Between Hypocrisy and Narcoterrorism in Latin America

Predictably, the agreement’s announcement has met the wrath of Venezuela’s President, Hugo Chávez, who has even threatened to sever diplomatic links with Colombia. Less predictably, however, it has been received with uneasiness by other South American governments, notably Brazil. Brazilian President Lula prominently brought it up in a recent conversation with President Obama. In the meantime, President Uribe, of Colombia, felt compelled to do a whirlwind tour of South American capitals to allay regional fears, an unusual diplomatic gesture with mixed results.

There are lessons that the United States would do well to extract from this debate. Counternarcotics policies are the first motive invoked by both the United States and Colombia for the agreement. However, as the situation in Mexico and Central America shows, this is not just a bilateral issue. The Latin American countries are justifiably anxious about the dire implications of the U.S.’ "War on Drugs" for the region. Numerous organizations and individuals, including the Brookings Institution’s Partnership for the Americas Commission and the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy, have called for a change in the current strategy which emphasizes forced eradication of illicit crops.

Hence, if the United States is to have operational capacities in Latin America for its counternarcotics efforts, it should at least call for a proper dialogue between producing, consuming and transshipment countries. It is high time to have a meaningful hemispheric conversation to deal with a problem whose solution lays not just in the jungles of Colombia, but also on the streets of Washington, Los Angeles and Chicago.

A second lesson is as much about form as it is about substance. This agreement was abruptly announced and seems not to have been preceded by the diplomatic groundwork to prevent the chilly reaction it elicited from trustworthy U.S. allies, such as Chile and Brazil. By all appearances, they were caught by surprise. If a respectful partnership with Latin America is to be shaped, as announced by President Obama at the Summit of the Americas, U.S. diplomacy must do much better than this. In particular it has to show some awareness of the sensitivities of an emerging power, like Brazil, that sees itself playing a key role in the security of South America.
 
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