Latin America speech

In anticipation of his upcoming trip, President Bush gave a speech on Latin America. He compared it to Kennedy’s speech that introduced the Alliance for Progress 46 years ago. The theme then was that we needed to address poverty as a way to counter communist advances. The theme now is to address poverty as a way to counter Hugo Chávez.

Thus, the speech discussed programs for education, transparency, health care, housing, debt relief, and micro loans. Any attention paid to these critical issues is certainly welcome. It is worthwhile to focus attention on them.

As an alternative to the alluring message of Hugo Chávez, however, the speech falls short. A key missing piece can be found in the following quote:

They've enhanced and undertaken fiscal policies that bring stability.

Yet, despite the advances, tens of millions in our hemisphere remain stuck in poverty, and shut off from the promises of the new century. My message to those trabajadores y campesinos is, you have a friend in the United States of America. We care about your plight. (Applause.)

I think to offer a real alternative vision you must explain why those “trabajadores y campesinos” remain stuck in poverty. In those fiscal policies, they see personal ruin. When they hear free trade, they see the U.S. protecting major crops. When they think of debt relief, they picture the international institutions that compelled structural adjustment. They like aid, but they also see it as the crumbs offered when the overall structure appears to be tilted permanently against them. If the U.S. government wants people to believe that Hugo Chávez is wrong about the pitfalls of global capitalism, it needs to be clearer.