President Barack Obama has begun taking drastic steps to renew good relations with South America, something that has not existed since before the 1920s. Recently, he decided to go back on the policies that have been in place for decades in regards to Cuba, the island nation 90 miles off the coast of Florida that has been staunchly communist since their revolution against the US backed Batista led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. Obama made it easier for Cuban families to reunite with one another. Yesterday, Obama went to the 5th Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. There, he greeted Hugo Chavez with a warm handshake and a touch to the shoulder. Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela, had been steadfastly anti-American over the past eight years, primarily because of the policies taken by George W. Bush, and partly because of his paranoid nature as a somewhat tyrannical leader.
Whether one thinks of Chavez as a tyrannical communist or Obama as the same, I cannot emphasize the importance of strengthening the ties with Latin America. First of all, its simply asinine to get angry at countries that lean more and more to the left after being repeatedly kept in isolation by the US. If we want them to be closer allied with our goals then it is important to be open and friendly with them. Secondly, in order to keep our relevance in the region, a friendly relationship will make attempts by China to encroach in Latin America seem less appealing. In this age, the US cannot afford to create any more enemies. The military is stretched thin. Our list of allies is even thinner, particularly in the Middle East. We need Latin America to be on our side while we sort out things elsewhere.
