On Thursday, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere held a hearing, titled "Overview of U.S. Interests in the Western Hemisphere: Opportunities and Challenges."

The two witnesses were Assistant Secretary of Western Hemisphere Affairs for the Department of State Roberta S. Jacobson and Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean Mark Feierstein.

Main points of discussion:

1. Colombia as a success story and its cooperation with other governments in the region to fight drug trafficking
2. Iranian influence in the Western Hemisphere
3. Cuba: The discussion almost exclusively focused on Alan Gross
4. Counternarcotics: Partnering with Colombia and Mexico to address drug-related
   violence in Central America; Violence related to the drug war in Mexico; Caribbean Basin Security initiative
5. Evaluation of aid impact in Haiti
6. Post-Chávez Venezuela
7. Rights of Afro-descendants and indigenous populations
8. Environmental issues: Clean energy in the region (Also included discussion on deforestation in the Amazon)
9. Trade with Mexico

In her opening testimony Assistant Secretary Jacobson said that relations were on a positive trajectory, with the U.S. focused on fostering economic growth, citizen security, clean energy and strengthening democracy. Secretary Jacobson told the committee that the Obama administration's overall approach to Latin America "is as much about seizing opportunities as it is about countering threats."

Feierstein focused on the shift USAID has made in the region by increasingly working with institutions from the recipient country's government so they may generate revenue for themselves as well as closely working with the private sector. He mentioned the need to focus on crime prevention and investing in youth development. He also noted, "In much of Latin America and the Caribbean, we are well on our way to achieving the USAID goal of largely graduating countries in the region from foreign assistance by 2030."

Chairman of the subcommittee Matt Salmon's (R-AZ) opening statement can be found here and Ranking Member Albio Sires'(D-NJ) can be found here.

Colombia as a model

Several of the subcommittee members heralded Colombia as the region's main success story. Medellin was singled out a couple of times, with Feierstein saying, "Medellin is a success story. It was once seen as a drug capital and just recently it was featured in the New York Times."

When asked by Rep. Trey Radel (R-FL) what the U.S. could apply to Colombia from Mexico, Jacobson underscored that there were differences in each country's specific situation (for one, Mexico is a federal system), and that there were both positive and negative lessons to be learned from Colombia.

The most interesting take-away from the discussion surrounding Colombia, however, was the topic of its training of foreign forces. (See here for a previous post on Colombian training of foreign forces)

Secretary Jacobson said a big benefit of U.S. investment in Colombia is that it now knows how to combat drug trafficking and can work with the U.S. in the hemisphere. She noted that the Colombians have trained over 14,000 forces from 25 countries, saying, "they know how to do things better than us." She also highlighted that Colombians are working with Central American governments to combat drug traffickers as well as working with the Mexican government to train police and helicopter pilots, among other initiatives.

Both witnesses reiterated the U.S. government's support for the peace process, saying it was willing to do whatever necessary to facilitate a successful outcome.

Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY) pushed hard about what the State Department and USAID were doing to promote the rights of Afro-Colombians and indigenous groups in the more geographically isolated regions of the country like Chocó and Tumaco. Jacobson noted that economic assistance to Afro-Colombians has been increased, but that there was a long way to go in terms of improving security and economic opportunity. Feierstein noted the Santos administration's strides to increase equality with the victims law and land redistribution law, which USAID helped to draft.

Iranian influence in the hemisphere

Several members of the subcommittee brought up Iranian influence in the Western Hemisphere, most notably, Ranking Member Albio Sires (D-NJ), Rep. Rep. Trey Radel (R-FL) and Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC). They expressed concern over Iran's economic agreements with several countries in the hemisphere, especially Venezuela, as well as the truth commission that Argentine legislators have approved to investigate the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires. The commission would be made up by experts from other countries and allow them to travel to Iran for investigations. The Iranian Parliament has not yet approved the commission.

Jacobson acknowledged that the State Department is monitoring the threat, because "anything is possible," but did not give a sense of urgency. She noted that she is continually working with the intelligence community to monitor the threat and that the State Department will release a report on Iran's influence in the hemisphere in June. The Assistant Secretary mentioned the State Department is working with governments in the region to evaluate Iran's influence, making sure they understand how the U.S. views the situation, sharing information when it can, and teaching other governments how to best monitor the Iran and Hezbollah at their request.

This has been a reoccurring topic in the House in recently, with the passage of a bill in 2012,"Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere," that President Obama signed into law on December 28, and a report earlier this year, "A Line in the Sand: Countering Crime, Violence and Terror at the Southwest Border," detailing Iran and Hezbollah's increased presence in the region.

Venezuela post-Hugo Chávez

Although the topic wasn't discussed at length, a couple of members questioned what the U.S.' role would be in ensuring elections in the event of Hugo Chávez's death or resignation.

Jacobson echoed what the standard State Department line has been: that it supports democracy in the country and the Venezuelan people's right to decide their future within the guidelines of the constitution. Feierstein noted that USAID has programs to support civil society and support human rights groups that work with elections. Rep. Albio Sires mentioned that improving relations with Venezuela would be beneficial, as it is the world's 4th-largest producer of petroleum.

Cuba

Alan Gross was the main focus of all discussion with regards to Cuba. Rep. Theodore E. Deutch (D-FL) emphatically pushed Jacobson on what the State Department was doing to get him out, expressing disbelief that even mutual allies, such as the Vatican, were unable to help.

Jacobson said that the U.S. views this as a humanitarian issue, noting that Gross' mother is currently fighting cancer and lost his daughter to cancer, amid concern over his own health. The Assistant Secretary later noted that the Cuban government has repeatedly refused U.S. requests for a doctor of the Gross family's choosing to see Alan Gross.

The issue of American fugitives seeking refuge in Cuba, like the case of Joanne Chesimard, was also brought up. Jacobson reiterated several times that the U.S.' goal is to ultimately allow Cubans to "make their own decisions."

Mexican Drug Cartels

Del. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (American Samoa) was the only member to ask about Mexico's drug cartels, mentioning the problem of high demand for drugs in the U.S. as well as the problem of U.S. guns showing up at the majority of Mexican crime scenes.

Jacobson admitted that there was a shared responsibility in the fight against drug trafficking. She noted that the Obama administration has put more money towards drugs and that the demand side is improving.

As for Mexico, Jacobson said that the increased pressure on the cartels has noticeably inhibited their ability to operate and has increased their operation costs. She also cited the main problem that resulted from the previous administration's strategy to target kingpins: the fragmentation of large cartels into smaller groups. Jacobson noted that the U.S.' goal is to coordinate with Mexican security forces to lower drug trafficking and violence to levels within police control.

Haiti

Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY) questioned Feierstein about the USAID mission in Haiti, particularly given Haitian President Martelly's recent comments that relief efforts were uncoordinated and undermining his government and that he wants the money to stop coming in and fix the relief process. He noted that 250,000 Haitians still remain in tent camps.

