Valenzuela confirmed, Shannon waits

Yesterday the Senate confirmed Arturo Valenzuela as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs. The confirmation comes months after the nomination of Valenzuela to replace current Asst. Secretary Thomas Shannon, whose appointment by President Obama as Ambassador to Brazil had also been blocked by Senator Jim Demint.

Demint had voiced concerns over the administration's policy toward the coup in Honduras, and ironically decided to make the nominees wait until this policy could be clarified. Demint told press yesterday that he believed the administration had "changed course," and quoted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as having committed to him that the US would recognize the upcoming elections in Honduras "regardless of whether former President Manuel Zelaya is returned to office."

This strikes me as a curious moment for reversal, given how up-in-the-air the Honduran situation remains. To me, this suggests that Demint was looking for an face-saving excuse to back down from his blockade of the nominees, and / or to finally divest himself of the slippery Honduran issue which he had taken up as a cause celebre, to little avail.

According to the Latin American Advisor on Friday, Shannon had still not been approved in his new post "due to a new block put on his confirmation." Shannon had graciously accepted an invitation by President Obama to stay on in his current post until Valenzuela could be confirmed.

Either way, congratulations to Dr. Valenzuela on his new post as the top administration official for the region, and don't worry, Dr. Shannon -- you'll be be negotiating clean energy agreements and sipping caipirinhas soon enough.

Sources: Miami Herald, Washington Post, Latin American Advisor

Bolivia, U.S. mend weak ties

For the past few years relations between Bolivia and the U.S. have been contentious and weak. The lowest point of their bilateral relations was the expulsion of ambassadors from both countries in September and included the Bush administration cutting key trade benefits to the Andean country.

Recently, however, both countries have gradually improved their diplomatic ties. In March, Bolivian Deputy Foreign Minister Hugo Fernandez proposed normalizing relations with the U.S. Last week’s visit of U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon to meet Bolivian president Evo Morales may have served as the next step in improving affairs:

Bolivia and the United States have signaled a willingness to restore ties after nearly three years of diplomatic spats following a two-day visit here by a top US diplomat…

Morales said the Bolivian government wanted to "improve relations" with Washington, but stressed he wanted to see "cooperation without pre-conditions."

Shannon said he believed the Bolivian government had shown a sincere desire to improve relations and move to a new stage in diplomatic ties.

Shannon thus became the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit La Paz since relations hit its weakest point eight months ago. As a Reuters article noted, Shannon’s visit symbolized “the Obama administration's drive to improve ties with leftist leaders in Latin America who have been highly critical of U.S. foreign policy.”

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- Reuters, The Latin Americanist, AFP

Iran threatens U.S. via LatAm, says diplomat

U.S. assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere Thomas Shannon remarked yesterday that Iran is gaining influence in Latin American in order to threaten U.S. security. “It's a way to push back on us” in case the U.S. enters in a conflict with Iran, said Shannon during a conference in Washington.

Shannon brought up the accusations against Iran over the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires and also added that:

“…we remind them about the continuing relationships that exist in the region between groups in Latin America and groups that we consider to be terrorist in the Middle East, especially Hezbollah and Hamas.”

In recent years, Iran’s government has strengthened ties with a few Latin American countries including Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Image- PRESS TV

Sources- AFP, Reuters, Americas Society, The Latin Americanist