A few small requests for Barack Obama…
No doubt the President-elect has a lot on his plate right now, and everyone and their dog wants to give him suggestions. Let me just say that a new report from the Brookings Institute titled Re-Thinking U.S.-Latin American Relations provides some pretty good suggestions on where to go from here. The report was written by a group of men led by former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo and former U.S. Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering. The editor’s summary is here, and the full report (PDF) is here.
Some of the highlights…
- 30% of U.S. oil imports come from Latina America and the Carribean. The authors suggest putting emphasis on sustainable energy supplies to increase energy security throughout the region.
- Much like the OLLAS Report on Immigration in Nebraska mentioned on this blog a month ago, the report concludes that immigrants provide a net benefit to the U.S. in the form of spending and taxes.
- Modify the U.S.’s stance on Cuba by lifting the embargo that has been removing the Castro brothers from power for the last 50 years and allow Americans to travel to the island.
There is much more to the report concerning topics such as trade deals, the visa system, and the “war” on drugs, to name a few. If you have the time, it’s worth a read. And if not, hey, at least you read this.
