United States Policy and Security Interests in Latin America Valenzuela, was held up in the confirma­tion process and was rendered virtually useless for nearly a year. The president and his new secretary of state, Hilllary Clinton, had to rely on career officers and on political appointments from the previous administration to carry out the nation's policy in the region. Then, came Honduras in the middle of 2009. Here, Obama tried to introduce his new collegial and multilateral approach. He left leadership in the hemisphere's response to the crisis to the OAS and its secretary general, José Miguel Insulza. To the dismay of the Department of State and the White House, Insulza was undercut by a double attack from several of the leaders of the ALBA countries and by a very public campaign by a small cohort of conservative Republicans in the Congress who refused to support the administration and the OAS in their effort to turn back the golpe against the government of Zelaya. The U.S. suppor­ted efforts by Oscar Arias to negotiate a settlement; but that failed. Finally, the U.S. was forced to reverse field and inject itself in a very active way in the negotiations for a solution. Even that proved to be messy, as the same Republicans insisted on blocking a solution that would allow the ousted president to return to office, even in a symbolic manner. Everyone lost face in this episode: the Obama administration; the OAS, the Latin American community of nations, and, especially the Brazilians, who were pushed into the limelight by the sudden appearan­ce in the embassy in Tegucigalpa of former president Zelaya, despite severe disagree­ment within the Lula government over the correct policy to follow. If this was to be Brazilian leadership in the hemisphere, the future did not look bright. How can we understand the Latin American policy of the Obama administration? What are the principal interests and concerns of the United States, and, what should be the most constructive response by the nations of Latin America? II. Security Concerns of the United States in Latin America The lack of focus on Latin America in the Obama administration does not mean that there is no activity at the ministe­rial level with regard to the region. The Department of State, now with its Latin American team in place has been active in several countries, especially in trying to get Brazil to play a leadership role in the region that will support U.S. objectives, and in dealing with the growing violence at the border with Mexico. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon have been very active and it is useful to see how their activities may represent U.S. interests and to inquire how these activities may constitute a security policy, a policy to which Latin American nations might respond. To begin, there is the military ­Southern Command and the Fourth Fleet. The efforts by the U.S. to increase coopera­tion in the region never cease. There is constant negotiation between armed forces to increase inter-service cooperation, even with countries such as Nicaragua which employ harsh anti-US rhetoric. July 2010, Page 3