Don’t Ignore Latin America

Last spring, after discovering that Argentina’s economic crisis had spurred the government to freeze all bank assets, Norma Albino doused her head in rubbing alcohol and set herself on fire. Albino, who survived, is just one dramatic example of the despair hammering Latin America. The U.S. government would be wise to consider her self-immolation a symbolic reminder: No matter how many global crises the U.S. is juggling, it cannot afford to ignore its increasingly volatile and unstable neighbors to the south.

In 2002, Latin America experienced its worst economic performance in a decade. Last year, for the first time ever, remittances to Latin America from immigrants in the U.S. were higher than foreign investment. Foreign debt skyrocketed.

Of all the nations in the region, only Chile, Colombia and Peru showed economic growth. Private consumption fell as unemployment and poverty rose. In Venezuela, per capita income remains what it was in 1953. In Argentina, unemployment stands at 22% and half the population lives in poverty -- three times more than just five years ago.

Remarkably, there is little evidence of “regional backlash against market economics and democratic politics,” the reputable Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue reports. But this loyalty is tenuous. The institutions that support free markets, democracy and the rule of law -- a robust judiciary, an honest civilian police force, responsible political parties, quality schools -- have not evolved enough to provide social stability in dreadful economic times. Reform of tax, labor, pension and property rights laws, as well as of the judiciary, is stalled almost everywhere.

The U.S. Senate can start to revive Latin American relations by confirming Roger F. Noriega as undersecretary of State for the Western Hemisphere.

Noriega, 44, has experience in Latin American affairs dating from 1987. He has worked in the State Department and in international affairs positions for the House and Senate and is the U.S. representative to the Organization of American States. His three years as a staffer for former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) makes some Latin American diplomats shiver. But Peruvian Ambassador Eduardo Ferrero echoes wide respect for the nominee among Latin American ambassadors in praising Noriega as “a consensus builder.”

As soon as the Senate confirms him, Noriega should travel throughout the region. He should listen to leaders’ appraisals of Latin America’s problems and seek solutions by forging strategic alliances. The United States needs all the friends it can get.