Update: During questioning Clinton admitted that she would back president-elect Barack Obama's idea to lift travel restrictions on Cuba. (Link via Reuters).Confirmation hearings for Hillary Clinton‘s designation as the next Secretary of State took place today on Capitol Hill. The proceedings had been largely a dull affair though the Senator did face some criticism over donations to the charity of her husband- former President Bill Clinton.
In her opening remarks, Clinton promised to use “smart power” in combining both diplomacy and military power as part of U.S. foreign policy. Clinton primarily emphasized the conflicts in the Middle East during her opening statement though she also gave some attention to Latin America:
In our efforts to return to economic growth here in the United States, we have an especially critical need to work more closely with Canada, our largest trading partner, and Mexico, our third largest. Canada and Mexico are also our biggest suppliers of imported energy. More broadly, we must build a deeper partnership with Mexico to address the shared danger arising from drug-trafficking and the challenges of our border, an effort begun this week with a meeting between President-elect Obama and President Calderon.It’s welcoming to note her acknowledgment that Latin America cannot be as ignored much as it was by the Bush administration and that the U.S. must continue its close political and economic ties with Mexico. At the same time, however, her remarks are vague in that they ignore more specific issues and problems to U.S. foreign policy in the Americas such as Brazil’s push for biofuels, Colombia's armed conflict or Central America’s gang violence.
Throughout our hemisphere we have opportunities to enhance cooperation to meet common economic, security and environmental objectives that affect us all. We will return to a policy of vigorous engagement throughout Latin America, seeking deeper understanding and broader engagement with nations from the Caribbean to Central to South America. Not only do we share common political, economic and strategic interests with our friends to the south, our relationship is also enhanced by many shared ancestral and cultural legacies. We are looking forward to working on many issues during the Summit of the Americas in April and taking up the President-Elect’s call for a new energy partnership of the Americas built around shared technology and new investments in renewable energy.
What do you think?
Image- AP (“Secretary of State-designate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., takes her seat on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009, prior to the start of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on her nomination.”)
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Thanks for excellent website and thought provoking informations.
ReplyDeleteObama and Hillary are very smart and intelligent but they are facing daunting challenges in Foreign Policy.
About Latin America : Mr Bush has made some friends in Latin America. His Foreign Policy for Colombia was intelligent and has reaped benefits for both Countries. Latin America and Africa are not Bush Failures. As far as I know.
Thomas E. Ricks, the former Washington Post military correspondent writes in "Foreign Policy Magazine".
He gives us the most bleak predictions about the Iraq War and how Obama and Hillary are going to be "trapped" for eight years.
That same magazine speaks wonders of Samuel Huntington, cofounder of "Foreign Policy". Was not this guy an anti Latino Bigot ?. And one of those guys that say that only Anglo Saxon Whites are capable of Civilization ?
I take up these subjects here :
Prophesizing.com
Milenials.com
Vicente Duque
It's tempting to simply celebrate the mere mention of Latin America. But as any Latin American would tell you, increased attention from the U.S. is not always a welcome development, even after so many years of being ignored by the Bush administration.
ReplyDeleteI'll be curious to see how Sen. Clinton talks about free trade within the hemisphere, given the dangerous, global spread of protectionist policies in reaction to the economic crisis.