Brookings Latin America Initiative
On May 14, the Brookings Institution announced the formation of the Partnership for the Americas Commission, a panel of eminent figures who will assess the current state of U.S. relations with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Based on this assessment, the Commission will generate a set of policy recommendations for the next U.S. president with the goal of fostering cooperation across the nations of the Western Hemisphere.
“As we prepare for a new U.S. administration, we believe it is an opportune time to take stock of the U.S.-Latin American relationship and stimulate new partnerships across a host of critical issues, including trade, poverty alleviation, immigration, security and energy,” said Strobe Talbott, president of Brookings and a member of the Partnership for the Americas Commission. “The Commission will advance recommendations and new solutions for the hemisphere. It is one of the first steps in a major new Brookings’ Latin America Initiative that will seek to sustain U.S.-Latin American engagement on the critical challenges for the hemisphere.”
The Partnership for the Americas Commission is co-chaired by former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and former U.S. Under Secretary of State Thomas R. Pickering.
"It is time to improve cooperation in our hemisphere and the Partnership for the Americas Commission seeks to provide guidance and ideas on how to re-invigorate our relationships, focus on a common agenda, and deliver solutions," Zedillo said.
“The change in the U.S. political leadership provides a critical opportunity to engage with our neighbors in Latin America constructively and cooperatively across a range of important issues. We must enhance our partnership with Latin America if we are to resolve global challenges,” added Pickering.
The Partnership for the Americas Commission will release a report in fall 2008 identifying common challenges and summarizing a diverse range of perspectives on how these challenges might be met. The Commission report will lay out recommendations to address these issues and to promote constructive engagement between the United States and the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Commission is the flagship effort of the newly established Brookings’ Latin America Initiative. Lael Brainard, Vice President and Director for Global Economy and Development at Brookings, and Carlos Pascual, Vice President and Director for Foreign Policy at Brookings, serve as the Initiative’s co-directors. Leonardo Martinez-Diaz, a scholar at Brookings, serves as the Commission’s deputy director.
Research activities for the new Latin America Initiative focus on a wide range of issues, including Cuba’s political transition, the emergence of Brazil and Mexico as regional powerhouses, trade and investment as drivers of change, strategies to tackle poverty and inequality, and the challenges that a changing world economy poses for the region.