Bush legacy: Farewell to the Monroe Doctrine?

[babylonsister]

Bush legacy: Farewell to the Monroe Doctrine?
By Pablo Bachelet | McClatchy Newspaper

* Posted on Saturday, March 1, 2008


WASHINGTON — El Salvador's President Tony Saca, a close U.S. ally, can scarcely contain his frustration.

He calls U.S. politicians ''shortsighted'' for failing to reform U.S. immigration laws. He says Latin American populism is ''a pendulum swing toward disaster'' that deserves more U.S. attention.

''The United States, in my judgment, should invest enormous resources in Latin America, along the lines of a Marshall Plan,'' he said in a recent interview. "Generally speaking, when you want to have a neighborhood that gives you peace of mind, you have to invest in that neighborhood.''

But Saca is unlikely to be satisfied. President Bush has increased aid to Latin America by record amounts and visited Latin America more than any of his predecessors, but his legacy may be the biggest loss of U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere in recent memory.

He remains unpopular and unable to pass initiatives that Latin Americans want, such as immigration reform and free-trade pacts. Trade between South America and China is booming. Governments from Canada to Iran are cutting deals in the region, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has made challenging U.S. interests his foreign-policy mission, through everything from sweet oil deals to a TV news channel that rivals CNN.

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/29156.html

[acmavm]

1. Let's invest in America. That would be a change. Let's take care of our

infrastructure, let's give American's jobs and healthcare, and let's cut out the welfare to the rich.

If we get outselves straightened out then maybe we can consider handouts to other countries.

[DavidDvorkin]

2. The Marshall Plan was an investment in America

Not only did it help Europe recover from the war, it also (re)created a huge market for American goods and thus helped fuel the postwar US expansion. It also gave Europeans a reason to stay at home.

A Marshall Plan equivalent for Latin America would of huge benefit to us.

[acmavm]

4. My point is, and I thought it was pretty clear, is that it is time to invest here,

not anywhere else. We need the help now. American's need the help now. Our bridges and roads need work now. Our poor and our aged and our underpaid need health/dental care now.

Don't lecture me on the Marshall Plan. I got that part. You're the one that's confused.

edit: Let me ask you, what is your priority? Considering the economy of this country, the sad shape we're in, why would you think investment in Central America is a good priority right now?

[DavidDvorkin]

5. It's not either-or

If we end the mad spending on Iraq and enormously cut the spending on the military establishment, we can afford both and benefit from both.

[acmavm]

6. Right now there are no assets to play wetnurse to the world. We are a

broken country. We need to fix it.

edit: To point out what should be painfully obvious. Our economy is tanking. We are not the same country that we were after the end of WWII. We are not as strong as we were after WWII.

Let them go to Mexico for help. Mexico is not the poor country that people think it is. There are tremendously rich companies and people in Mexico. They just horde the riches and cut the common people to fend for themselves, just like we do here now.

Between the housing fiasco and the loss of jobs in this country and the price of petroleum products and food, the need for a massive influx of money to bring our schools up to par, and the poor and mentally ill who have no where to turn, we just don't have it to spread to the rest of the world. And truthfully, millions of us are damn sick and tired of the constant handouts when we need the money so badly for our own country.

[L. Coyote]

3. George Bush Sr. May Face Charges: Conspiring to Kidnap and Murder Political Activists

AND, why has American influence waned? Because, the USA has long been the enemy of the People and political progress in Latin America.

George Bush Sr. May Face Charges: Conspiring to Kidnap and Murder Political Activists
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2459135