I’m a Nicaraguan native and student at Florida International University. I would just like to express my agreement with your policy brief regarding Latin America.

The U.S. is clearly neglecting the strategic, geopolitical importance of the region by ways mentioned in your column. Furthermore, there are two leftleaning political and economic systems emerging as a response. One, propagated by Lula’s and Bachelet’s reforms, and the other by the likes of Chavez, Morales, and perhaps Kirchner.

My comment is: Even though the U.S. may not be providing the region with noticeable engagement; all of the governments just mentioned maintain economic relations with the U.S. which justifies further disengagement from the region. As long as Chavez keeps on exporting his oil to the U.S. everyone is happy. Chile has trade relations with the U.S. (not to mention remittances that flow back to Latin America).

The question is: are we using too much of an alarmist approach when dealing with the U.S.-Latin American relations? of course, taking into consideration that political differences abound between the two regions.

thank you for enlightening my foreign policy, independent studies!