The Obama Doctrine is beginning to crystallize in his first 100 days. The fact that both ultra-liberals and conservatives are criticizing him in the fashion they are should give one confidence in the manner in which President Obama is carrying out his foreign policy.

Those on the far left expected Obama to fold up the American military endeavor in Iraq once he became the leader of the free world like one would address and seal an envelope. Obama is a pragmatist and the notion of leaving the fledgling state to their own devices would simply be reckless. In Afghanistan, Obama always stated his focus would be to go after those responsible for 9/11 and his policy in Central Asia has lived up to his promise. Drones continue to strike key figures among those who would do our soldiers harm; most of them hitting targets within the lawless region of Pakistan. President Obama has also increased the forces in Afghanistan.

Obama also doesn’t appear to be the feckless Commander in Chief the right makes him out to be. There is so much banter on the right wing airwaves about Obama disparaging the good ole USA in his recent speeches as if the statements were said in isolation. Each time Obama discussed an American shortcoming he also addressed where the other party has fallen short. So much has been said on the right about President Obama’s dealings with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. Chavez is a whack job. If you haven’t had a chance to watch the Frontline episode about Chavez you can view it HERE. It is a great insight into the nature of the tin-pot leader. Chavez was mugging for his country’s cameras when he presented Obama with a book in Spanish entitled, “Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent”. It was  undiplomatic grandstanding on Chavez’s part. When reporters asked President Obama after the Summit of the Americas was over about his friendly interaction with Chavez and the fact the Venezuelan president handed him a book which highlighted European and US malfeasance in the region, Obama replied:

“Venezuela is a country whose defense budget is probably 1/600th of the United States’. They own Citgo. It’s unlikely that as a consequence of me shaking hands or having a polite conversation with Mr. Chavez that we are endangering the strategic interests of the United States. I don’t think anybody can find any evidence that that would do so. Even within this imaginative crowd, I think you would be hard-pressed to paint a scenario in which U.S. interests would be damaged as a consequence of us having a more constructive relationship with Venezuela.”

To understand the impact Obama’s new expression of tolerance had on the meeting, don’t go to the Carl Roves, Dick Cheneys and Rush Limbaughs of the world. Go to Latin America. How did Obama resonate with the countries with whom he interacted? In Brazil, their President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, praised Obama and called on the countries of Latin America to be more self reliant and end the habit of needing someone to rescue them. 

At times our policies in the region have been atrocious. It seems sometimes as if the flag waving, always love America crowd so prevalent on the right simply refuses to accept history as it was. Have any of these folks studied how the US gained access to Panama through backing an unlawful revolution against the Columbians? Do they have any knowledge of the CIA led overthrow of the democratically elected government in Guatemala which in turn led to a campaign of ethnic cleansing in that nation? How about the US involvement with dictators in South America? One so easily forgets the US annexation of one half of Mexico in the 1840s. Why is it so hard for these people to understand the Monroe Doctrine has led to a blank check for the US to carry out an agenda in the region that has left many Latinos thinking not so kind thoughts of the US? Does anyone think that a kind appearance and handshakes will do harm to American interests in the Latin America? Americans should be proud of the fact we have such a well-spoken man in the White House who is carrying out the office with such good will.

President Obama is also shrewd. After allowing travel by Cuban-Americans to their familial homeland and allowing the sending of remittances there as well, Obama then told the Cuban leadership the ball is now in their court. It is time for you to take a step forward; to free political prisoners and move toward more civil rights. This led the Cuban President Raul Castro to state:

“We’ve told the North American government, in private and in public, that we are prepared, wherever they want, to discuss everything — human rights, freedom of the press, political prisoners — everything, everything, everything that they want to discuss.”

Of course these are just words but if Cuba wants the US to move forward with improved relations it is their turn to act.

For the past eight years the only tool they used in their toolbox was a hammer. It is so refreshing to see the new administration utilize their full complement of tools.