Feierstein responded by noting that the number of Haitians living in camps is currently around 300,000, down from the 1.5 million when the effort started three years ago. He stressed that the number one priority for USAID is job creation. Noting that without that, or the installation of health or education services, people are unable to move to new housing. He said it was a long-term challenge, but USAID has a long-term plan in place.

Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI)

When asked by Rep. Meeks if the CBSI was a success or failure, Jacobson said "the jury is still out" on the success of the initiative and that there is certainly work to be done. She noted increased cooperation between governments and improved judicial reform. To this end, she mentioned both Canada and the United Kingdom's contribution of extra legislators to work on judicial reforms.

Mark Feierstein said USAID is working on three main objectives in the Caribbean:

1. Support efforts to expand education and employment opportunities

2. Working on the juvenile judicial process

3. Community policing, which they have had the most success with, particularly in Jamaica.

He also mentioned in his testimony that Los Angeles officials had trained officials from Central American governments.

A video of the hearing in its entirety can be seen here.

For more detailed notes on the hearing see a previous Just the Facts post. According to WOLA's Adam Isacson, several topics were left out of the hearing:

• There was no mention, apart from Colombia’s role as a training country, of bi-lateral or regional military involvement or strategy.
• Other than Salmon’s closing remarks, nothing was said about the border or border security.
• Nothing was said about immigration reform.
• There was nothing said about Central American immigrants, it was as if the committee members present believed that everyone in this country who is a Hispanic immigrant has come from either Mexico out of fear of the drug cartels, or from Cuba, out of fear of being repressed.
• Although violence caused by narco-trafficking and organized criminal activity was mentioned, nothing was said about US domestic gun reform and the potential impact that could have on violence in Central America.
• While crop-transitions were mentioned for current farmers of coca, nothing was mentioned about the UN’s recent decriminalization of traditional uses of the coca leaf in Bolivia.

Seven out of eleven subcommittee members attended the event, not including the chairman, Matt Salmon (R-AZ).

From the majority:
Rep. Jeff Duncan (SC)
Rep. Ron DeSantis (FL)
Rep. Trey Radel (FL)

From the minority:
Rep. Albio Sires (NJ), Ranking Member
Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (NY)
Rep. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (AS)
Rep. Theodore E. Deutch (FL)

The following is a round-up of some of the top news highlights from around the region this week.

Mexico

Human Rights Watch released a report, "Mexico's Disappeared: The Enduring Cost of a Crisis Ignored," documenting Mexican security forces' participation in forced disappearances. The report's findings were alarming and highlighted Mexico's police problem. As analyst James Bosworth notes, "The number of police abuses listed in this report - including illegal detentions, corruption and collusion with organized crime - is incredibly high and much worse than the military abuses." It also underscores the failures of country's judicial system, noting that prosecutors delay or avoid investigations. Some of the reports findings include:

Security forces were involved in 149 of the 249 cases of forced disappearances investigated.
• None of the 249 cases investigated by HRW have led to a conviction in a court of law.
• In 54 cases of force disappearance, the Mexican Army, Navy or Federal Police were involved. Local police were involved in about 40 percent of the 249 cases.
• The number of those disappeared under former President Felipe Calderón, previously thought to be 25,000, is actually 27,000.

The HRW report comes on the heels of a civil society group identifying Acapulco in the Guerrero state as Mexico's most violent municipality in 2012. Of those included on the list of the most violent municipalities in the country, five out of the top twenty were located in Guerrero.

The Guerrero state has also seen a growth in the widely debated "self-defense" vigilante groups. This week the Associated Press reported the first killing of a suspect by one such group, while El Universal claims it was the second. Animal Politico offers a good interactive map of the vigilante groups.

El Chapo Guzman, head of Sinaloa Cartel

Authorities are investigating whether a shootout occurred in the Guatemalan department of Petén last night that resulted in the death of El Chapo Guzman, head of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel and Latin America's biggest drug trafficker. According to Insight Crime, the country’s Interior Minister Mauricio Lopez confirmed that there had been two confrontations, while a Guatemalan army spokesman said there was no sign that a shootout had occurred at one of the sites. Lopez said one of the dead allegedly "looked like" El Chapo, however reports of what happened remain confused. The Insight Crime article provides good analysis of what the news-- albeit likely false, according to the website-- would mean for Mexico.

Colombia

Colombian NGO Somos Defensores reported that 2012 was the deadliest year in the past decade for human rights activists in Colombia. According to the group, one human rights advocate was attacked every 20 hours and one was killed every five days, reported news website Colombia Reports. Semana magazine has an infographic on the data.

A good article in Christian Science Monitor looks at the recent wave of FARC attacks and its impact on peace talks between the government and the rebel group, which began a new round on Monday. According to the article, "the fact that negotiations have withstood the strain is a promising sign of the strength of the process, analysts say."

Colombia's ELN rebel group announced that it was working with the FARC to fight natural resource-mining mega projects together in the Antioquia department. The announcement, posted on the ELN's website, says that leaders of the two groups met in early February and decided "to keep fighting against mega projects including mining exploitation, large dams for hydropower and monocultivation of woods and agro fuels that impoverish people and the environment."

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights released its annual Human Rights report on Colombia today. The document highlights continued concerns about attacks on human rights defenders, military jurisdiction over crimes committed against civilians by soldiers, impunity for human rights violations and the ongoing threat of neo-paramilitaries. It praises the current peace process in Havana and the passage and beginning steps of implementation of the Victims Law.

Honduras

The former head of Honduran police, General Ricardo Ramirez del Cid, accused police and military officers for his son's murder last Sunday. Officials said the teenager was killed by gang members, however, Ramirez claimed corrupt security force members killed his son in a failed kidnap attempt.

Honduran newspaper El Heraldo reported an alarming statistic that more than 60,000 murders committed over the past ten years in the country have yet to be investigated.

El Salvador

Given reports of a recent increase in revenge killings between rival gangs, there are concerns that the gang truce between the MS-13 and the 18th Street gangs could be breaking down. According to Insight Crime, "recent killings had seen the murder rate creep up to an average of 6.6 a day since the start of this year, up from 5.3 at the end of 2012. However, the rate still remains far below the average of 14 murders a day registered before the truce."

Costa Rica

The Associated Press put out an article on Monday looking at U.S. counternarcotics assistance to Costa Rica. Although the country's crime levels remain the second-lowest in Central America (after Nicaragua), in recent years the country has seen a spike in crime due to its increasing involvement in the drug trade. To counter this trend, "Costa Rica's conservative government has proposed looser wiretapping laws, easier confiscation of suspect assets and quicker approval of U.S. warships docking in Costa Rican ports," reports the AP.

The article notes that the U.S. spent over $18.4 million in direct security aid to Costa Rica in 2012. It also continues to equip the army-less country with gear such as night vision goggles, provides law enforcement with training and invested in a $2m satellite and radio communications station on the Pacific Coast linked to the U.S. anti-drug command in Key West.

