The United States and Latin America: The Neighbourhood has Changed

Centrifugal forces are gaining strength year by year in inter-American relations. US policy toward neighbouring Latin America is today retreating from a long tradition of efforts to formulate a Latin American-wide policy. It is early to dismiss the prospect of a future resurgence of hemispheric cooperation. Surely the US and Latin America share enough common interests and values for cooperation, even integration to benefit all countries. But the trend is now toward a Latin America increasingly independent of the US. The United States is becoming more and more focused on its own problems, while increasingly middle class, globalised Latin American nations are finding new partners, and determinedly pursuing their own course.