Latin America’s Future is Already Here: Un Homenaje to Senator Dodd Upon his Retirement
by COHA Director Larry Birns and COHA Research Fellow Eloy Fisher
Within days, Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) will be leaving the Senate for the last time after decades of distinguished service on the Hill. His departure will leave a vacancy of immense proportions that will be difficult to fill. This was because he was the most bona fide Latin American expert to have frequented Congress this century. Senators Edward Kennedy and Claiborne Pell were also worthy contestants for this title, while Senators Patrick Leahy and Richard Lugar also remain genuinely credible as Latin Americanists. A few weeks ago, Senator Dodd delivered a compelling lecture regarding the future of the region to a college audience in his home state of Connecticut.
In his talk, which also was featured in The Huffington Post, Dodd focused on the brilliant Latin America’s future, listing its positive growth rate, its democratic advancement in recent months, and its solid economic development. Especially exhilarating were his optimistic comments on the region’s remarkable resiliency in the face of foreboding challenges brought on by the global economic downturn, the specters of political instability, and the multitude of natural disasters, like Haiti’s earthquake last January, its current cholera epidemic, and the hydra-headed presence of drugs and crime.
Despite a sincere attempt at even-handedness, Dodd was, however, on that occasion unable to address out the contradictions afflicting the core of the Democratic Party’s insufficiency when it comes to Latin America. This is a viewpoint which inspires the Washington theorem that what is good for the U.S should also be welcomed by the rest of the region.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010 | Research Memorandum 10.1
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