McCain vs. Obama on Latin America? Not much difference

Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain go head to head in this BBC piece on their policy differences over Latin America this morning.

But other than a difference in tone and Obama's opposition to free trade, there's not much difference between their approaches to the region, writes Lourdes Heredia.

Both McCain and Obama support United States interventions in the fight against drug trafficking throughout Latin America, with both candidates behind Plan Colombia and the recently approved Merida Initiative.

Obama -- who apparently has never set foot in Latin America -- has a higher profile here because he is perceived as representing a fresh start for a region in which the Bush administration is unpopular.

Read the rest of the BBC's assessment of the rivals here...

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Comments

[Sheldon]

Barack Obama will defeat John McCain on the basis of domestic policies, and not what McCain does while visiting Latin America. The economy is of greater concern to Americans than rival position on Latin America.

[Yeil Raven]

Podemos Con Obama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuXqy40F4Co&feature=related

[giovany a. pelaez]

It seems like the merida initiative and plan colombia are not meant for cracking down on drug trafficking and merely exist for foreign interest and presence in a zone with very little US popularity. Remember this has been and will cotinue to be US's backyard for many years to come. Meanwhile kids are falling more and more to drugs each day - let's hope it's not yours or mine.