There are an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the US today. More than half of them, roughly 57 percent come from Mexico and another 24 percent make their way here illegally from other Latin American countries. Many of these immigrants fill jobs that others are unwilling to do, or at least that was the case before the current economic crisis. We have no way of knowing how bad the economic situation will get, but if it continues to spiral our of control citizens will surely begin to take the jobs now done by illegals. Most of those who make their way across the deserts of the Southwest become hard working, law abiding citizens with strong family values. Their work ethic and dedication make them yet the latest immigrants to carry on the great tradition that has made the United States so vibrant. But now is the time to put an end to the flood of undocumented people crossing our borders. With unemployment rising above seven percent along  a trajectory that certainly will rise higher, there is no longer any room for illegal immigration.

Where once closing the border seemed necessary to protect us from terrorist attack, the more important reason now is an economic one. If Americans are having trouble locating jobs what will the climate be like for those without proper papers? Now is the time to secure our borders. Perhaps this goes counterintuitive with this lists number ten (to improve relations with Latin America) but steps can be taken to soften the blow of a border crackdown. Create a cutoff date, say 10 years at which an illegal immigrant can be allowed to purchase a green card as long as they are sponsored by an employer after which all employers will be heavily fined for employing illegal immigrants. All illegals who have been in the US less than 10 years will be required to return to their country of origin. Tightening the border would not be an impossible task, it just would take resolve; a resolve the government hasn’t mustered to this point despite the cry by conservatives. As the economic crisis deepens, the number of illegal immigrants who will require government assistance will surely climb and this is money we cannot afford. Taking preemptive steps before the coming storm only seems wise. This is why securing our borders comes in at number five on Obama’s to-do list.

With ten days until Barack Obama is inaugurated it seems like a good time to detail ten issues that Obama should address. Since the economy would be number one and that issue is much too grand for this venue, it will remain out of this top 10 list. Most are foreign affairs matters since that is what this blogger is most comfortable writing about but it is not exclusively about foreign policy. Each day for the next ten you can return here to see the countdown.

 LATIN AMERICA

The United States relationship with Latin America has been contentious for well over 150 years. The Monroe Doctrine spelled out early America’s intention to hold sway over the nations to our south. This simple policy has dictated the US relationship with our Latin neighbors. The land grab against Mexico in the 1840s has worked out well for us but it laid the groundwork for how far America was willing to proceed to meet our policy goals. The Spanish American War, where Cuba fought to secure independence from Spain only to be devoured by America during the wave of Imperialism that was sweeping the world in the waning years of the 19th century, removed the last significant European power from the Western Hemisphere and guaranteed US hegemony in the region. The fallout with Cuba over this war has tainted our relationship with the island nation (Cuba will reappear further up the top 10 list) The early 20th century saw US intervention in the Panamanian insurrection which wrested Panama from Columbia. The aim was a canal project that would shorten the route between America’s east and west coast for shipping. Haiti was the first Latin American country to gain independence  but the US has intervened in Haiti on several occasions since, as the nation has been the poster child of instability.

America’s experiences in Latin America in the last half of the 20th Century continued to reduce our credibility in the region. Eisenhower used the CIA to overthrow a democratically elected government in Guatemala over business interests. The Latino government that was installed proceeded to carry out genocide against their indigenous people. Our failed policies toward Cuba in the first half of the 20th century ultimately led to a communist pro-Soviet government run by Castro in the second half. This in turn spawned conflict in the Banana Republics in Central America. Civil War ravaged Nicaragua and El Salvador and the violence was fueled by US support of non-communist forces. Tens of thousands perished in the proxy wars of the 1980s. As a result the beacon for democracy in the world has more often than not enhanced despotism in the region and left the American label tarnished.

