Obama's First Foreign Trip

In February 2001, President Bush chose to travel to Mexico to meet with President Vincente Fox as his first official foreign visit. The “Cowboy Talks” between Fox and Bush in February 2001 were a symbol of the new administration’s dedication to working with Latin America on resolving mutual issues (the past three presidents all chose Canada as their first official foreign visit). In Latin America, the meeting fueled the hope that an era of collaboration and mutual respect between the United States and Latin America was at hand.

Recently, the Obama transition team announced that Obama would travel to Canada for his first official foreign visit, returning to the tradition established by earlier presidents. While U.S.-Canadian relations are important, I would have liked to see Obama pick Mexico for his first visit given the importance of several issues, such as: immigration, drug trafficking, and U.S. prestige within Latin America. After eight years of neglect, Washington needs to start paying attention to Latin America - a move that could be signaled by making Mexico the first official visit of the 44th President.