Cuba

On Wednesday, a seven-member delegation of U.S. congressmen traveled to Cuba and met with imprisoned American contractor Alan Gross and with Cuban President Raúl Castro to discuss improving bilateral relations.

A senior official in the Obama administration said there is "a pretty clear case" for Cuba to be removed from the State Department's "state sponsors of terrorism" list (which includes Syria, Sudan and Iran), according to the Boston Globe. The article mentions that while Congress must vote on whether or not to lift the embargo, the Obama administration can act unilaterally to remove Cuba from the terrorist list, which has been a key obstacle to negotiations with the Castro government. Both the White House and State Department have denied they are considering removing Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terror.

Caricom meeting in Haiti

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder attended a summit in Haiti of the 15-member Caribbean Community, known as Caricom. The discussion centered on crime and security concerns, but the main point of media coverage surrounded gun control. The group asked for the United States’ help in ensuring an international arms treaty included provisions dealing with small arms. "It is the small arms and ammunition which do the most damage in the Caricom region," said Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, which is in charge of security issues within the bloc.

U.S. in the region

United States Southern Command leader John Kelly visited Panama this week and met with President Ricardo Martinelli, Minister of Public Security Jose Mulino, and the directors of Panama's National Aeronaval Service (SENAN), National Border Service (SENAFRONT), and the Panamanian National Police. He then spent two days in Guatemala to meet with senior government and security officials. This was General Kelly's second trip to Central America this year.

This post was written by John Lindsay-Poland from the Fellowship of Reconciliation. The original article can be found on the FOR blog.

The Pentagon signed $444 million in non-fuel contracts for purchases and services in Latin America and the Caribbean during the 2012 fiscal year, an overall decrease of nearly 15% from the previous year. But US military spending in the region is still considerably higher than during the George W. Bush administration, when the equivalent Pentagon spending in Latin America averaged $301 million a year.

FOR conducted an analysis of Defense Department contracts listed on usaspending.gov for Fiscal Year 2012, building on the review we did last year.

More than a third of funds for these contracts in the region are being carried out in Cuba, with $158 million for housing upgrades, intelligence analysis, port operations and other services. The United States maintains the Guantanamo naval base in Cuba, site of the 11-year-old detention center that holds 171 prisoners without trial, many of whom have been cleared for release.

An additional $130 million in Pentagon contracts was for fuel purchases, including more than $44 million in Brazil, $35 million in Costa Rica, and $24 million in Honduras. Such fuel purchases supply the Fourth Fleet of the Navy, as well as military aircraft and land vehicles used in exercises, operations, and training.

Colombia remained the country with the largest amount of Pentagon contracts in continental Latin America, with $77 million. A multi-year contract shared by Raytheon and Lockheed for training, equipment and other drug war activities accounted for more than a third of Pentagon contract spending in Colombia. Honduras, which has become a hub for Pentagon operations in Central America, is the site for more than $43 million in non-fuel contracts signed last year.

The US Southern Command (SouthCom), responsible for US military activities in Central and South America and the Caribbean, is assisting the Panamanian border police, known as SENAFRONT, by upgrading a building in the SENAFRONT compound. The force was implicated in killings of indigenous protesters (PDF) in Bocas del Toro in 2011, and fired indiscriminately with live ammunition (PDF) on Afro-Caribbean protesters last October.

Many countries that host US military activities hope to receive economic benefits and jobs as a result. But more than five of every six Pentagon dollars contracted for services and goods in the region went to US-based companies. Only nine percent of the $574.4 million in Pentagon contracts signed in 2012 (including fuel contracts) were with firms in the country where the work was to be carried out. In the Caribbean, there were virtually no local companies that benefitted from the $245 million in Defense Department contracts.

A few corporations dominated Pentagon contracts in the region. CSC Applied Technologies, based in Fort Worth, Texas, received more than $53 million in contracts to operate the Navy’s underwater military testing facility in the Bahamas. Lockheed Martin received more than $40 million in contracts, almost entirely for drug war training, equipment and services in Colombia and Mexico.

Pentagon Focus on Guatemala

Although the Pentagon spent less in most Latin American countries in 2012 than the year before, DOD contracts have more than doubled since 2010 in Guatemala, where there is a ban on most State Department-channeled military aid to the army. However, the ban does not apply to Defense Department assistance. The contracts for nearly $14 million in 2012 amount to more than seven times what it was in 2009. In addition, the US military spent another $8.1 million on fuel in Guatemala last year, probably for “Beyond the Horizon” military exercises held there and in Honduras from April to July, and perhaps to support the deployment of 200 Marines to Guatemala in August.

The contracts included new assistance to the Guatemalan special forces, known as Kaibiles, former members of which have been implicated in giving training to the Zetas drug cartel, as well as the worst atrocities during the genocide period of the 1980s. Two contracts, funded by SouthCom and signed in September, were for a “shoot house” and “improvements” at the Kaibiles training base in Poptun, Petén.

SouthCom also funded a contract for construction of a new $3 million counter-drug base in Santa Ana de Berlin, in Quetzaltenango. This year, SouthCom is slated to build a $1.8 million counternarcotics operations center and barracks in Mantanitas, Guatemala, according to an Army Corps of Engineers presentation.

The expenditures included equipment. For the last two years, SouthCom has been providing Boston whaler boats, radios, and tactical vehicles (Jeeps) to Central American militaries. Guatemala is receiving more of the equipment than other countries in the region – 47 Jeeps and 8 Boston whalers, according to a SouthCom document. SouthCom signed a $2.5 million contract in September for Jeeps for Guatemala, and it has purchased more than $2.8 million of Harris military radios for Guatemala since September 2011.

Department of Defense contracts, summaries of which are posted on usaspending.gov, only represent a portion of Pentagon spending. A report to Congress last April (PDF) of Defense Department assistance worldwide showed more than $15 million in military aid to Guatemala in 2010, including $9 million for intelligence analysis, training, boats, trucks, night vision devices, and a “base of operations.” These funds also included more than $6 million of unspecified support for Guatemalan police operations in Cobán, in the Guatemalan highland department of Alta Verapaz.  The report didn’t include data after 2010.

On December 7, the Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency signed a $1.4 million contract with a Guatemalan firm to manage a 10,000-barrel supply of turbine fuel for the next five years in Puerto Quetzal, on Guatemala’s southern coast. This followed a July 2012 solicitation to deliver 63,000 gallons of jet fuel to another southern Guatemalan site, in Retalhuleu.

FOR compiled data on the “country of performance” for contracts. For Guatemala, we also examined data on additional contracts that reference the country, which included a $2.5 million contract signed in late September with a Chrysler distributor to deliver tactical vehicles – some of the Jeeps slated for the country. The US Army also purchased $7.6 million worth of trousers from a producer in Guatemala in 2012.

“Mini-Bases”

Some legislation for DOD drug war construction of bases and other infrastructure limits projects to $2 million, and the Southern Command continues to employ this authority frequently to construct a variety of facilities all over the Americas. Here are some of the facilities the US military is constructing around Latin America.

