Colombia

For those who got to know Alvaro Uribe during his eight years as Colombia’s President it was evident that he would, in his words, “work, work, work” until the last minute of his last day in office. Slowing down and walking quietly into the sunset wouldn’t have been his thing.

President Obama says he wants to double U.S. exports in five years as part of his plan to generate new jobs. It is an admirable and ambitious goal, but, to put it mildly, many trade experts are not buying it.

The last time the United States doubled its trade it took three times as long. From 1994 to 2009, according to Department of Commerce data, the value of U.S. exports of goods and services increased 97 percent.

U.S. policy toward Latin America is suffering from a lack of experience at the top. Neither President Obama nor Vice President Biden or anyone in the cabinet could honestly be considered a Latin Americanist. And Arturo Valenzuela, Obama's nominee for assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs -- the top diplomatic post in the region -- remains unconfirmed, the victim of a Republican senator's cheap political maneuvering.

One base is closed, a replacement is sought and suddenly South America is up in arms. Presidents of Brazil and Chile, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Michelle Bachelet, are troubled by the idea. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warns about potential war. And South America leaders call an extraordinary summit to demand explanations.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon seems to be losing his battle against organized crime. In the last two and half years, mob violence has claimed the lives of 12,000 people, and now even some within Calderon's own party are questioning the president's response to the problem.

In an interview last month with BBC television, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe could not conceal his exasperation. Yet the interviewer had asked a legitimate and seemingly harmless question: "Do you want to be president four more years?"

"Next question, amigo," Uribe told the Argentine journalist conducting the interview. "Study the history of your country and leave Colombian democracy alone."

In the midst of the swine flu outbreak, President Obama heeded the advice of his health officials and did not close the U.S. border with Mexico. "From their perspective, it would be akin to closing the barn door after the horses are out," he said in a press conference commemorating his 100th day in office.