Skip to main content
Support
Article

<center><b>In Their Own Words:</b> <br>United States Presidential Candidates on Latin America</center>

In light of the unparalleled interest around the world in the outcome of the 2008 U. S. presidential election, the staff of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Latin American Program has prepared a collection of policy statements from the campaigns of Senators John McCain and Barack Obama on a series of topics relevant to Latin America. This compendium covers the following topics: Free Trade and Development; The War on Drugs and Hemispheric Security; Human Rights; Mexico; Immigration; Democratic Governance, Populism, and the "New Left"; and Cuba. Latin American Program staff have written brief introductions for each topic. The document then includes relevant excerpts from debates, interviews, official policy statements, articles, etc. Wherever possible, we have provided a link to the original statement. We will continue to update this collection throughout the remaining weeks of the presidential campaign.

In light of the unparalleled interest around the world in the outcome of the 2008 U. S. presidential election, the staff of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Latin American Program has prepared a collection of policy statements from the campaigns of Senators John McCain and Barack Obama on a series of topics relevant to Latin America. This compendium covers the following topics: Free Trade and Development; The War on Drugs and Hemispheric Security; Human Rights; Mexico; Immigration; Democratic Governance, Populism, and the "New Left"; and Cuba. Latin American Program staff have written brief introductions for each topic. The document then includes relevant excerpts from debates, interviews, official policy statements, articles, etc. Wherever possible, we have provided a link to the original statement. We will continue to update this collection throughout the remaining weeks of the presidential campaign.

Table of Contents
Free Trade and Development
The War on Drugs and Hemispheric Security
Human Rights
Mexico
Immigration
Democratic Governance, Populism and the "New Left"
Cuba
Appendix: Hillary Clinton
Media Resources

The Latin American Program serves as a bridge between the United States and Latin America, providing a nonpartisan forum for experts from throughout the region and the world to discuss the most critical issues facing the Hemisphere. Through its unique convening power, the Program sponsors research, conferences, and publications in order to deepen the understanding of Latin American and Caribbean politics, history, economics, and culture, as well as U.S.-Latin American relations. The Program brings pressing regional concerns to the attention of opinion leaders and policy makers, thereby contributing to more informed policy choices in Washington, D.C. and throughout the Hemisphere.

Related Program

Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more