Friday, July 09, 2010

Correa and UNITAS

Rafael Correa continues to confound easy ideological labeling.  He is going to participate in UNITAS with countries that according to conventional media wisdom are supposed to be his mortal enemies, such as the United States, Peru. Colombia, Mexico, and Chile.  This comes on the heels of having nice words with Hillary Clinton, expressing concern about how Latin American culture focuses on lying, and slowly warming relations with Colombia.  This serves the dual purpose of improving relations and keeping his own military happy.

2 comments:

leftside 12:25 PM  

The Ecuadorean cooperation with the DEA on last week's discovery of that advanced drug sub off the Ecuadorean coast near Colombia was an important sign as well. Both sides are clearly trying to put the ugly past behind them. But it would be nice if the US Administration would also put the energy and effort into other countries in the region that Bush had a bad relationship with. I don't think there is much doubt Hillary's trip was part of a concerted effort to peel away a "vulnerable" country away from Chavez.

Justin Delacour 7:26 PM  

But it would be nice if the US Administration would also put the energy and effort into other countries in the region that Bush had a bad relationship with.

Unfortunately, it just wouldn't be politically feasible for a high U.S. official to go to Venezuela to meet Chavez because Fox News would just bash the Administration around the clock about it. Our culture is too insular to allow a Democratic Administration to meet face-to-face with any such leader who has been so demonized in the United States.

Face-to-face diplomacy with Evo Morales would be more feasible.

I don't think there is much doubt Hillary's trip was part of a concerted effort to peel away a "vulnerable" country away from Chavez.

That was probably the State Department's intent, but the result is likely to be different. Diplomacy between ideologically disparate governments tends to have the effect of humanizing the other side, so that Americans --and the U.S. press-- can begin to look at Correa a bit more sympathetically (and Ecuadorians can look at the Obama Administration more sympathetically as well). I think that's fundamentally positive. My hope is that Correa can serve as a diplomatic bridge between the U.S. and the Latin American Left. I don't think a divide-and-conquer strategy is going to work with Correa.

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