Recent Commentary

  • Obama Should Reboot Relations with Latin America

    The Progressive, Mar 21, 2009

    The election results in El Salvador show the time has come for the Obama administration to upgrade Washington's relations with Latin America. El Salvador now joins a group of nearly a dozen Latin American nations that have elected left-leaning leaders. The Bush administration's hostile reception to this regional political shift left U.S.-Latin America relations at their lowest point since the height of the Cold War. The Obama administration should work quickly to mend these frayed ties.

  • End the Embargo Against Cuba

    cuba

    The Progressive, Dec 29, 2008

    If Obama moves to lift the embargo, it would send a bold statement that his administration is serious about writing a truly new chapter in U.S. relations with Cuba — and the rest of Latin America.

  • Obama Should Shelve Monroe Doctrine on its 185th Anniversary

    The Progressive, Dec 03, 2008

    President-elect Barack Obama should rescind the Monroe Doctrine, which is 185 years old this week. In just three short paragraphs buried deep into his State of the Union speech on Dec. 2, 1823, President James Monroe proclaimed one of the most enduring tenets of U.S. foreign policy.

  • 35 years ago, Latin America experienced its own Sept. 11

    The Progressive, Sep 09, 2008

    On Sept. 11, 1973, the Chilean military, supported by Washington, overthrew the democratically elected president of Chile, Salvador Allende. It was a day that was burned in the memories of millions of people across the continent.

  • McCain Stays the Course in Latin America

    mcain and bush

    The Progressive, Jul 12, 2008

    On a recent trip to Colombia, Republican presidential candidate John McCain revealed he would be impelled by the same stubborn — and militarized — “stay the course” mantra that has driven the Bush administration’s foreign policy blunders.

  • Bush Makes Colombia 'Free Trade' National Security Issue

    Buribe

    NACLA, Mar 27, 2008

    The Bush administration is attempting to use the recent Andean standoff to ram Colombia’s pending “Free Trade Agreement” (FTA) through Congress.