Washington Disputes Weakened Influence in Latin America

(The Wall Street Journal) - Washington has long seen Latin America as its "backyard," a region where American diplomats often interfered in local politics and even helped topple governments. But a raft of political disputes in Washington and the region left many countries without a US ambassador and weakened American clout.

This week, Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who is the ranking member of a Senate subcommittee that oversees the region, plans to hold a confirmation hearing Tuesday on a number of the posts and give the State Department an ultimatum -- change some of its key policies or face blocks against some diplomats from going abroad.

Rubio, who is Cuban-American, says he wants to bargain with the Obama administration on promoting democracy, especially in Cuba, and will use the diplomats as leverage to get concessions there like stricter travel restrictions to the island. Rubio also says Washington should be doing more to defend democratic institutions he says are under threat in countries like Nicaragua and Venezuela.

"All nominations in the Western Hemisphere I reserve the right to object to," Rubio said in a recent interview. "The administration has long neglected Latin America. Too often America agrees with stability over democracy."

The White House countered that it had "restored US standing and leadership in the Americas" and that further efforts to do so "would be strengthened by the Senate acting to confirm all pending Western Hemisphere-related nominees."

Republican lawmakers have been blocking many of the Obama administration's Latin American nominations for three years, saying the White House is being soft on hostile left-wing leaders.

Other ambassadors have been caught up in disputes between the US and host countries. Six countries in the hemisphere do not have ambassadors -- Barbados, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Uruguay and Venezuela, whose anti-US leader, Hugo Chavez, is up for re-election.

The region's top post -- a State Department job that oversees the entire Western Hemisphere -- has been temporarily filled by assistant secretary Roberta Jacobson since May, when Arturo Valenzuela left the post to return to academia. Jacobson also is waiting to be confirmed.

While nominations to diplomatic posts have long been used as a political football, analysts say the Latin America situation is stark -- no other region has as many vacancies.

The Republican strategy has left many in the US government perplexed about how to engage the vast territory. Even in countries where relations are frayed, ambassadors usually have links to the local president's office and Washington policymakers, influencing everything from business disputes to elections. Embassies without ambassadors are usually led by diplomats called charges d'affaires, but they only serve on a temporary basis.

"Obviously, embassies continue to work on important issues without an ambassador," a senior US government official close to the case said. "But not having an ambassador muffles our voice. There are things that need to be spoken about. The bully pulpit just isn't as effective without an ambassador."

President Barack Obama's struggle to get ambassadors into Latin America is the latest setback for an administration that promised more attention to the region after a period when many saw it neglected following the post-Sept. 11 demands of the Middle East.

Read more: The Wall Street Journal