U.S. POLICY MUST REFLECT IMPORTANCE OF THE AMERICAS by ROBERT A. PASTOR
Copyright (c) 1997, The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company

IN the past two years, as the president and Congress
quarreled, U.S. policy toward Latin America has swung from
partnership and free trade to paternalism and
protectionism.

In his second term, President Clinton needs to forge a
domestic partnership with Congress as a first step toward
consolidating a democratic alliance with the fastest
growing market for U.S. goods. In 1993 and 1994, Clinton
improved and secured ratification of the North American
Free Trade Agreement; he marshaled multinational support to
restore constitutional government in Haiti; and he convoked
a summit of democratic presidents that pledged to complete
negotiations on free trade for the hemisphere by the year
2005.

But within two weeks of the summit, U.S. policy shifted
with the fall of the Mexican peso and the rise of
Republicans; the American people lost interest in the
Americas, and partisan bickering stalemated policy. To
Latin Americans, the U.S. government became more of a drug
policeman than a trading partner.

The HelmsBurton law on Cuba created more resentment
with our friends than problems for Cuba. The United States
retreated from NAFTA and the promise to pursue its
extension to Chile.

And while Washington rejected the authority of the World
Trade Organization on the Cuba issue, it used the WTO
against Brazil on autos and in the Caribbean on bananas.
Disappointed but pragmatic Latin governments have begun
pursuing freetrade alternatives elsewhere.

Fortunately, there are signs, including the appointment
of Mack McLarty as special envoy and his proposed trips to
the region, that the president may decide to seize the
unique opportunity in the Americas. But what, exactly,
must be done?

The president and Congress need to approve fasttrack
trade negotiating authority, not just for Chile but for all
the Americas. We also should negotiate reciprocal but not
equal agreements with the vulnerable Caribbean Basin
countries.

An international drug policy in which we grade our
allies in the drug war each year weakens them and is
incompatible with a policy of partnership. Instead of
acting as a big brother, the United States should invite
our partners to design a genuinely hemispheric
drugfighting strategy to be monitored by all.

To deepen democracy, the electoral process should be
cleansed of money. While the United States has much to
learn, our neighbors can learn from us how transparency and
required disclosure of ""commissions'' can restrain
corruption.

The hemisphere has much to learn from Chile, which in
the past six years has reduced its poverty by half, and
from Brazil, which increased funding to education and
directed it toward elementary and secondary schools rather
than universities.

The secretarygeneral of the Organization of American
States should empower a group of senior statesmen to
propose solutions for the numerous territorial disputes
that continue to threaten the region, and all of the
nations should try to fashion arms restraint agreements
that could be models for the developing world.

NAFTA is the second most advanced panregion in the
world, but some adjustment is essential to ensure that the
rules are fairly enforced and that the benefits of
integration are shared with those who have had to pay the
price.

With a full domestic and international agenda, why
should the president devote his time to Latin America?
Because a peaceful and prosperous hemisphere is to our
advantage.

In the past five years, U.S.exports to Latin America
have increased eight times faster than our exports to Japan
and about 15 times faster than those to Europe. It is hard
for many Americans to conceive, but this hemisphere is
already nearly twice as large a market for U.S. goods as
the European Union and nearly 50 percent above that of
Asia. And this is only the beginning, because Latin
America employs trade barriers that will fall faster and
further than ours.

Another reason is that most new Americans come from the
Americas. The cultural distance separating the United
States from Latin America has narrowed. The prospect for a
closer relationship is better now than ever.

Clinton's most enduring legacy can be built in this
hemisphere. Progress will not be measured by the number of
meetings but by concrete steps and the political will of
all the nations' leaders to make the kinds of decisions
that will improve the lives of all Americans, from Canada
to Argentina.