Today While The Press In The U.S. And Mexico Yawns, Harper Hosts Bush And Calder

Prime Minister Harper Returns From a Six-Day Carefully Scripted Trip to Latin America On July 15, 2007, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper began a six-day journey to Latin America in an attempt to reverse Canada’s vanishing diplomatic presence among its neighbors to the South. Harper, who only lightly holds power at home, toured four nations in the Caribbean and South America: Colombia, Chile, Barbados and Haiti, with his goal once again being to make Canada important to the region. To accomplish this, he metaphorically had a long trek to make and a practical mission to undertake. It was the first time that a Canadian Prime Minister has traveled to the region since 2004, a sad indicator of Ottawa’s heads up view of the hemispheres. Starting with scant evidence that Harper was all that interested in the region, what can be expected from the two-day meeting with Bush and Calderón? In claiming that it was important to maintain good relations because they were in the same “neighborhood,” Harper proposed a targeted agenda with each of his amigo countries, topped by a common theme featuring the central factors of trade, investment and energy policy, hopefully downplaying Canada’s ire at Washington’s new passport policy, which treats its neighbor as a near stranger, and Calderón’s fury at the U.S. Congress failure to enact an immigration measure. Canada has chronically allowed itself to be pushed into the background of regional issues, often content to be hidden in the shadow of its powerful neighbor, a position which has been adamantly rebuked by some members of the parliamentary opposition along with the country’s lamentably ignored hemispheric specialists. In the last few years, the top priorities of Canada’s modest foreign policy initiatives have been dominated by its war in Afghanistan, as part of its NATO responsibility, and keeping smooth relations with the U.S. over Iraq, even though Canada is not directly involved in that conflict and in spite of the controversial imprisonment at Guantanamo of an underage Canadian national. Since 2001, Afghanistan has become one of the largest receivers of Canadian aid and a number of its troops have been killed as a result of Canadian forces being deployed in that country. Now, however, it seems Harper has had a late summer conversion to re-incorporate interested countries in the Caribbean and South America into his overall agenda, using the patently untrue boilerplate that “Re-engagement in our hemisphere is a priority for our government.” Canada’s influence in the Americas peaked when Canada joined the Organization of the American States (OAS) 17 years ago, at a time that COHA was vociferously urging such a move. What COHA had in mind was that the then hemispheric human rights factor was scheduled to fade in the Reagan White House, and that Ottawa should be seen as a possibly new compensatory factor now that outgoing President Carter’s human rights facto would be out and President Reagan’s indifference to it would be in. At a reception given for Richard Gorman, the then Canadian observer to the regional body, at the Pan American Union by the then OAS Secretary General, Brazilian diplomat Baena Soares, to celebrate Canada’s accession to the organization, the Canadian diplomat laughing publicly accused COHA of dooming in perpetuity a stream of Canadian diplomats who would now have to listen to long-winded speeches by their OAS colleagues, due to COHA’s persistent calls for membership in the organization. However, since then Ottawa has only negligibly contributed to the organization. Canada as a presence in Latin America arose once again in 2001 when Quebec City was the host for that year’s Summit of the Americas, where trade and development issues were discussed. But Canada’s interest waned almost immediately thereafter. Ottawa is now hopeful that its ties to the Americas will be strengthened and that such relations will be maintained into the future. Harper’s trip proved, however, that the reason for the sudden interest in the region was not simply a friendly visit, if that was even the case, but for Canada to assume precise economic advantages in Latin America, using the kind of neo-liberal techniques so revered by the Tories. Several months ago, Harper ordered his Foreign Relations and Trade team to come forth with a position paper calling upon a new “American Strategy” for Canada. The region would be divided into three bands; the first would be composed of the Caribbean and part of Central America, the second would include Colombia and Peru (where Canada already has substantial investments, particularly in mining), and the third and most sophisticated band would be composed of Chile, Argentina, and Brazil (Brazil is already the fifth largest investor in Canada). This was partly inspired by a conversation that he had with President Bush the last time the two leaders met. More at: http://tinyurl.com/2cgsza

Note: http://tinyurl.com/2cgsza