This past week in Latin America saw many disparate events that are poised to shape the future of individual nations and Central and South America as a whole. More important to us at home is how the United States reacts to a changing Western Hemisphere.
The most pressing challenge and opportunity for us in North America is the way the United States will treat the newly elected (or otherwise, as the case in Cuba may prove) governments. The reshaping of governments across the region allows for an opening for the United States to redefine its policy towards the region, long considered a backwater in its own back yard.
The right approach would be for the United States to adopt a policy that works with Latin American governments to improve the lives of the average citizens within the countries and build goodwill toward the United States.
We have tried this before with initiatives like the "Alliance for Progress." A return to working with nations to reduce poverty, increase public health, improve political transparency and grow free-trade regions would have a positive impact on the region.
These challenges will take a generation or more to implement fully, but ultimately, they will give Tufts students time to take their education to the region and put their training and ideas into action close to home. For a university with the aim of creating leaders in a changing world, there is no place undergoing more change than Latin America.
Rarely in history is an entire region under near-simultaneous change. This past weekend, it seemed as if Latin American dictators past and present were trying to go out with one final, coordinated bang. Former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet suffered a heart attack and required surgery to live the remainder of his 95th year. Elsewhere, in Cuba, infirm leader Fidel Castro continued his health struggles and missed a Havana military parade held in his honor.
This weekend also saw elections in Venezuela where President Hugo Chavez sought a second term amid controversy over his rhetoric and the sustainability of his policies. While the polls just closed at press time, it appears that Chavez is on his way to a second term after a bitter campaign. Add Morales and Ortega ...
In Mexico, Felipe Calderon finally took the oath of office after a controversial vote count and charges of fraud. Mexico's losing candidate has galvanized millions of generally poorer Mexicans to support him as the "real" president of Mexico. The challenge for Calderon is to unite Mexico and move forward from the post-election fracas.
More than anything, the events of this past weekend illustrate just how little of the Latin American "old guard" are left, and how much their influence is on the wane. A new generation of democratically elected leaders from across the political spectrum are in the driver's seat, steering Latin America's future away from the past. Tufts students can play a role in those changes. Knowledge of public health, political science, Latin American history, economics and other fields are essential and useful tools for creating a better future across the Americas.
Luckily, there is reason to believe that ears are perking up at Tufts over the changes in the region. Over the weekend, a coincidentally prescient Tufts symposium entitled "Cuba: Transitions, Innovations, and Transformations" discussed some of the changes within the nation. This is a good first step to enriching classroom education with discussion about the past and future of the region.
However, if our government and students (as future leaders) misread or ignore the potential within Latin American countries, we run the risk of creating an international engagement vacuum that nations like Venezuela and China stand all too eager to exploit.
What is clear across the region is that, one by one, nations and voters are expressing their desire for a better future, one that is independent of the events and challenges of the past. This weekend's events put into perspective the elections of a new generation with the death and decay of an older one.
Closer to home, these changes have spurred the first steps in using a Tufts education to shape the region's future. For all the news in the papers over the weekend, this unreported fact may be the most significant for Tufts students' future.
