Rex Tillerson on Latin America

Latin America Goes Global got a scoop on soon-to-be Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's answers to questions about Latin America policy. Overall, I think it's measured, or at least nothing immediately stands out as extreme, even with regard to Venezuela. The main issue that's off key is Colombia.

 If confirmed, I would make every effort to continue our close cooperation with the Colombian government, holding them to their commitments to rein in drug production and trafficking. I would also seek to review the details of Colombia’s recent peace agreement, and determine the extent to which the United States should continue to support it.

This is unwise. The Colombian government worked long and hard to pass an agreement, which is now being implemented. It is ridiculous even to suggest the possibility that the United States would cease to support it. I would in fact be surprised if the Trump administration cared enough about the agreement to criticize it. There is no payoff, internationally or domestically. If Trump feels some need to be critical, we can only hope that he does his normal blustering via Twitter then gets back to his normal practice of bragging about how he won the election.