Publication

This article provides an assessment of US foreign policy towards Latin America before the November 2004 presidential elections. According to the author, the Bush administration has successfully established a bilateral "day to day management" policy towards most of its Latin American neighbors, but has been less efficient in adopting a "grand strategy" outlining long-term foreign policy goals. Progress was made in the areas of mutual security and trade in particular, where the path towards the creation of the largest free trade area, the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), has been significantly accelerated. The author predicts that Bush's re-election would most likely lead to the accomplishment of the FTAA. The question that remains open refers back to the overall state of US Latin American relations and whether there will be a change in the foreign policy pattern, marking a reversal to more unilaterliast practices, or a continuation of the multilateral approch, based on cooperative efforts.