Below is a compilation of news highlights and happenings from around the region this past week.

A U.S. delegation traveled to Trinidad and Tobago for the Caribbean-United States Security Cooperation Dialogue, marking the third year of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative(CBSI). At the meeting the U.S. announced a $3.43 million assistance program to combat illicit trafficking in firearms as part of CBSI.

On November 30 the U.S. Congress passed the "Jaime Zapata Border Enforcement Security Task Force Act," also known as H.R.915, a bill which seeks to create a new border security task force within the Department of Homeland Security. The new entity, the Border Enforcement Security Task Force, to be known as BEST, will be comprised of personnel from several U.S. security agencies, including the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Coast Guard, and FBI, as well as agents from Mexico's public security entity, the Secretaria de Seguridad Publica (SSP).

Cuba

The case of development worker Alan Gross continues to be a sore note between U.S.-Cuba bilateral relations as this Tuesday marked the third year of his imprisonment. The Department of State released a statement Monday asking the Cuban Government to allow Gross to visit his ailing mother, while the Senate submitted a resolution calling for his immediate and unconditional release. Members of the U.S government have expressed concerns about his health, which the Cuban government claims are false, saying that Gross has received medical care and does not have cancer.

State Department officials asserted it is unlikely that the U.S will trade Gross for the release of five Cuban intelligence agents -- known as the Cuban Five -- who are currently serving treason and espionage charges in a Florida prison, saying the two cases are unrelated.

Mexico

On Saturday Enrique Peña Nieto was sworn in as Mexico's new president, amid a mass protesting against the return of the once autocratic Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Several analysts have weighed in on how his presidency will impact U.S.-Mexican relations, with many focusing on enhanced economic cooperation between the two nations.

Much of the media attention in Mexico has focused on the violence that took place during the inaugural event. At least 100 protesters were injured during the protest. Police in Mexico City are now being questioned about their role in the violence. The Federal District’s human rights commission (CDHDF) reports that officers dressed in civilian clothes were responsible for the arrest of many protesters. So far the CDHDF has documented the arrest of 22 people who were not involved in the violence and four more who maybe have been tortured. Mexico City's new mayor was also sworn in this week amid the capital's controversy. Amnesty International has set up a support page for victims of the police violence.

Analyst James Bosworth offers a concise, interesting comparison on his blog between the security policies of former Mexican President Felipe Calderón and former Colombian President Alvaró Uribe and the implications for the countries' current leadership with regards to security.

Colombia

Peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC resumed in Havana on Wednesday after negotiators took a break last week and following an air strike over the weekend near the Ecuadorian border in which Colombian forces killed at least 20 FARC guerrillas, the largest blow to the group since the talks began. President Santos set a deadline for November of 2013 for the talks saying, "This has to be a process of months, rather than years."

The guerrilla group made comments earlier this week that is was still holding "prisoners of war," causing backlash from the government, and particularly its lead negotiator Humberto de la Calle, saying, "The FARC has to respond to the victims, it has to clarify this issue of kidnapping, the way to deal with the issue of kidnapping is not with ambiguities." Two other FARC negotiators denied the claims.

Entire Region

Mercosur is meeting today in Brazil. It is the first time that Venezuela will be participating as a full member while Bolivia and Ecuador's incorporation as full members will be discussed. Brazil anticipates that Paraguay's suspension from the group following the June impeachment/ousting of its president will stand until August 2013. Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, who has returned home following 10 days of cancer treatments in Cuba, will not be attending the trade bloc summit, causing concern over his health status, which some analysts say might affect the outcome of the December 16 gubernatorial elections.

Central America

A Los Angeles Times article offers a picture of the U.S.' expanding security role in Central America as the region faces increasing levels of gang violence, where homicide rates in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras significantly top those of Mexico and where government corruption hinders security initiatives. Gangs in Guatemala and other Latin American countries have begun to demand Christmas bonuses from bus drivers, asking for twice as much in monthly extortion fees.

In a feature on shifting illegal immigration trends, ProPublica notes that the rising number of Central American migrants making their way into the United States to flee violence and poverty means security on Mexico's southern border is becoming a priority for officials in Washington as well as Mexico City.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a US$45 million loan to El Salvador to implement the Central American nation’s new social youth violence prevention project. “According to several studies, more than one in every ten dollars generated by the Salvadoran economy is absorbed by the cost of crime and violence,” the ISDB's project leader said.

In Honduras, a recent Supreme Court ruling deeming the cleaning up of corrupt police force unconstitutional adds another barrier to the country’s law enforcement reform. In response, President Lobo called the Supreme court the "enemy of the state" and that the police cleanup will continue."

A report released Monday, which shows 149 people have died at the hands of the Honduran Police in the last 23 months, was used to denounce the ruling.

President Barack Obama was re-elected Tuesday night, winning over 300 electoral votes and the popular vote by 2.6 million over Republican candidate Mitt Romney. Romney led the popular vote for most of the night, until western states like California closed their polls and counted their ballots. In the end, Obama handily took the electoral college with 303 vote to Romney's 206 and the popular vote with a narrow margin of victory, winning 50% of the vote to Romney's 48%.

Tuesday's election was historic in the United States for several reasons -- marijuana was legalized in two U.S. states, same-sex marriage was passed in another three -- but also of particular note was the increase in the Hispanic electorate's importance. President Obama won just over 70% of the Latino vote, compared to Romney's 27%, ensuring his slight victory in a number of battleground states like Colorado, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Nevada.

Leading up to the election, many analysts, politicians and voters were disillusioned that Latin America was noticeably absent from both candidates campaigns, especially in relation to issues such as the Mexican drug war that has claimed some 60,000 lives since 2006, the re-election of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, the Cuban embargo and Brazil's growing economic presence.

Before the election took place, regional analysts and leaders, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, El Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes and OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, said they expected few changes with regards to U.S. policy in the region, regardless of the outcome.

Reactions to President Obama's victory throughout the region held a similar tone. There was a general consensus that Obama was the preferred victor of the two candidates, but that the region expected more attention and cooperation from his administration in the next four years.

Aside from the usual congratulatory messages, many leaders took the opportunity to voice their concerns over a domestic problem that reverberates throughout the region -- immigration reform -- reminding Obama that he owed a large part of his victory to Latinos.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos congratulated President Obama saying his re-election was "good news for Colombia," and noting that now the two countries can "continue to work in cooperation, with the same proposals and objectives and getting results."

Colombian Vice President Angelino Garzón also applauded Obama's re-election as something "positive for the United States and Colombia," but said President Obama had to fulfill his obligation to the international community and the region as a whole, which "expected more" from him. Garzón highlighted the contentious immigrant situation in the U.S., saying "It's good to point out that Colombian immigrant workers have rights that must be respected, human rights, including the right to have American citizenship and residence."

