and talk[s] to them on the phone,” so I’m sure he has everything under control.