Sunday will see the beginning of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s tour to Latin America.
Clinton will travel to Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Costa Rica and Guatemala from February 28th to March 5th – a trip that remarkably comes in the wake of last week’s summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders in Mexico and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to the region earlier in the month.
As for the Mexico gathering, full-blown discussions there have specifically centered on the establishment of a new regional community to serve as an alternative to the Organization of American States. The heads of states stressed that the new body is aimed at reducing US influence on the region, and membership will not be extended to the United States and Canada.
When in Latin America, Russia’s top diplomat, for his part, sat down for parleys with the leaders of Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua, who indicated their countries’ readiness to bolster political, trade-economic and cultural ties with Moscow. The past few years have significantly seen Russia’s further foray into Latin America – something that was particularly praised by President Dmitry Medvedev.
“We have made a strategic decision to continue to expand relations with Latin American and Caribbean countries, Medvedev says, lamenting a protracted chill in mutual ties in previous years. We also hope that the ongoing fence-mending will add greatly to improving a global geo-political atmosphere,” Medvedev underlines.
Given Washington’s fading clout in Latin America, Clinton will desperately try to rectify the situation during her current trip to Latin America, analysts say. Needless to say, wooing Latin American and Caribbean countries may prove a high mountain to climb for Clinton, pundits warn, remaining downbeat about Washington’s drive to re-emerge in the region as a major player to be reckoned with.
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