Web Letters: What Can Obama Do in Latin America?

I read with great interest Greg Grandin's article. It is well written and points out the very erroneous policies towards Latin America throughout the history of the United States. But may I suggest to him that he write an article tititled "What Can Obama Do in Puerto Rico?" in order to state the facts about Puerto Rico/US political relationship and how best to address the issue of the subordination of our country? One point is the falsehood of the establishment of Puerto Rico's "commonwealth" status in 1952 and the matter of insular cases' being decided in US courts in relation to the policy of "foreign in a domestic sense"--how to address the matter that Puerto Rico belongs to but is not part of the United States, based on those juridical cases, and that the island is subject to the territorial clause of the United States Constitution. The Nation should address the case of Puerto Rico as well, since we are a part of Latin America that everyone turns their eyes away from in order not to deal with the issue of defining the island's political status.

Juan Rodriguez
Puerto Rican Independence Party

New York , NY

Take a very different approach (to break with the decades-old paternalistic attitude) in developing partnerships with each country, with an emphasis on social justice, which is, after all, fundamental in Catholic theology (90 percent of Latin Americans are Catholics).

Sam George

Vancouver, BC, Canada

What's the best thing Mr. Obama can do in Latin America? Stay there!

Tucano Fulano

Big Bear, CA

I have always been against imperialism, and, in part, hearing about the "good neighbor policy" as a child may have been an influence. I disapproved of the coups in Iran and Guatemala, when I was in high school. However, Eisenhower's support for Egypt during the Suez Crisis was a plus for his administration.

I am also against economic imperialism, which is why I approve of Mexico's tariffs against the US, and American tariffs. I am rather surprised that a Latin American specialist would support Free Trade relationships that have kept the global south underdeveloped. You have not done your research!

Pervis James Casey

Riverside, CA