Latin America Policy at a Crossroads

Obama aides counter that their candidate has developed an overarching Latin America policy that would address the region's economic and social inequities, which are often at the root of the drug and immigration problems affecting the United States. Dan Restrepo, Obama's foreign policy aide for the region, wrote in an e-mail that it is "important to remember that visits without a coherent policy approach is what we have seen from George Bush during the past 8 years and what we are seeing now with John McCain. When Barack does visit the region it will be with a comprehensive vision of what he hopes to achieve and how he will advance US interests."

In a speech Obama delivered in Miami on May 23, the Democrat pledged to revamp America's foreign policy to push for grass-roots reform in Latin America.

"After decades pressing for top-down reform, we need an agenda that advances democracy, security and opportunity from the bottom up," Obama said. "That means measuring success not just through agreements among governments, but also through the hopes of the child in the favelas of Rio, the security for the policeman in Mexico City and the shrinking of the distance between Miami and Havana."

Some Democratic lawmakers have privately expressed concerns that McCain's trip may give him an upper hand on Latin American issues, an advantage that seemed to get a boost from McCain's presence in Colombia on the same day that the 15 hostages were rescued from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Plans are being made to try to persuade Obama to visit the northern city of Monterrey, one of Mexico's industrial capitals.

Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, is scheduled to appear July 22 in Mexico City at a $1,000-a-plate fundraising dinner organized by Democrats Abroad.

McCain arrived in Mexico City two days after Bush signed a $400 million aid package to help Mexico battle drug cartels, the largest U.S. anti-drug initiative abroad since 2000, when the U.S. Congress passed a multibillion-dollar project to eradicate drugs and suppress the Marxist rebels in Colombia. The aid to Mexico, known as the Merida Initiative, is viewed here as a hopeful sign of more cooperation.

Mexican Congressman Nicolás Morales Ramos said the aid package "has filled Mexicans with hope and enthusiasm" about relations between the two countries. "This is an extremely important step forward. We're starting to see the United States take Mexico more seriously," Morales said in an interview.

But Morales, a member of the Chamber of Deputies' border and migration committee, said Mexicans have essentially given up trying to persuade the Bush administration to pass comprehensive immigration reform. A renewed push will surely be made, he said, once a new administration is in place.

"Obama, especially, is coming with new ideas. It seems like he's young and full of plans and that he's talked about helping migrants more than McCain," Morales said.