Today, Latin America is at a crossroads. There are some great success stories. Brazil has evolved into an emerging economic force in South America. They have found a way through sugar cane biofuels to become energy independent. Columbia, once devastated by narco-terrorism is now on the road to recovery. Many Latin American nations have experimented with socialism and democracy and most have found a combination of the two systems best for them. Venezuela has found, through Hugo Chavez, that anti-American rhetoric has increased their popularity in certain circles but Chavez is finding that this approach only succeeds in the short run. His economic policy, despite huge oil revenues, has been largely a failure. Mexico ended one party rule in the 1990s and their future seemed to be brighter once their monetary policy issues were rectified but our southern neighbor is dealing with its own drug war. Gang violence, fueled by drugs, has ripped through their northern states. Lawlessness is the norm in many parts of Mexico. This will surely be on the plate of Obama in the near term, especially if the violence spills across the border.

FDR initiated what was called the Good Neighbor policy and was intended to bring Anglo America and Latin America together but the good feelings that the policy may have brought were very short. FDR’s policy didn’t hold but Barack Obama has a great opportunity to improve relations with Latin America in our time. We can learn much from Brazil’s energy policy. Emerging nations in the region can provide willing markets for American goods. It is time the US eliminate the legacy of the Monroe Doctrine and begin to treat the nations  in our hemisphere as potential partners and not states by which we will exert our dominance. It is time to tidy up our neighborhood. This is why Latin American policy comes in at number 10.

The demise of Hugo Chavez should be a goal of the United States. This left wing nut and compadre to Fidel Castro has revealed he wants to destabilize South America. In a recent attack carried out by Columbian forces, a Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Columbia (or FARC) top commander  was killed along with several of his supporters. Columbia reports there were documents recovered that revealed the Venezuelan president has bankrolled the terrorist group and there was reportedly information the group was attempting to obtain uranium. The validity of this information may be questioned but Hugo Chavez publicly mourned the death of the slain FARC leader, Raúl Reyes. Hugo Chavez has also colluded with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in condemning the attack. The FARC are among the most notorious rebels in South America. In Robert Kaplan’s 2005 book, Imperial Grunts, he writes about the FARC:

The FARC, with its seventeen thousand or so fighters, no longer represented the shaggy haired university idealists of the Cold War era, but a criminal army built on the forced recruitment of teenage boys and girls, in which desertion led to the slaughter of one’s family. FARC leader Manuel Marulanda, perhaps the world’s oldest living guerrilla, might still have harbored ideals. But with an income variously estimated at $500 million annually in protection money and cocaine business, the FARC was Karl Marx at the top and Adam Smith all the way down the command chain. (p.50)

It is reported that Arabs militants such as Hamas and Hezbollah are being funded by the Chavez government. Chavez is also providing secure zones for FARC from which they are trying to destabilize democratic Columbia. The US military has redoubled its efforts in Columbia under President Bush in a policy known as Plan Columbia which began in 2001. The plan has brought a level of stability to Columbia by putting pressure on rebel groups such as FARC and FLN (National Liberation Army), driving the drug trade further underground and also giving President Álvaro Uribe some breathing room. Uribe has an 80% approval rating in his own country, the highest in his five years as President. Chavez has recently called Columbia the Israel of South America because of US’s involvement there. However, Chavez’s own situation in his country has grown tenuous. Anti-FARC protests are common in Venezuela. Their brutal tactics are well known throughout the region. Since the cross border attack, Chavez has ordered troops to the border with Columbia but most see it as bluster since Chavez may not have the support of his generals to do anything drastic. Chavez is a menace and President Bush has done the right thing in bolstering Columbia’s democracy. 

America imports nearly 15% of its oil from Venezuela. Everywhere you turn it appears the snakes are rattling around the barrels. It is a further indication of the need of this country to unify around a policy that rids us of foreign oil. In the meantime Chavez’s popularity in Venezuela has waned and the US should do whatever it can to show this pariah the door.

Finding FARC

Chavez’s War Drums

Columbia Stands as a Beacon of Hope

Venezuela Mobilizes Forces to Columbian Border

Rumours of War