I’m excited to join the Latin America Working Group as an intern with the Colombia Program this summer. LAWG sits at the intersection of activism and policy, working with civil society organizations and policymakers to ensure that human rights are central to the United States’ presence in the region. I knew I was interested in foreign policy when I arrived at Duke, but it took me a while to find a region that I wanted to focus on. Eventually I decided to settle on an area that no one else I knew was studying—Latin America. I'm now three weeks into my internship at LAWG, and I couldn't be more satisfied with my choice.
Latin America rarely makes US headlines in the way that topics like North Korea, Iran, and Russia do, and think tanks have fewer scholars focused on the area. At the White House, the region is rarely at the top of anyone’s minds: the Trump Administration’s December 2017 National Security Strategy presented the Western Hemisphere second to last, followed only by Africa. Americans’ inattention to detail regarding Latin America has real consequences. While the Western Hemisphere may not be the most pressing concern for American policymakers, the United States’ actions have a tremendous impact on the region. Three instances in the last few years highlight how even a small misstep by US officials can have severe implications for Latin American politics. The first involves former Secretary of State John Kerry. In April 2013, a few months before his first trip to South America, Secretary Kerry referred to Latin America as the United States’ “backyard.” Although the language may at first seem innocuous, for many Latin Americans, Kerry’s phrase was a reminder of the age of the Monroe Doctrine and the US’ support for authoritarian leaders during the Cold War. Bolivia’s President Evo Morales took advantage of the public reaction to expel USAID from the country, leaving the Bolivian people without US support on education, agriculture, and other issues. The second instance involves the man who succeeded John Kerry, Rex Tillerson. In June 2017, Secretary Tillerson expressed the need to return to “spraying” as a method of forced eradication of coca in Colombia. In the following days, State Department officials had to walk back the secretary’s comment, clarifying that he was referring only to ground-based eradication and that this was an issue for Colombia to address as a sovereign state. The mixed messages provoked concern within Colombia that the government would return to aerial fumigation, which had been suspended in 2015 after the chemical used was identified as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization. What started as an aside during the 2017 State Department budget hearing turned into a debacle for the Colombian government and severely damaged the United States’ relationship with Colombia. The most recent example of American officials’ missteps causing outsize problems for countries in the Western Hemisphere involves Senator Marco Rubio. In early May 2018, Senator Rubio placed a hold on $6 million in funding for the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), a legal body set up by the UN to investigate corruption and organized crime. Sen. Rubio’s actions came in response to allegations that CICIG was operating on behalf of Vladimir Putin’s government, most notably in its prosecution of Russian immigrant Victor Bitkov. Analysis published in the Washington Post and the Economist found no evidence for these allegations, but Guatemala has nonetheless become a pawn for US politicians aiming for a tough posture on Russia. Since its founding in 2006, CICIG has received domestic and international acclaim for promoting the rule of law in Guatemala. It has led to the prosecution of two presidents involved in corruption, decreased impunity rates for homicides by 23% over a 6 year period, and inspired a partner organization, MACCIH, in Honduras. The current President of Guatemala, Jimmy Morales, has repeatedly tried to discredit CICIG; with the unwitting help of a powerful US senator like Marco Rubio, he just might succeed. Each of these cases illustrates the powerful influence that the United States has in Latin America. Given the effect that the smallest rhetorical misstep can have on a country, US policymakers have an obligation to remain informed about Latin America. At my internship with the Latin America Working Group, I have a chance not only to become a bit more informed about the United States’ relationship with the continent, but also to see how those in the DC policy world think about our Latin American neighbors.
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