U.S. President George Bush hosted Peruvian President Alan García for the signing of the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement on December 14 after the deal won overwhelming approval in the Senate. Bush has called on Congress to now take action on the Panama and Colombia agreements.
Former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda, author of Ex Mex: From Migrants to Immigrants, played a firsthand role in attempts to forge a U.S.-Mexican immigration deal. He says reform could come in time, but U.S. leaders remain hesitant: "Who wants to take a leadership position on this and then get slammed in Iowa?"
In a Miami Herald editorial, retired U.S. General Barry R. McCaffrey explains that Colombia's robust economy and drastically improved security situation warrant approval of a U.S.-Colombia free-trade agreement—a pact currently stalled in the U.S. Congress.
The head of U.S. Southern Command assesses the unconventional security threats facing the region, ranging from narcotics and gang violence to terrorism. The solution, he argues in the new issue of Americas Quarterly, is hemisphere-wide cooperation.
On November 7, after months of negotiations and debate, the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 285 to 132. The bill is expected to receive Senate consideration shortly.
At the launch for the second issue of Americas Quarterly, Admiral Jim Stavridis, who directs U.S. Southern Command, discussed his view of the security situation in the western hemisphere.
