The US election – In all the excitement did they forget Latin America?

Presidential hopefuls: Will McCain or Obama address the elephant in the room?

The two hopefuls have taken their shows abroad with Obama touring Europe, while McCain visits Colombia and Mexico.  However, it is our modern-day Kennedy that has stolen the limelight, leading to a somewhat spiky ad campaign from the McCain camp. 

 

The advert, released on 1^st August entitled ‘¿Y dónde quedó América Latina?’ is the latest in a string of adverts attacking Obama.  Doctoring the Berlin address to highlight the omission of Latin America from Obama’s speech, McCain claims that the Democrat has forgotten Latin America.  A definite play for the mainly Democrat-supporting population of 35 million Latinos in the US.

 

Despite this fighting talk over Latin American policy from McCain, there is not much to differentiate him from his rival, with whom he clashes on every other policy.  Both candidates acknowledge a need for tougher border security, an old argument resulting in the physical wall being built along the border with Mexico.  Both talk about cracking down on the employers of illegal immigrants, helping those without papers in the US become citizens, the need for immigrants to learn English and a change in the immigration system to eliminate a backlog of applications.  They are certainly not reinventing the wheel.

 

So, why are both candidates avoiding strong policies on Latin American issues?  Could it be that they are scared of opening that figurative can of worms?  Obama recently caused a backlash by suggesting that he would hold talks with Raúl Castro of Cuba, a less than popular idea among the powerful Cuban exiles in Miami. 

 

Therein lies the problem for both candidates, there are very few Latin American governments in America’s good books at the moment, with most embracing socialist policies and anti-American feeling.  It is all very well talking about working more with Latin American countries but by appearing too soft , or receiving approval form the wrong leader the candidates could well estrange themselves from the Latinos based in the US. 

Obama had a close call with endorsement from Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, until recently when he changed his mind declaring that Obama was as bad as the rest of the imperialists – a sigh of relief was heard in the Obama camp.

 

Colombia and Mexico seem to be the only safe countries for the candidates to visit without sparking controversy about meeting with tyrants, oppressors or worse, socialists.  McCain has stormed in there to talk free trade and claim Central and South America for himself, dropping a barbed comment about how great it would be if Obama visited to see Latin America for himself.  It will be interesting to see how Obama retaliates; will he come out fighting, whipping a couple of surprise policies from up his sleeve?  Or will he peddle the same ‘we will work together with mutual respect and dignity’ line? Yawn.

 

The battle for the votes will only continue and the candidates will clash on every topic they can, using the chance to flex some political muscle.  However, it is the topic on which they have had the least debate that could prove important when the votes are counted.  Playing it safe is a good way to avoid offending communities, but engaging them with fresh ideas to improve their situation is certainly a way to secure that crucial support.

 

Instead of throwing accusations of ‘forgetting Latin America’ whilst proudly recycling old policies the candidates have the chance to build bridges both within and beyond the US border.  And who knows, by engaging Latinos across the continent a forward-thinking candidate could secure the presidency and pave the way for positive changes on the issues of immigration, drug trafficking and the future of the American economy.