The Foreign Service Journal, November 2007

N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 49 uring the past year, a period described by The Economist as “The Battle For Latin America’s Soul,” the U.S. Agency for International Develop- ment attempted to reform the devel- opment assistance process while also linking it more closely to America’s strategic interests, both short- and long-term. In parallel, the Millennium Challenge Account, a Bush administration initiative to reward countries that meet certain criteria, has taken off and often works side-by-side with USAID. During the same period, American politicians approved legislation mandating the construction of expensive, high- tech barriers to keep mostly poor Mexicans from entering the United States. Hundreds and even thousands of miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, rural Mexicans and Central Americans languish amid lack of economic opportunity. Virtually untouched by the new opportunities created else- where by the North American Free Trade Agreement and other free trade measures, they are driven to make the per- ilous trip north in search of a livelihood. This confluence of political, economic and social trends must be better understood if the United States is to succeed in making development “transformational,” as called for by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. An evaluation of these trends points to the need for a fundamental revision of our country’s role in the region — specifically, a serious redou- bling of our commitment to economic development in order to stem the migration flow, encourage democratic participa- tion in a globalized world, and reclaim our influence in the hemisphere. Solving the Migration Issue Much emphasis has been placed on the two aspects of migration as Americans view it: how to handle the legal sta- tus of the immigrants currently living in the U.S. and how to secure the border to keep future migrants out. Largely left out of this debate is any discussion of our long-term vision. If one believes that reducing the flow of migrants — espe- cially illegal migrants — from the south is a desirable goal, is there a systematic way to achieve that reduction without spending billions of dollars building a wall, alienating a close friend and neighbor, and maintaining indefinitely what would have to be one of the world’s most sophisticated secu- rity apparatuses? The most important statistic in the U.S. migration debate is one that is rarely heard: the border between the U.S. and Mexico, where per capita income is only a fourth of that of the United States, represents the world’s greatest absolute income disparity line. The absolute difference in average income between the two countries is greater than it is along any other land border in the world. Until this disparity is sig- A M ARSHALL P LAN FOR L ATIN A MERICA T HERE MUST BE A FUNDAMENTAL REVISION OF OUR COUNTRY ’ S ROLE IF WE ARE TO MAKE DEVELOPMENT — AND DIPLOMACY — TRULY “ TRANSFORMATIONAL .” D B Y G EOFFREY C HALMERS Geoffrey Chalmers has worked for USAID since 2001, spe- cializing in development programs in the area of economic development (with a focus on micro/small enterprises and microfinance). He currently serves in Mexico City. The views expressed here are the author’s own and not necessar- ily those of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. embassy in Mexico or the U.S. government.