Reference News Network, December 12 report: The U.S. magazine Foreign Policy website published an article titled "The United States No Longer Talks to Its Neighbors" on December 4. The authors are Adam Latscha of the Pan-American Strategic Consulting Company and Diana Roy, a senior editor at the Council on Foreign Relations. The following is an excerpt:
Dominican Republic announced that the tenth Americas Summit originally scheduled for December has been postponed, casting a shadow over the development of relations between countries in the Western Hemisphere. This event, which was supposed to be an opportunity for Latin American and Caribbean leaders to collectively engage with the United States, has instead become a symbol of tension between the United States and the region.
The Dominican government stated that "deep differences" have hindered regional dialogue, which likely refers to the U.S. repeated crackdowns on so-called drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean Sea, as well as rumors of possible U.S. military intervention against Venezuela. This summit, which has a history of several decades, has been postponed until next year without a specific date, exposing structural fractures in U.S.-Latin American relations, rooted in the hardline unilateralist policies of the Trump administration in regional affairs.
After the end of the Cold War, the United States attempted to rebuild its relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean. In 1994, the United States hosted the first Americas Summit. The postponement of this summit fully illustrates how relations in the Western Hemisphere have significantly deviated from the multilateral vision advocated by regional leaders more than 30 years ago. This has become a symbol of deepening political divisions in the region.
Currently, the governments of Latin American and Caribbean countries face a U.S. administration that lists the region as a priority in its foreign policy, but instead of adhering to multilateralism and trade integration, it has taken the most hardened stance among any administration since the end of the Cold War. Instead of hearing regional cooperation initiatives, the region is increasingly hearing Washington's "Monroe Doctrine 2.0" rhetoric.
The Trump administration placed the Western Hemisphere at the core of its foreign policy agenda, and the new National Security Strategy report also pays high attention to Western Hemisphere affairs, especially issues such as immigration, southern border security, and combating drug cartels. However, the Trump administration did not seek cooperative solutions, but mainly relied on tariffs, military threats, economic coercion, and unilateral actions centered on domestic U.S. interests.
Trump repeatedly made statements that the U.S. could reclaim the Panama Canal. The Trump administration quickly expanded its military deployments in the Caribbean Sea, conducting multiple crackdowns on so-called drug trafficking vessels, whose legitimacy has been questioned by the international community. The continuous concentration of U.S. forces has further intensified concerns about potential military action against Venezuela.
In response to Washington's hardline stance, governments across Latin America and the Caribbean have shown inconsistent reactions, with growing divisions in their policies toward the U.S., further intensifying regional fragmentation. The Western Hemisphere faces many pressing challenges, and regional countries need to boldly uphold their own positions on important issues and not blindly follow Washington's will. Regional countries need to continuously build diplomatic tools to address common concerns and lay the foundation for cooperation.
The new direction of development in the Western Hemisphere should not be determined solely by Washington's priorities; Colombia, Brazil, and more countries should participate in it. (Translated by Wang Dongdong)
Original source: toutiao.com/article/7582803601274192435/
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