FACTBOX: Obama's policies on Latin America
(Reuters) - Here are President-elect Barack Obama's main policies on Latin America as laid out during the election campaign:
DIPLOMACY - Obama plans to rebuild ties with Latin America he says were neglected by the Bush administration because of its "myopic" focus on Iraq, which reduced U.S. influence and credibility and created a vacuum that was then filled by the rise of anti-American leaders. He promises a less confrontational style.
TRADE - Obama has opposed a pending free trade agreement with Colombia for failing to address violence against labor leaders. He talks of fair trade rather than free trade and wants to amend the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico to protect U.S. jobs with improved labor and environmental safeguards. Experts say Obama, like former President Bill Clinton, will likely back free trade once in power.
CUBA - Obama would reverse Bush's policies and grant Cuban Americans unrestricted rights to visit Cuba and send cash to their families there. But he would maintain the 46-year-old trade embargo as leverage to foster a democratic transition. Obama has said he is open to talks with Cuban leader Raul Castro, but it is not clear on what conditions.
VENEZUELA - Obama wants to engage Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in "respectful" dialogue to try to reduce the anti-American sentiment Chavez has stirred in Latin America. He will maintain Venezuela as a major U.S. oil supplier.
COLOMBIA - Obama supports the continuation of U.S.-funded programs for fighting drug-smuggling gangs and Marxist guerrillas in Colombia. He has backed Colombia's right to strike at rebels who seek safe-haven outside its borders, like the March raid on a FARC guerrilla camp in Ecuador.
MEXICO - Obama backs U.S. help to fight drug trafficking and violent crime in Mexico and Central America.
IMMIGRATION - Obama backed building a 670-mile (1,070-km) fence on the U.S.-Mexico border to keep illegal migrants out, but he favors immigration reform that could help undocumented foreign workers.
ETHANOL - Obama has backed a tariff on U.S. imports of ethanol from Brazil, the world's largest producer of the crop-based fuel. The tariff is popular in U.S. grain states.
SPECIAL ENVOY - Obama, who has never visited Latin America, would appoint a special envoy to establish fluid contacts with the region's leaders, a post eliminated by Bush.
DEBT - Obama supports debt forgiveness for poor countries such as Bolivia, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras and Paraguay.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle in Washington; Editing by Kieran Murray)
