The holiday season has passed, a new administration and Congress have taken office, and the Flowers of Hope team is mobilizing for more fundraising, as well as the 2009 project grants!

US policy has undoubtedly had a significant impact on the politics, economies, and social movements of Latin America. Much of that impact has been devastating. The poverty, malnourishment, lack of access to education, and political disempowerment that Flowers of Hope works to undo have been fueled and exacerbated by decades of misguided US policy.

How could the Obama administration and the Democrat-controlled Congress change the most harmful US policies and work more positively with the people of Latin America? The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA), an independent research organization, devoted the January/February issue of their Report on the Americas to  that question. The issue generated several important proposals that Americans should debate and demand:

  • End hostilities and normalize relations with the governments of Venezuela, Cuba, and Bolivia, recognizing their right to national sovereignty (and, I would add: End the US interference in the democratic elections of every Latin American nation, via such activities as threatening statements by US officials and funding for political organizations)
  • Stop military aid to the government of Colombia, which has a long history of human rights abuses and ties to paramilitary organizations which have committed even greater human rights abuses
  • Negotiate a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Colombia, the prosecution of paramilitary commanders, and a reconciliation process for victims of atrocities
  • Decriminalize drugs, ending the profits to criminal organizations and the human and financial costs of the so-called “war on drugs,” and improve drug education and addiction treatment in the US
  • Understand the increase in participatory democracy among diverse grassroots organizations around Latin America, shifting focus away from states as the exclusive holders of power
  • Rethink current and proposed Free Trade Agreements (like NAFTA) which benefit corporate interests at the expense of human rights and national sovereignty

The Obama administration has already shown signs of being much more open, flexible, and progressive than the previous administration. However, they have also declared their support for some of the worst US policies like NAFTA, Plan Colombia, the Merida Initiative, and maintaining efforts to isolate Cuba. No significant changes will come without political will, consensus, and action from the American people. We can start building that momentum today, educating ourselves, each other, and our representatives, to push for more just and humane policy in Latin America.