MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“No policy change” after Noriega leaves

United States ratified there will be no changes in its current policy towards Latinamerica with whoever is named to succeed Assistant Secretary of State for Hemispheric Affairs, Roger Noriega, who's leaving the post next September.

"I don't think a change in personnel in the State Department represents a change in this administration's policy", said Wednesday State Department spokesperson Tom Casey.

When asked specifically if there could be a new Washington strategy towards Latinamerica, following Mr. Noriega's departure, and more specifically towards Venezuela, Mr. Casey said that the US will continue defending and promoting, "for Venezuela and all the countries of hemisphere" the advancement of democracy and economic development progress.

"I don't think that a change in the Assistant Secretary of State post should be seen as a wider change of our policies", insisted the State Department spokesperson.

Mr. Casey described the current Bush administration policy towards Latinamerica as "very positive" and recalled that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her recent trip to the region made it quiet clear that that policy consists in "supporting democracy, governance and favouring the creation of economic and development opportunities.

An example of this, highlighted Mr. Casey, has been the "signature by President Bush of the Central America and Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, CAFTA-DR".

"The agreement extends great benefits to the people of the region and new business opportunities both for Latinamerican and US companies", he added.

However The Wall Street Journal believes United States is actually loosing influence and the battle for the region's future.

The newspaper mentions three issues of the Latinamerica agenda which remain unattended, a migration reform to legalize the situation of millions of undocumented Latinamericans in the US; lowering agriculture subsidies and thus promoting fairer trade and the stagnated free trade agreement of the three Americas.

While US remains concentrated in war and terrorism, critics of Washington and globalization have expanded in Latinamerica, including several left wing governments that oppose free trade, open market policies.

An outstanding figure is Venezuela's Hugo Chavez whose combination of generous financing of social programs and violent criticism of United States has turned him into a continental reference, and a temptation for populist politicians in other unstable countries of the region such as Bolivia, Ecuador Nicaragua, argues TWSJ.

Taking advantage of the surge in oil prices Mr. Chavez is distributing oil at accessible prices and conditions, and has become lender of last resort, purchasing Argentine and Ecuadorian sovereign bonds.

"The US is not putting money anywhere in Latinamerica, while Chavez is doing so", highlights Eduardo Gamarra head of Latinamerican Studies at the International University of Florida.

A close ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro, Mr. Chavez recently financed the launching of Telesur, a 24 hours news channel sponsored together with Cuba, Argentina and Uruguay.

TWSJ says that a growing "hostile atmosphere" towards US corporations can be felt in the region mentioning the fact that Venezuela and Bolivia have unilaterally increased taxes on oil companies and in Argentina, President Kirchner has reacted to public opinion discontent with privatization freezing public utility rates.

Meantime, recalls TWSJ, a close ally of the Bush administration, former Bolivian president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, who three years ago arrived in Washington asking for 150 million US dollars to finance the budget and stop a growing violent opposition to globalization and private investment in the country's oil and gas industry, returned empty handed. He was ousted a year later and since then Bolivia has had three presidents and lives in constant political turmoil.