The Mantra Obama

I was walking down the street today and noticed a sign promoting Eduardo Noriega for the 2010 Senatorial elections that resembled someone familiar....

 

Not all of his poses look like this, but I think they chose this pic for a reason. Eduardo Noriega, who has fifty-one (though he doesn't look it) years of being a lawyer under his belt has "dedicated his whole life to public service and looks to shake things up by having more diversity in the media and mass communication." This instantly reminded me of the six Brazilian candidates in 2008 who adopted the name "Barack Obama" to try and cash in on the world's Obamamania. This demonstrates that despite being the big, bad Yankee promoting U.S. military use of 7 Colombian military bases, the mantra Obama still has some serious shine here in Colombia. 

Whenever I've talked about the military base issue, most Colombians have been quicker to fault President Uribe, rather than Obama. While almost all give him credit for helping bring the security situation under control, many are quick to point out his neglect for constitutionality, human rights, or a number of other issues. Though it seems like every Colombian I've asked is against it, opinion polls favor Uribe in the upcoming May 30 referendum to see if he can be elected for a 3rd term.

Si Se Puede: The Obama effect

One of the ways folks often verify the effects of public diplomacy on foreign publics is through public opinion polling. The most extensive public opinion poll for Latin America is the annual Latinobarometro poll, which can be viewed here (The Economist's breakdown of it).

My favorite section is how leaders of other countries are perceived throughout the region. This year, Obama bumped the popular populist, Brazil's Lula da Silva from the top spot. I'd attribute Obama's popularity to his speeches at the Summit of the Americas (in March) expressing shared responsibility, multilateralism and equal partnership in Hemispheric issues; he was also quite skillful in addressing past mistakes in U.S.-Latin America policy. The thawing of U.S. Cuba relations was no doubt another factor as Obama's popularity has also contributed to a resurgence of favorable opinions of the United States itself, up to 74% from 58% last year. 

Despite these positive stats, the majority of South Americans (mainly Argentines) I talk to seem to regard Obama with "guarded optimism" and the United States with historical suspicion of Yankee Imperialism. At least they can recognize some difference between the two; now if we could only begin to change their preconceived notions regarding American tourists....