Professor and columnist Rosanna Fuentes Berain encourages the incoming U.S. administration to steer the country’s economy into safer waters, given its direct impact on Latin American markets.

AS/COA looks at the rise in Trans-Pacific cooperation, which was recently reaffirmed by the APEC leaders meeting in Lima. China—a new donor member of the Inter-American Development Bank—continues to ramp up trade ties through deals with Peru and Costa Rica.

Facing a global financial crisis, 21 leaders met in Lima to caution against protectionism and call for resumption of the Doha Round of trade talks. The APEC summit also served as U.S. President George W. Bush's last scheduled trip abroad, where he pressed for “free markets, free trade, and free people.”

Chinese President Hu Jintao's trip to Latin America helps cement Beijing's growing relationship with the region. After the G20 summit and before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Lima, Hu traveled to Costa Rica and Cuba.

McLarty Associates Managing Director Kellie Meiman writes, "If Brazil can come into its own as a true pragmatic stakeholder in the global economy and international institutions at the same time that the United States reemerges as a champion of multilateralism, there is much our countries can achieve together."

With a political transition in progress, the Bush administration continues to urge passage of the  U.S.-Colombia trade pact. But whether the deal will gain congressional approval during a lame-duck session remains in doubt.

Toronto Star columnist James Travers says the President-elect should reinvigorate ties with Ottawa, and that "Canada can make life easier for the next U.S. President by advancing an agenda serving mutual interests."