Ecuador's deputy foreign minister, Marco Albuja, echoed these sentiments on Twitter, asking Obama to "always remember the transcendental latino vote." He added that he hoped the new administration would pass immigration reform to "find a definitive solution to the more than 10 million people in [the US] without a defined migrant status."

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, who showed his support for President Obama during the campaign, extended his congratulations, calling Obama "an extraordinary person," but also commenting that he expected little change because "the foreign policy of the United States is inertial and they will need many years to change it.... Everything will practically be the same in Latin America."

Paraguay also weighed in on the immigration issue with Foreign Minister José Félix Fernández Estigarribia pressing Obama to recognize that "part of his win he owes to our Latin American compatriots," and he hoped "President Obama contributes to improving relations with [the rest of] Latin America and to solving the latino immigration problem."

For Honduras, President Porfirio Lobo's government, which enjoyed strong support by Obama in its 2011 election following a contentious 2009 coup, said it did not expect "much change in general relations with the United States," but secretary of planning, Julio Raudales, did comment that "Obama's reelection is good news." Former Honduran President Ricardo Maduro told local television he hoped Obama would focus his attention "towards the south."

Bolivian President Evo Morales had a more critical response to Obama's re-election. After condemning the U.S. electoral process, he suggested Obama settle the score with Latino voters by doing away with the Cuban embargo. He also took a jab at Obama's refusal to extradite Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, a former president accused of corruption and genocide in Bolivia.

"He was reelected thanks to latinos and the best thing he could do to recognize their vote is end the embargo in Cuba," Morales said. "If he wants to dignify his government, it would be important to stop protecting delinquents that escape from many countries, Bolivia included."

With respect to the country's economy, the Bolivian leader gave little clout to the U.S. election, saying "who wins in the United States does not affect the Bolivian people... We should export but [the US] market cannot define our political economy."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has not commented since the election, but during the campaign he said that if he were an American, he would vote for Obama, although he later said he did not expect much change in U.S. foreign policy.

Cuban President Raul Castro has also yet to publicly respond, however Cuban state-run news website CubaSi reiterated the general feeling of indifference, saying "The news of Barack Obama's triumph in yesterday's general elections in the United States was received with some relief and without great optimism."

Argentine President Cristina Kirchner congratulated President Obama with a letter and also via Twitter, adding that it is "his turn" to "take his place in the history of his people and the world," and assume his "role as global leader to overcome this political and economic crisis."

In this election the Republican Party, as it is wont to do, adopted a more aggressive stance towards the region, particularly with regards to leftist governments, that signaled a possible unwelcome return to the diplomacy of Bush's presidency. Across the board, there was more a sense of relief that Romney lost than excitement that Obama won.

While in practice the policy differences might have been marginal, a Romney presidency would likely have included bellicose rhetoric towards Venezuela and Cuba and potentially cause greater political polarization in the hemisphere, as Inter-American Dialogue president Michael Shifter noted most recently in Foreign Policy magazine.

As Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas points out in the Miami Herald, there are several pending situations could force a change in the region's political and economic landscape, pulling more attention to it, such as the death of Hugo Chavez, the death of Fidel Castro or his brother Raúl, the possible success of peace talks in Colombia, and China's financial growing financial involvement.

Although the issues that shifted the rhetoric away from Latin America during the campaign are still front and center-- Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, jobs, etc-- there is hope that going forward Obama will prioritize the region, and at the very least immigrants looking for a home in the United States, in his second term.

The U.S. and Colombian governments announced this week that they have reached a breakthrough on the long-stalled U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. Under the agreed upon "Action Plan," Colombia will phase in a series of steps to expand protections for unions and workers, boost the prosecution of those who violate workers' rights, and hire as many as 480 new labor inspectors over the next four years (see this Fact Sheet (PDF) for more details). Congress must still vote on the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement before it can go into effect.

At a joint press conference on Thursday, Presidents Obama and Santos formally endorsed the new agreement.

Many members of Congress took the opportunity to make statements in opposition or in support of the pending FTA and the new action plan. Links to these statements are here.

Below are some statements made by various labor and human rights organizations about the new action plan.

NGO & Labor statements

• The Latin America Working Group, U.S. Office on Colombia and Washington Office on Latin America: U.S.-Colombia FTA Action Plan Falls Short of Protecting Rights
• Human Rights Watch: US/Colombia: Rights Conditions Crucial for Trade Deal
• AFL-CIO: AFL-CIO Remains Opposed to Colombia Trade Deal
• TransAfrica Forum: Action Plan with Colombia Does Not Resolve Ongoing Human Rights Crisis
• The White House-compiled Statements of Support for the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement from the business community and advocacy groups
• United Steelworkers: USW Joins Colombian Unions in Opposition to Proposed FTA

72 bodies have been removed from mass graves in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Investigations are ongoing, however it is suspected that there is a link between the bodies and the dozens of individuals who have been pulled off long-distance commercial buses in recent weeks. The graves were found in the area surrounding the city of San Fernando, where the bodies of 72 massacred Central American migrants were found in August 2010.

On Wednesday, thousands of Mexicans took to the streets in at least two dozen cities to call for an end to the violence in Mexico after the son of poet Javier Sicilia was found dead along with six other people, whose bodies were accompanied by a note signed by the Gulf cartel. Protestors called for the Mexican Army to return to the barracks and the end of President Calderón's "poorly designed, poorly managed, and poorly led" campaign against the country's drug cartels and organized crime.

Javier Sicilia told reporters, "The mafias are here. We should make a pact," an idea which was discussed by Time reporter Ioan Grillo in the article, "Should Mexico Call for a Cease-Fire with Drug Cartels?".

The Ecuadorian government declared U.S. Ambassador Heather Hodges "persona non grata" and expelled her from the country over a diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks that accuses a "newly retired police chief of a long history of corruption and speculates that President Rafael Correa was aware of it." Ambassador Hodges' expulsion was announced by Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino at a news conference (video here). Upon receiving the news, Hodges issued a statement saying that the order "left me saddened tremendously, both personally and for this country."

In retaliation for the expulsion of Ambassador Hodges, the United States expelled Ecuadorian Ambassador Luis Gallegos on Thursday. The State Department also announced that high-level U.S.-Ecuador talks set for this June have been suspended. As a result of this week's round of expulsions, the United States now does not have ambassadors in Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela. And Hodges has become the second U.S. ambassador to "fall victim to WikiLeaks," after Carlos Pascual resigned as ambassador to Mexico last month.

Preliminary results released by Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council indicate that Michel Martelly defeated Mirlande Manigat in the second round presidential election by more than a 2 to 1 margin. Martelly won more than 67% of the vote, however the results will not be final until April 16.

New legislation related to Latin America has been introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives over the past week:

• H.R. 1299: Secure Border Act of 2011 (introduced in a House committee April 6, 2011).
• H.R. 1217: Stop Wasting Taxpayer Money on Cuba Broadcasting Act (introduced in a House committee April 1, 2011).
• H.R. 1270: To direct the Secretary of State to designate as foreign terrorist organizations certain Mexican drug cartels, and for other purposes. (introduced in a House committee March 30, 2011).

