US-Latin America Relations: Disappointment May Yield to Distrust - IPS ipsnews.net

US-LATAM: Disappointment May Yield to Distrust - IPS ipsnews.net: "'(The administration) began very well,' noted Abraham Lowenthal, a veteran Latin Americanist and founding president of the Inter-American Dialogue (IAD), at a forum last week at the Brookings Institution, where he serves as a senior fellow. 'But it went awry.'

On key issues, Obama fell far short of his early pledge at the Trinidad Summit of the Americas in April 2009 to pursue 'engagement based on mutual respect' with Washington's southern neighbours.

These notably include the administration's failure to move more forcefully toward normalising ties with Cuba and to close the Guantanamo detention facility; its clumsy handling of the 2009 coup d'etat against Honduran President; its failure to consult with allies on the since-aborted agreement with Colombia over access to military bases; and its harsh rejection of Brazil's efforts to defuse growing tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

Similarly, the administration's failure to persuade Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform or to pass new laws making it harder for drug cartels behind the explosion of violence that has wracked Mexico to import arms from the U.S. has also contributed to growing disillusionment, according to Latin America experts here. (AMB editor emphasis)

"It's more than disappointment," said Lowenthal. "In Latin America, there is great appreciation for major differences [from the George W. Bush administration] on key issues, but there's a lot talk about 'decepcion', or …being misled," he said. That disappointment, or sense of deception, could deepen over the next two years, according to experts here who are concerned that the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives is almost certain to make improving inter- hemispheric relations more difficult. " Jan. 12, 2011