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Hitler wrote a book — Mein Kampf — laying out in great detail what he would do when in power, but neither the British nor the French ambassador in Berlin could convince their governments in the late '30s that this was a plan for action that should raise serious concerns. Their respective chanceries dismissed their anxious cables saying that "politicians never do what they say they will do."
True most of the time, but not always.
Take George W. Bush. In a campaign speech back in August he did what no presidential candidate from either party had done in half a century: He assigned a high priority to relations with Latin America, providing sound reasons for the policy he would follow if elected. "If I become president I will look towards the south, not as a circumstantial occurrence but as a fundamental commitment of my presidency," he said.
Who was the first foreign minister formally received in Washington by secretary of State Colin Powell? Mexico's.
Which is the first foreign country President Bush will visit? Mexico.
What international gathering with other chiefs of state will he first attend? The Summit of the Americas in Quebec City.
Who were among the chiefs of state Bush has first talked to on the phone? Chile's president Ricardo Lagos and Argentina's Fernando de la Rua.
And that is not all. Doing away with Bill Clinton's nonsense of appointing "special representatives," that speechified their way around Latin America but knew nothing about the region's politics, social culture and aspirations and were powerless to shape policy because they were totally outside the U.S. government's decision-making structures, the Bush administration is appointing career diplomats with experience in Latin American issues to key posts in both the State Department and the National Security Council.
In his 32 years as a diplomat, John Francis Maisto, the new director of inter-American affairs at the NSC, has witnessed history in the making in Latin America. He was charge d'affaires in Panama until a few days before the U.S. invasion; deputy assistant secretary of state for Central American affairs during peace negotiations in El Salvador; ambassador to Nicaragua from 1993 to 1996 and, in 1997, ambassador to Venezuela. Being Vice Chairman of the U.S. delegation to the Organization of American States and head of the U.S. delegations to the Inter-American Council for Education, Science, and Culture and the Inter-American Economic and Social Council has helped Maisto gain a deep knowledge and understanding of the region.
Another career diplomat with a strong background in Latin American affairs, Donna Hrinak, is said to be at the top of the short list for assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere. In a career that spans 24 years, Hrinak has served at Foreign Service posts in Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico City. She was the State Department's Coordinator for Policy for the Miami Summit of the Americas (where the idea of a free trade area of the Americas was launched), ambassador to Bolivia and the Dominican Republic. She is the current ambassador to Venezuela.
Equally important — if not more so — is the appointment by Bush of Robert Zoellick as U.S. trade representative. Zoellick, who served as undersecretary of state for economic affairs and deputy White House chief of staff in the administration of Bush's father, won raves from members of the Senate Finance Committee for his expertise in foreign policy and economic issues. In one typical comment, Sen. John Breaux, the Louisiana Democrat, told Zoellick: "You bring to this job probably the most outstanding set of credentials and previous experience of any person who has come to this position."
Zoellick said he will "promptly" begin consulting with the House and Senate on how to reestablish "trade-promotion authority" for the president, with the initial aim of launching negotiations on a free-trade agreement for the entire Western hemisphere, a crucial issue for Latin American countries whose exports to the U.S. are hampered by restrictive trade practices.
"Trade-promotion authority" is a new term developed by Zoellick as a substitute for "fast track authority," a term tarnished by the Clinton administration's inability to muster enough support in Congress for the authority — which past presidents have had — to negotiate trade pacts which Congress could only approve or reject in toto, but not undermine it with amendments that could do away with the finer points of an agreement reached through an arduous bargaining process.
Zoellick faces the tough task, in which he will need President Bush's help, of persuading Congress to rise over the demands of the perverse alliance of protectionist labor unions and extreme environmentalists — sworn enemies not too long ago but now united in seeking to cripple any negotiation with demands on labor conditions and environmental provisions that developing countries would not be able to meet at this time.
How tough Zoellick's task will be is shown by a comment from Sen. Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat: "If legitimate labor and environmental concerns are not incorporated into fast-track legislation, I will oppose that legislation, and I'll work hard for its defeat."
Claudio Campuzano (claudio-campuzano@hotmail.com) is U.S, correspondent for the Latin American newsweekly Tiempos del Mundo and editorial page editor of the New York daily Noticias del Mundo. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com