Former President Jimmy Carter traveled to Cuba last week, where he met with President Raul Castro and Fidel Castro, among others. His trip report is here. CIP's Wayne Smith wrote a policy brief (PDF) on Carter's press conference, where the former U.S. president called "not only for ending all restrictions on the travel of American citizens to Cuba, but for an end to the trade embargo." WOLA's Geoff Thale also commented on the trip and the State Department's announcement of its "intention to obligate $20 million to support very controversial 'human rights and civil society' programs in Cuba" just two days after Carter's return.

The first round of Peru's presidential elections will be held on Sunday. According to recent polls, Ollanta Humala is forecast to win the first round and face Keiko Fujimori in the run-off.

We recently received the Department of Defense's Section 2011 Report on Training of Special Operations Forces for FY2009 (also known as the Joint Combined Exchange Training Program (JCET) report). The PDF is available here. This report provides an overall summary of section 2011 deployments for Fiscal Year 2009 and includes a summary of the type of training conducted and detailed information for each country's deployment. These training details have been added to the Just the Facts database. To see the details for each country, click on the country name in this table.

• Arturo Valenzuela, the State Department’s top Latin America official, gave a speech at the Brookings Institution Wednesday on “Latin America Relations: A Look Ahead.” While largely upbeat, Valenzuela’s text had strong words about deteriorating democratic conditions in Venezuela, and a hint that Venezuela is violating the OAS Democratic Charter.

  Particularly worrisome, among other developments, is the recent delegation of legislative authority to the executive that extended beyond the term of office of the outgoing National Assembly. This undemocratic measure violates the shared values enshrined in the Inter-American Democratic Charter, which will mark its tenth anniversary this year. We are committed to looking for ways to more effectively implement the charter as a safeguard of core democratic principles.

  Valenzuela followed this up by tweeting, “it is worrisome to see the delegation of legislative authority to the executive in a way that violates the Dem Charter.”

  Violators of the 2001 Charter are subject to suspension from OAS membership, if a special session of the body’s General Assembly votes to do so. Valenzuela gave no indication of what actions, if any, the United States might take with regard to Venezuela and the Charter.

• Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton shook hands with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez while both attended the January 1 inauguration of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. But neither the United States nor Venezuela are likely to have ambassadors in each others’ capitals anytime soon. Venezuela has maintained its rejection of U.S. Ambassador-Designate Larry Palmer, because he had told Senate questioners months ago (PDF) that “morale” in Venezuela’s armed forces “is reported to be considerably low, particularly due to politically-oriented appointments.” With the end of the 111th Congress, Palmer’s nomination expired, and State Department officials hinted on Monday that they might nominate someone else. This hint inspired an angry Washington Post editorial on Tuesday, and by Wednesday the State Department had clarified its intention to re-nominate Palmer over Chávez’s objections. For his part, Venezuela’s ambassador in Washington, Bernardo Álvarez, was sent home in December.

• Valenzuela, meanwhile, will spend next week in Argentina and Chile.

• Senators John McCain (R-Arizona) and John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) will travel next week to Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Panama.

• Brazil’s newly sworn-in president, Dilma Rousseff, wants to do something that her popular predecessor, Lula, tried and failed to do in 2009. She declared that she wants a Truth Commission to investigate (but not prosecute) human rights crimes committed by the military regime that ran Brazil between 1964 and 1985. President Rousseff’s new Secretary for Human Rights, María do Rosario, has made a Truth Commission a top priority for her office. Brazil’s military, which strongly opposed a similar proposal in 2009, didn’t help its case when a top general, Elito de Carvalho Siquiera, said “it is not cause for shame that the country had political disappearances” during the dictatorship.

• Argentina will be the destination of Rousseff’s first foreign visit, before the end of the month.

• “Border-state legislators from both parties … say they view the U.S. military presence” on U.S. soil along the Mexico border “as a long-term necessity,” according to a troubling article in Wednesday’s Washington Post.

• More than 13,000 people are estimated to have been killed by drug-related violence in Mexico in 2010, up from 9,600 in 2009.

• The Associated Press this week published detailed updates on two ambitious anti-crime programs in the Americas: “Todos Somos Juárez,” the struggling anti-crime and economic-opportunity program in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and the “Favela Pacification Program” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

• The favela program, the topic of a long post to this blog, has been covered by several articles in the English-language press over the past week.

• A bomb on a bus killed six people in Guatemala City, while gunmen killed eight people shooting up a minibus on a rural road in Olancho, Honduras. Gangs linked to organized crime are blamed for both attacks.

• In one of her first communications as chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida) scolded the State Department’s Valenzuela for “efforts by U.S. officials to pressure the Government of Honduras to absolve former President Manuel Zelaya of the criminal charges he faces.” Rep. Ros-Lehtinen’s opinion differs with that of Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, who believes that charges of corruption and abuse of power should be dropped against the ex-president, who was exiled by a June 2009 military coup.

• The Millennium Challenge Corporation, a large U.S. economic aid program founded by the Bush administration, produced its list of countries who, because they met a range of good governance criteria, are eligible to apply for assistance in 2011. Honduras and Nicaragua – both former recipients of MCC aid – are now ineligible.

• In Colombia, the FARC guerrillas set off three small bombs over five days in Neiva, a mid-sized city that is the departmental capital of Huila, in the country’s southwest. Meanwhile discussions of the logistics for the FARC’s promised release of five long-held hostages are proceeding with extreme slowness.

• Colombia’s El Espectador has a very good piece on the Alto Naya paramilitary massacre of at least 46 people, which took place nearly 10 years ago, in April 2001. Last year, violence killed at least 21 non-combatants in the Alto Naya zone, which sits on a key drug-trafficking corridor along the border between Cauca and Valle del Cauca departments.

• Cuba’s almost completely state-run economy has begun to lay off 500,000 workers from government payrolls. In a country of 11,200,000 people, the impact will be staggering.

Every year, the commander of U.S. Southern Command presents a "Posture Statement" (PDF) to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees explaining how the regional unified command views threats in the region and how it plans to address them. On March 11th, General Douglas Fraser, Commander of U.S. Southern Command, presented his first annual Posture Statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee. He did the same in the House on Thursday.

General Fraser's written testimony included a lengthy section about Southcom's relief efforts in Haiti. The topic was not a point of focus during the question and answer periods of the House and Senate hearings. Instead, Iran's and Hezbollah's influence in the region, violence in Mexico, and the Venezuelan government's alleged links to the FARC came up repeatedly during both hearings.

Here are some excerpts from the Q&A portions of both the Senate and House of Representatives hearings. Testifying alongside General Fraser was General Victor Renuart, commander of U.S. Northern Command, who answered many of the questions on Mexico.

