U.S. aid and Latin America

President Bush keeps insisting that the U.S. deserves more credit for what it does in Latin America:

"And yet we don't get much credit for it," Bush told CNN's Spanish-language network. "And I want the taxpayers, I want the American people to get credit for their generosity in Central and South America."

Yet both the Latin America Working Group and Adam Isacson have shown very clearly that the administration’s claims are false. That fact is now making its way into the mainstream media. In particular, much of the increase of aid is military in nature, and aimed at only a few countries, especially Colombia.

This seems indicative of the administration’s general problem with Latin America. Its claims to paying attention—combined with demanding credit—are based on evidence so flimsy that it is refuted before his trip even gets going. In short, the administration pays so little attention to Latin America that it believes it can fudge numbers and everyone will smile and say, “Thank you, O Great American Taxpayers, for your generosity.”