Obama’s Foreign Policy in Latin America: Continuity or Change?
Document Type : Research Paper
Abstract
The present article aims to assess Obama’s foreign policy, in his first round of presidency, toward Latin America and to see if the changes he promised during his electoral campaign occurred or not. The Latin American countries perceived the US presidential election 2008 as a turning point and expected fundamental changes in the US foreign policy. Obama did not threaten Cuba and Venezuela in his presidential campaign, insisted on multilateral diplomacy, and employed the word ‘neighbors’ rather than ‘backyard’ to call the countries of this region. The people and governments in Latin America, hence, expected the end of US interventionism which provoked during Bush presidency the wave of anti-Americanism as a widespread rash all over the continent.