In their recent trips to Latin America and the Caribbean, President Obama and Vice President Biden were right to focus on the economic opportunities in a region whose prospects have never been brighter. Despite the global economic crisis, more than 70 million of our citizens have escaped poverty in the last 10 years, and the number of middle-class families could double within a generation.
With U.S. exports to Latin America and the Caribbean already worth three times more than those to China, it is clearly time for America to move beyond stereotypes and reassess its southern neighbors.
One such stereotype concerns security. To be sure, much of Latin America still struggles with violence of epidemic proportions. Although our region is home to less than a tenth of the world’s population, we account for a fifth of all murders. Understandably, insecurity has become our people’s No. 1 concern — and a significant obstacle to greater tourism, investment and trade