News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Sept. 7, 2012: The Americas, despite largely ignored by both left and right – Democrats and Republicans alike – actually made it on to the platforms of both parties, which wrapped up their conventions recently.
So where exactly do each party stand on The Americas?
The Democrats, which wrapped up their convention in Charlotte, North Carolina last night, Thursday, September 6th, insist that should they get re-elected, they will “work to disrupt organized crime networks seeking to use the Caribbean to smuggle drugs into our country.”
They also say they will continue to support the region’s security forces, border security, and police with the equipment, training, and technologies they need to keep their communities safe.
“We will improve coordination and share more information so that those who traffic in drugs and in human beings have fewer places to hide. And we will continue to put unprecedented pressure on cartel finances, including in the United States.”
Additionally, while Democrats say they deepened economic and security ties with countries throughout the hemisphere, from Canada and Mexico to Brazil and Chile and El Salvador they will continue to expand free and fair trade in the Americas as well.
“We already export more than three times as much to Latin America as we do to China, and we will pursue additional opportunities to expand commerce and promote shared prosperity,” states the Democratic platform. “Because the Caribbean is an important region to our country, we will continue to support robust trade and economic relationships with our partners there. And, across the region, we are moving ahead with “open skies” agreements to expand opportunities for commercial aviation and to bring our people and businesses closer together.”
The Republicans for their part have proposed a more right wing agenda for the Americas, beginning their platform introduction of the Americas by stating: “We will resist foreign influence in our hemisphere.”
They insist that should Republicans win back the White House, they will stand with the true democracies of the region against both Marxist subversion and the drug lords, helping them to become prosperous alternatives to the collapsing model of Venezuela and Cuba.
“We affirm our friendship with the People of Cuba and look toward their reunion with the rest of our hemispheric family … We reject any dynastic succession of power within the Castro family and affirm the principles codified in U.S. law as conditions for the lifting of trade, travel, and financial sanctions: the legalization of political parties, an independent media, and free and fair internationally-supervised elections.”
Like Democrats, however, they say they will also focus on the war on drugs and the war on terror and ensure a unified effort on crime and terrorism to coordinate intelligence and enforcement among regional allies.
So who will serve the region better? The policies undoubtedly say it all. Right wing policies will not work in the Americas, except to alienate the region further and hand more power to those who hate America.
