Obama on Latin America - Real Plans or Campaign Oratory?

Barack Obama gave a major address on Latin America May 23, touching on all the region’s pressure points before a group of Cuban-Americans in Miami. Predictably, it sounded better coming from Obama’s mouth than it read on a piece of paper, but despite the enthusiastic reaction from a conservative audience, I can’t seem to summon anything beyond ambivalence.

First the good: both the speech and Obama’s Latin American agenda were built on Franklin Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms (religious and political freedom alongside freedom from want and from fear). Though it can sound corny, this emphasis on the personal welfare of Latin Americans is a welcome change.”*

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