Foreign Policy in Focus.
For the second time since assuming office, President Obama met with the hemisphere’s leaders at the sixth presidential summit
in Cartagena, Colombia on April 14 and 15. At first glance, the
summit’s theme, “Connecting the Americas: Partners for Prosperity,”
would have been better stated as “Disconnecting the Americas.” The
presidents could not come to consensus on a final declaration that had
long been in the works in draft form. Brazil’s harsh criticisms of U.S.
monetary policy were widely applauded. Argentine President Cristina
Fernández de Kirchner left the summit early, after the United States
refused to go along with a statement endorsing Argentine’s right to the
Malvinas Islands, insisting on U.S. neutrality in the dispute between
Argentina and Great Britain (where they are known as the Falkland
Islands). The biggest tension, however, emerged over Cuba. While the
rest of the hemisphere remained remarkably united around the idea that
Cuba should participate in the next summit, scheduled for 2015, Canada
and the United States remained steadfast in their opposition. (This
ticking time bomb may very well derail future hemispheric summits.) To
add insult to injury, the United States was deeply embarrassed by
serious allegations of U.S. Secret Service agents drinking to excess and
cavorting with prostitutes, harking back to the image of Latin America
as a U.S. playground (a la Havana 1959).
Yet what was refreshing about the Cartagena meeting was that these
differences were aired in public. Though conflict has taken center stage
in previous summits, most were highly scripted events that provided
more of a photo op than a meaningful forum for debate. This time, debate
– and discord – took center stage.
The lasting legacy of the Cartagena summit, however, will likely be
the beginning of a serious regional debate on international drug control
policies. With the apparently adept leadership of Colombia’s President
Juan Manuel Santos, the issue was discussed at a private, closed-door
meeting of the presidents – according to press accounts, it was the only
issue discussed at that meeting – and Santos later announced that as a
result of the presidents’ discussion, the Organization of American States
(OAS) was tasked with analyzing the results of present policy and
exploring alternative approaches that could prove to be more effective. A
topic long considered taboo – the U.S. “war on drugs” – is now being
seriously questioned and debate on new strategies – including legal,
regulated markets – is officially on the regional agenda.