The webcasts of both hearings are available online: Senate | House

Venezuela:

Senate hearing:

Exchange between Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and General Fraser:

Senator McCain: "How do you assess the threat of the cooperation between Iran and Venezuela.... As you know last week Spain's High Court said the Venezuelan government facilitated contacts between the FARC and ETA to plan the assassination of Colombian officials visiting Spain, including President Uribe. Do you have any information on that? And other activities on the part of the Venezuelan government?"

General Fraser: "I do not have any direct information on that. We have continued to watch very closely for any connections between illicit and terrorist organization activity within the region. We have not seen any connections specifically that I can verify that there has been direct government to terrorist connection. We are concerned about it. I'm skeptical. I continue to watch for it."

Senator McCain: "You have seen evidence of relationship between the FARC and the Venezuelan government. That's been published many times."

General Fraser: "I know that there is evidence of FARC (McCain interrupts: "I mean they got the hard drives when they raided the FARC camp..."). There has been some old evidence, but I don't see that evidence and I can't tell you specifically whether that continues or not."

Exchange between Senator George LeMieux (R-FL) and General Fraser:

Senator LeMieux: "Do you consider Venezuela to be the biggest destabilizing factor in region in terms of our national security interests?"

General Fraser: "I wouldn't take it as far as the biggest destabilizing factor. They are continuing the pursuit of reducing U.S. influence in the region, and they are working with various countries and entities to try to enable that."

House hearing:

Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO) "To your knowledge is helping assistance from Venezuela coming to the FARC in Colombia? There is a group known as FARC in Colombia, are they receiving help and assistance from anyone in or out of the government in Venezuela?"

General Fraser: "We do see a long-term relationship that exists between the government of Venezuela and the FARC. That has been evidenced if we go back and look at the computer records that came out of ... the capture of that computer. That continues on. There is safe haven, there is financial logistics support, there is safe haven for the FARC provided and ... all the evidence that I have says that continues. The evidence that I have doesn't explicitly say that it is continuing, but I can't say it is explicitly not continuing... So, based on evidence up to date I would say that support still continues."

General Fraser: Venezuela "continues to have a very anti-U.S. stance and looks to try and restrict U.S. activity wherever they have the opportunity to do that. They are continuing to engage with the region, if you will, and continuing to pursue their Bolivarian socialist agenda. That continues to be a concern and they remain a destabilizing force in the region."

Iran & Hezbollah:

Senate hearing:

Senator LeMieux: "What's your focus... and the plan going forward to combat this narco-drug trafficking and do you have any concerns that with the projection of influence of Iran in the region, the idea that we know Hezbollah and Hamas have set up shop in the region, that there could be a combination between those groups and the narcotraffickers?"

General Fraser: "From a destabilizing standpoint the biggest concern I have in the region is illicit trafficking. I think it is growing as a regional issue ... and spreading to other parts of the region. Brazil is now the second largest cocaine user in the world. It is the criminal element of that, the illicit trafficking that really is my biggest concern... We are looking at illicit trafficking as a regional enterprise, not just what is effecting each individual country ... to try to understand that enterprise as a regional enterprise ... and to see if we can start squeezing that balloon effectively down."

House hearing:

Q: Is there any evidence ... that say Hezbollah has been engaged in the drug trafficking business to raise money for some of its operations in the Middle East?... Are there any reports to that effect?

General Fraser: "There have been some reports within the southern command region ... of Hezbollah starting to get engaged with illegal trafficking area, so I have that indication. It is primarily right now a focus on logistics support, financial support to their parent organizations in the Mid East."

Q: Iran being involved in Nicaragua? Building a mosque..., but sponsored by Iranian government?

General Fraser: "Iran has been engaging on a political and commercial level throughout much of Latin America. Over the last 3 to 4 years they have increased embassies from 7 to 11, going to another one this year. They have engaged very directly with Venezuela. They are also engaging consistently with Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, ... and also with now Brazil. So they are actually working across the region to engage in both a political and commercial endeavor. Our concerns are just watching to understand what those relationships are and . I don't see any evidence that they are beyond that right now. But we are very skeptical and watching that closely."

Mexico

Senate hearing:

Senator McCain: "Could you describe to me, ... in terms the American people can understand, just how dangerous is our situation on our southern border vis a vis drug cartels...and the possibility that that violence can spill over the border?"

General Renuart: "President Calderón has courageously put his military in the field to take this on where local law enforcement officials have been corrupted or intimidated.... That is not the traditional role of the Mexican military and it does put some strain on them.... As you know, the violence in places like Juárez has been substantial. I think we are close to 7,000 murders that occurred 2009....I must say, drug related murders generally were cartel on cartel, but as you know that spills over into the general public."

"I know we have had people involved who we have trained in the past and were corrupted.... I'm cautious when we talk about level of threat to the Mexican government. I think Calderón is strong and he enjoys support, ... and he is growing an interagency team that can tackle this."

Senator McCain asked General Renuart to provide for the record recommendations for what more we need to do for, including the success and failures of, the Mérida Initiative. General Renuart replied, there will be a "good news story" on law enforcement cooperation along the border."

General Renaurt: "Mérida shouldn't just be a one or two year event, but should be a cooperation over time."

House hearing:

General Renault: "One of my concerns is that Mérida was a term limited set of money... We need to expand that beyond the term limits. We request the help of Congress as we move forward... Whatever the 'son of Merida' may be, this is really an 8 to 10 year problem."

Colombia

Senate hearing

Senator Carl Levin (D-MI): Uribe is not running for a 3rd term. "Has there been a fallout from that? Is there enough time to have an appropriate election...?"

General Fraser: "There is adequate time and a number of candidates are actively running, so I am confident Colombia will be able to run a fair and equitable election."

House hearing:

General Fraser: "Our relations with Colombia are very good and they continue to grow on a continual basis. There has been over the last eight years, since 2002, roughly $5 billion of United States money invested in the fight to help support Colombia in their fight against the FARC as well as illicit trafficking.... Overall, I see our relations with Colombia as strong and I see them continuing to grow."

Cuba

Senate Hearing:

Senator McCain: "Is there any doubt that Raul Castro and Fidel Castro have been more oppressive in past year or two than they have in the past?"

General Fraser: They "I think they have continued to remain fairly strict on the populous, but I cannot quantify whether that has been more constrictive than in the past few years."

(Senator McCain proceeds to advise General Fraser to read the recent reports and testimony from various human rights organizations).

This post was written by CIP Intern Hannah Brodlie

This morning at 10:00 am the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing to examine whether to lift the travel ban to Cuba. The committee heard from those both in favor and against repealing the travel ban, and began with opening remarks by Chairman Howard L. Berman, who co-authored an article in Tuesday's Miami Herald with Senator Richard Lugar, entitled "Lift the Ban-- Let Americans visit Cuba." Rep. Berman did his best throughout the hearing to keep everyone's remarks to time, as well as keep the discussion civil, though the hearing proved to be contentious and lively, lasting just under four and a half hours.

