OPINION | Secretary of State Blinken's visit to Latin America

Editor's Note:

Roberto Izurieta is Director of Latin American Projects at George Washington University.

He has worked in political campaigns in several Latin American countries and Spain, and was an advisor to Presidents Alejandro Toledo, of Peru;

Vicente Fox, from Mexico, and Álvaro Colom, from Guatemala.

The author is also a contributor to CNN en Español.

The opinions expressed here are solely his.

(CNN Spanish) -

It is a visit to Ecuador and Colombia, after having been a few days before in Mexico.

The main issue of concern and even interest of the US in Latin America is still migration and the fight against drug trafficking.

Economic relations, on the contrary, are the great space of opportunity rather than of concern.

Generally, US relations with the region are designated among the priorities of almost every vice president, as it was with Joe Biden, Mike Pence and, now, with Kamala Harris.

The priorities, or rather what occupies the main international attention of the United States, are and will always be Russia, China, the Middle East and Europe.

We dispute the attention between colossi.

Unfortunately, the most common way to attract attention in everything is always crises.

And, for the region, the crises have been migration and the fight against drug trafficking.

China, on the contrary, in its conquest for natural resources and with a much more centralized state economy and great capacity for financial resources, has used its power and access very aggressively, especially with its most adept presidents: Hugo Chávez, Rafael Correa, Evo Morales and the Kirchners. Its credit benefits have not been cheap for the region: its credits (especially with higher risk countries) have higher interest rates than those of international credit organizations and, although they do not come with orthodox fiscal financial health goals, Most of the time, Chinese loans are awarded with extremely serious guarantees for our countries (for example, in the case of Ecuador, it would be backed by the sale of crude oil).

With the pandemic, the economic crisis in the world, and especially in the countries with less credit capacity, has worsened substantially.

This year's meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington focused largely on how to service the debt and the prospects for collecting those loans.

Vaccines are the triumph of the most important international scientific community in recent decades and China has known how to use its vaccines to strengthen its diplomacy and presence in Latin America.

The United States did it mainly through the quotas established in the international community (with the Covax mechanism), that is, its vaccines should not be distributed for political reasons (with few exceptions and droppers).

Donald Trump and the two Presidents Bush headed governments where there was the greatest attention in the region.

The Bushes understood the economic importance and potential of the region.

Jeff Bush, the second son of former President George HW Bush, was the governor of Florida and is married to a beloved Mexican citizen, and family relationships always help that, to become more familiar.

Trump, in his adventures of the Miss Universe pageants around the world and the success of the Venezuelan candidates - plus the sale of some vacation club projects -, knew part of the attractions of the region.

In his administration, Trump also understood the Hispanic importance to achieve the electoral victory in Florida, which was, until the triumph of Biden, the jewel in the crown in the Electoral College (but ask Al Gore).

The Biden government has had serious crises to handle these months, especially in the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the migration crisis.

In this sense, the effort of looking at Latin America with the visit of Secretary of State Antony Blinken is appreciated.

Unfortunately, the region needs more than a wink from the US: it needs investment, more trade and greater cooperation.

It is always good to take a step, especially when it is in the right direction, but with the security challenges and economic crisis in the region, we need much more than a few steps, even if they are in the right direction.