Many of us who are passionate about Latin America have for decades been clamoring for a radical policy shift with respect to the region.  In his recent column Andres Oppenheimer hits on that point (It’s time for U.S. to think big on Latin America - Andres Oppenheimer - MiamiHerald.com).  

For the last decade Latin America has been making lots of progress across all areas of society and even its issues that have haunted it in the past such as inflation and political instability are more or less tamed, with the exception of a couple of countries.  

Not only is Latin America much more stable, the U.S. through immigration already has great ties to the region with some 45 million Latin immigrants.  

The region also has anything that the U.S. might want from natural resources like gas and oil, to agricultural products, to a growing middle class that is hungry for consumer products from personal care items to cars.  

As the U.S. dallies other countries, most notable China and India, are actively developing commercial and other ties across all countries in the region.  

It is time for the U.S. to take a leadership position in the Americas and work with Latin America to from one of the most dynamic regions of the world, the Western Hemisphere.  

(via thoughtsfromtheandes)