The Committee heard testimony from six diverse witnesses (click on their name for a copy of their testimonies): General Barry R. McCaffrey, Ambassador James Cason (Former Chief of Mission, U.S. Interests Section, Havana, Cuba), Ms. Miriam Leiva (Independent Journalist and Founder, Ladies in White), Mr. Ignacio Sosa (Executive Board Member of Friends of Caritas Cubana), Ms. Berta Antunez (Sister of Former Political Prisoner Jorge Luis Garcia Perez ("Antunez") and Pro-democracy Activist), and Mr. Philip Peters (Vice President of Lexington Institute).

Below is an abbreviated play-by-play of today's hearing, "Is it Time to Lift the Ban on Travel to Cuba?". You can view a webcast of the hearing here.

In his opening remarks Chairman Berman stated, "... Let's face it. By any objective measure, the nearly fifty-year old travel ban hasn't worked... It's clearly time for a change... Letting U.S. citizens travel to Cuba is not a gift to the Castros - it's in our own national interest. Waiting for a concession from Havana before we do something on behalf of our own citizens perversely puts the Cuban government in charge of that decision."

From there however, many members of the committee expressed their strong disagreement with the Chairman's position on the issue.

Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) said that if Americans want to go to a tropical climate, instead of traveling to Cuba to give their money to the Castro regime, they ought to travel to Haiti, the Dominican Republic, or a destination within the Congresswoman's own state of Florida. Representative Shelley Berkley (D-NV) echoed these remarks, and suggested that if you want to travel, don't go to Cuba, go to Las Vegas.

In response, Representative Jeff Flake (R-AZ) said, "I was elected to be a Member of Congress, not a travel agent. American's should be able to travel wherever they want. They don't need our advice and shouldn't have to ask our permission."

Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX) asked (rhetorically) why we would ever subsidize the enemies of the United States, recalling the old Soviet Union days. Likewise, Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC) (remember: "You Lie!"?) recalled growing up during the Cold War, remembering the great threat of Fidel Castro.

Ranking Member Connie Mack (FL) emphatically expressed his continued support for the travel ban, as he had to be repeatedly reminded by the committee chairman that his time was up.

Representative Ron Klein (D-FL) asserted that we may only consider lifting the full travel ban once the Cuban government responds in kind and responds to the legitimate claims of the U.S.

In support of lifting the ban, both Representative Gregory Meeks (D-NY) and Representative Lee pointed out that Cuba is the only nation in the world where Americans are forbidden to travel by their own government. Rep. Meeks argued that it is the freedom of the American people to be able to choose where they want to go.

The Testimony:

General McCaffrey argued that our current policy doesn't work. He stated that "We've got Mr.Castro with one foot in the grave" and a "power transition looming in the current years." While he underlined the fact that tourism is not the final solution, he emphasized that "I do not believe that the Cubans are in any way a threat to our national security interests " since the actual military capability of the Cubans is almost nonexistent.

Ambassador James Casen argued against lifting the ban. Among other things, he asserted that because Cuban authorities strictly limit interactions with foreigners, no American tourist would be able to find a regular Cuban in their hotel.

Ms. Miriam Leiva announced that she and her organization fully support lifting the travel ban. She appeared at the hearing via teleconference, unfortunately accompanied by a four-second delay in transmission.

Mr. Ignacio Sosa addressed the criticism that Canadian and European tourism has thus far failed to produce any change in Cuban society. He argued that American tourists are much more likely to share cultural and demographic ties with Cubans. He promoted the pursuit of policies "that increase people to people contact."

Ms. Berta Antunez detailed her struggles, particularly the struggles of Afro-Cubans, against the Castro regime and stated that allowing American tourists to enter Cuba would only aid the Cuban government and "would be fatal for us and the space we've won for ourselves."

Mr. Philip Peters said that "conditionality has yielded no leverage for the United States." He argued that the travel ban creates divisions along ethnic lines, where one group may travel without restrictions and the rest of us may not. He also conceded the point that American travelers will not magically transform the political situation in Cuba. However, it will increase our influence at a pivotal time in Cuban history. In addition, he pointed out that the Cuban government has tried to make the U.S. a scapegoat for the failure of its own policies; reversing this policies would place the blame where it belongs: on the Cuban government.

Follow-up Questions:

A very unprofessional exchange occurred between Representative Ros-Lehtinen and General McCaffrey, when Ros. Lehtien quoted Gen. McCaffrey on intelligence and national security matters. Answering, Gen. McCaffrey pointed out that Ros-Lehtinen had failed to address him as "General," instead calling him "Mr. McCaffrey." Gen.McCaffrey said that "I'm offended by your deliberate marginalization of my viewpoints," and the exchange was mostly downhill from there. Ros-Lehtinen continued to to interrupt him, saying "I have five minutes, I can do whatever I want with my time." Gen. McCaffrey called her views silly and said they don't "represent reality."

Representative Bill Delahunt (D-MA) followed, saying "I want to go on the record and say that I consider you a great American patriot," to much applause. Rep. Delahunt then cited a letter signed by a number of major military personal, which said that "U.S. policy has not only failed in its principle objectives, but has harmed our interests across the board." Responding, Gen.McCaffrey said, "I think it's a very sensible viewpoint."

Representative Delahunt also responded to a point made by Ambassador Casen: "I had never heard the viewpoint that it would be useless [to lift the travel ban] because we don't speak Spanish and no one's gonna talk to us," and quoted the census statistic cited by Mr. Sosa, that 34.5 million Americans speak Spanish as their first language.

Representative Flake called out Ambassador Casen for assuming that American tourists who travel to Cuba "go their for rum, sex- this list of pejoratives; I think it's deeply offensive to Americans who go there for a number of reasons." He then asked Casen whether he could cite a time when we've had a travel ban that has actually fostered democracy. Incredibly, Casen answered, "Well, I don't think we have a travel ban."

Ranking Member Mack announced that he'd found the silver lining to the day's hearing: we should apply the same restrictions on travel to countries such as Iran, North Korea, and Syria, a suggestion which was not taken seriously. Mack went on to admonish Mr. Sosa for bringing racial and ethnic politics to the discussion, and for somehow suggesting that U.S. policy and the American people are to blame for the Castro regime. Mr. Sosa denied saying these things.

Representative Barbara (D-CA) Lee responded to Ranking Member Mack, asserting that the issue of race is both relevant and important to mention.

Representative Woolsey (D-CA) aptly compared the discussion to "an old song. Something we've all heard before, except it does not fit the 21st century." She then asked whether there is a difference of opinion between first and second generation Cubans? The general consensus among the witnesses was "yes."

Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) asked Gen. McCaffrey and Mr. Peters if they would help get him in to Cuba to visit political prisoners. Both men answered in the affirmative. He also brought up the issue of cop-killer JoAnne Chesimard, who killed a New Jersey state trooper in 1973 and then fled to Cuba where she has lived ever since.

Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), who supports lifting the travel ban, discussed the similarities between the struggles of African Americans in the United States and Afro-Cubans, and offered her personal support to Ms. Antunez in her non-violent struggle for human rights in Cuba.