Interesting story of Kerry and Latin America

[karynnj]

There is an anecdote circulating in Washington. It is about a meeting between the Colombian foreign minister Bermudez and the president of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, senator John Kerry. It was the dawn of the Obama administration. It was a rough meeting. Senator Kerry made clear to Bermudez that there was a new game in town and that scandals such as the euphemistically called false positives - the kidnapping and killing of almost 2000 innocent young men by members of the Army - would not be tolerated. Colombian officials present at the meeting paled, and Bermudez kept his gaze fixed at the floor. In Bogota, the perception is that with the Obama administration the mood in Washington changed dramatically. Gone were the days of great cultural and political tuning between Uribe and Bush. Gone the days in which glorious reports reached the desks of the State Department and the Pentagon. For Washington's changed attitude, in Colombia many blame the democrats and Obama himself.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aldo-civico/washington-and-the-colomb_b_594836.html

This is the John Kerry I wanted as President and then, not getting that, wanted as Secretary of State. Honduras and the selection of Clinton make me less certain that the US position has turned as much as Kerry is said to have said in this op-ed.