Barack Obama will make his first trip south of the U.S. border as president when he visits Trinidad and Tobago for the Summit of the Americas in mid-April. The Summit will provide the first clear signs of the way in which the Obama administration will handle hemispheric relations.
Due to the current ideological and political shifts in Latin America, the rapid-transforming nature of the involvement of the United States in the region, and the need to reconstruct damaged alliances, it is absolutely crucial that Obama accepts a bilateral meeting with Álvaro Uribe, and highlights the importance of Colombian-U.S. relations within the context of the hemispheric agenda.
The Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago will bring together the top leaders of 34 nations in the hemisphere. For the first time since a meeting of its kind has been held, all of those leaders will have been democratically elected. The exception to the rule is Cuba, which nonetheless won’t be in attendance as it is not an active member of the Organization of American States.
The Obama administration will try to diverge attention from Cuba’s absence by announcing to lift the restrictions for Cuban-Americans to travel or send money to the island.
Yet, temporarily shifting the attention away from the adversarial relationship with Cuba does not change the fact that Barack Obama will have to share a closed-door retreat with Hugo Chávez, Evo Morales, and Rafael Correa, amongst others.
The United States does not come into the Summit with the best of credentials, particularly after President Bush’s appearance in the previous meeting in Chile was widely perceived as a diplomatic disaster, and also when the global economic crisis that began in the U.S. has had a resounding effect in the region.
Still, focusing on the damaged relationships between the United States and nations that have been hostile, at least in their rhetoric, to the “empire of the north” is not truly as relevant as looking at the damaged relations between the United States and nations that have prided themselves to be allies of the North American superpower, as is the case of Colombia.
For years Colombia has remained one of the most loyal allies of the United States in the Americas. After the impasse with then-President Samper in the mid-1990s, in which a political scandal led the U.S. government to deny him entry, Colombia has turned around to become the embodiment of the effects of fostering strategic partnerships with the United States.
First came the close ties between Andrés Pastrana and Bill Clinton, which led to the institutionalization of Plan Colombia, connecting both nations economically, ideologically, technologically, and strategically.
The honeymoon continued between Álvaro Uribe and George Bush, under whose mandate aid to Colombia and collaborations of all types were increased and programmed for the future.
Yet, things have changed dramatically since Obama became president, and the bilateral relations between the two countries has been treated as highly insignificant. At the core of the tensions is the Free Trade Agreement promoted under George W. Bush, and widely supported by the Republican party, but opposed by the Obama administration and the Democrats.
Unfortunately, Colombia seems to be caught in this limbo, in which its state is not dire or critical enough in order for aid to be considered a necessity, but it is also not well enough for the country to be regarded as a crucial economic partner. In that sense, Colombia seems to be trapped in this middle zone in which the United States tries to foster the bilateral relations to benefit from the potential positives, but will make sure to quickly frown upon those matters that become obstacles for approving things such as the Free Trade Agreement.
Colombia is not Iraq, but is also not Britain, and placing it where it belongs in the middle of that spectrum seems to have become a challenge for the U.S. government.
While Obama may arrive to Trinidad and Tobago with a message of willingness to engage in cordial relations with all the nations in the region, and while he may focus on trying to improve the souring relations with countries like Bolivia or Nicaragua, the true test lies on how the United States will treat its most important allies.
Many nations that are reconsidering the high-level of engagement they have with the United States can’t simply be persuaded that maintaining that engagement will be beneficial to them. Those nations will want to see the pragmatic effects of continuing to follow the formerly undisputable leader. They’ll turn to all those other nations that currently claim to be in good spirits with the U.S. and will evaluate the benefits of those relations. There is no better example than Colombia.
When they turn to Colombia they will find a country that has publicly pledged its alliance with the United States, even at the expense of compromising relations with its neighbors.
They will find a country in which the president and top cabinet members are constantly going to Washington to speak with individuals in both sides of the U.S. political spectrum, submitting themselves to fierce questioning.
They will find a nation willing to engage in military partnerships, from continuing to pledge troops for the U.S. war in Afghanistan, to considering the creation of U.S. military hubs in the country.
And yet, they will also find that Colombia has had to struggle for years to get a Free Trade Agreement approved, and that the nation is facing imminent reductions in aid for military and anti-narcotic operations. More shockingly, they will find that many U.S. political figures are quick to speak badly about Colombia.
So when those nations look at Colombia, they’ll have to ask, why? Why is Colombia being treated so poorly if it has committed itself so blindly? Why is the United States not standing behind one of its strongest allies? Why, if that’s how Colombia is treated, is it worth it for any other nation to pledge their commitment to U.S. leadership?
Colombia has the fourth largest population in Latin America. It has abundant natural resources and potential for the development of energy solutions. It is located in a strategic geographical position, and for what is worth, it has a government that has the most positive of attitudes towards the United States.
In a region that is quickly becoming unfriendly, President Obama should remember who his friends are in the first place. The least he can do is sit down with Uribe and highlight some of Colombia’s accomplishments.
