Will Obama End America's 'Arrogant Paternalism' Toward Latin America?

The opening ceremony: Obama also stated that: "I firmly believe that if we're willing to break free from the arguments and ideologies of an earlier era and continue to act, as we have at this summit, with a sense of mutual responsibility and mutual respect and mutual interest, then each of our nations can come out of this challenging period stronger and more prosperous."



While there, Obama talked on a number of occasions with Hugo Chavez, the leftist president of Venezuela. Chavez has been an extremely vocal critic of the US, but he told Hillary Clinton that he would send an ambassador back to Washington, DC.


Obama was accompanied by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The two have been working to forge a new working relation between the US and its southern neighbors.

US President Barack Obama attended the three-day Summit of the Americas, which ended on Sunday and was held in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The meeting brought together the government leaders of 34 countries.

At the Summit of the Americas, President Obama pledged a fresh start in relations with Latin America. But German commentators doubt that promises and patting shoulders with Hugo Chavez will mend a long history of animosity and mistrust.

On Sunday, US President Barack Obama ended a four-day charm offensive in Mexico and at the Summit of the Americas held in Trinidad. While on the trip, he admitted to mistakes in US policy toward its southern neighbors and pledged to work toward a "new beginning."

In particular, Obama used remarks delivered at the end of the three-day meeting -- which discussed energy, security and other measures -- to underline his commitment to easing strained relations with Cuba. "The policy we've had in place for 50 years has not worked," Obama told reporters Sunday. "The Cuban people are not free."

Earlier in the week, Obama had lifted restrictions on Americans who want to visit or send money to relatives in Cuba as well as on US telecommunications companies wishing to do business there. However, his administration still says it has no plans to lift a ban on nearly all trade that has been in force since 1962, which Cuba's government blames for frequent shortages of medicine and other basic necessities.

Cuba responded by saying it was open to talks, including those on the formerly taboo issue of human rights. In his statements, Obama added that Cuba might also consider releasing political prisoners and reducing the fees taken out of money sent to Cubans from abroad.

Obama also surprised -- and angered -- many by meeting and shaking hands with Venezuela's leftist president, Hugo Chavez, who has been the loudest among several anti-American voices in the region and even likened former US President George W. Bush to the devil. Chavez also gave Obama a book about the history of foreign powers exploiting Latin America, and he told Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that he would restore Venezuela's ambassador to the US.

On a state visit to Mexico last week, Obama admitted that America's appetite for illegal drugs was partially to blame for the drug-related violence in that country and that the US was not doing enough to stop the flow of weapons and cash into Mexico.

German commentators generally applaud Obama's decisions and statements. But most of them also doubt that Obama's good intentions will do much to help mend America's troubled relations with its southern neighbors.

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"Now there is a change in public opinion (about the US in Latin America), and the new man in the White House has brought it about. In his debut at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad, Barack Obama found the right words. If he is able to transform those words into actions, the continent's northern and southern parts will be able to come back together. When they visited Mexico recently, Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton already showed that they listen to reason when they admitted that the US bore partial responsibility for the Mexican drug wars because it consumed the drugs and put weapons and dollars into the hands of the drug cartels. In Trinidad, the Obama administration also admitted to another mistake that the Bush administration would have never admitted to: that the US policies toward Cuba had failed. …"

"Obama is now offering to cooperate with Cuba and is asking the Cubans to make counteroffers. Although the government in Havana is now willing to talk about political prisoners, it is not very eager to debate democracy. This process of rapprochement by these neighbors might last a while, but it could also crumble very quickly. This transformation in relations might be unavoidable for the Castros, but it is still risky. …"

"When it comes to Latin America, what America needs to show is a willingness to work together fairly rather than arrogant paternalism. … In 1823, then-US President James Monroe called on Europeans to not recolonize Latin America ('America for Americans'), and the majority of countries -- stretching from Mexico to Chile -- immediately gained their independence. In the Obama era, it should be about 'Latin America for Latin Americans.'"

Left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes:

"Obama's calls for a 'new beginning' and 'an equal partnership' had a positive reception. But the mistrust that Latin Americans have toward their large neighbor to the north runs very deep. The fact that there is a new person in the White House changes little. The older among them remember that Nixon followed Kennedy, that Reagan followed Carter, and that Bush followed Clinton. Even if they are placing a lot of hope in the possibility that Obama might bring a fresh wind to their political relations, there is still very little evidence that there will be an actual realignment."

"Jimmy Carter also relaxed travel restrictions with Cuba; but the economic embargo remained in place. The real question isn't whether Latin America is ready to for a new beginning. Instead, it's whether Obama can really push through 'an equal partnership' at the domestic policy level."

Left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes:

"If the US really wants to reestablish a political foothold on the subcontinent that it lost during the era of George W. Bush, it will have to redefine its relationship with Cuba. The Obama administration's most recent enactments are aimed at doing just that. … This will surely bring additional currency into Cuba. But more communication and more exchanges of ideas will also surely bring new problems to the regime, which continues to label exiled Cubans as 'vermin' and punish people who own satellite dishes. And when it comes to the blockade … it looks like only a matter of time before the US relaxes or -- as many Latin American countries have demanded -- completely lifts it. At that point, Cuba will finally have to decide whether it will open itself up more in political terms or whether it will further isolate itself. And, at that point, it might even become harder for the leftist governments of Latin American countries to keep silent about the Caribbean dictatorship."

Business daily Financial Times Deutschland writes:

"Hugo Chavez's offer of friendship to Barack Obama at the Summit of the Americas … is far from meaning that relations between the US and its Latin American neighbors will really improve in a substantive way. But, given the rough words he delivered in the run-up to the summit and his promises to try to veto any final resolutions, Chavez's charm offensive against Obama seems completely surprising. It raises the suspicion that Chavez made a cost-benefit analysis and determined that having Obama's radiant smile fall on him would only augment his personal glamour factor. … But flirting with Obama will only make it harder for heads of state like Chavez to use the evil US as the only way to lend legitimacy to their anti-liberal campaigns. But a streetwise populist like him will also be able to find a way out of this dilemma by drawing a distinction between his dear pal Obama and his evil capitalist system."

-- Josh Ward, 3:00 p.m. CEST

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