Whining When Leadership Is Needed

Adam Isacson does a great service by not merely linking to, but also translating this article by Colombian journalist, Claudia Lopez about the recent petulance displayed by Colombian Vice President, Francisco Santos with regard to the fact that the departure of the Bush administration leaves the Uribe administration without a rubber stamp bff in the White House.

This part is especially accurate:

Those news make apparent the shameful contrast bewteen [sic] Brazilian and Colombian foreign policy. Thanks to the former, Brazil will become the United States’ strategic partner in the region, and thanks to the second Colombia will be it no longer. Brazil will take on this role for obvious reasons. Because it is the 10th-largest economy on the planet, the most stable and progressive democracy on the continent, the only one with a world-class foreign ministry and president, a player with regional and global leadership.

Brazil's diplomats are without peer in Latin America and arguably among the most skilled and savvy in the world. What's more, Lula had amicable relations with the Bush administration, although they did not rise to the lapdog level that the Uribe administration had with Bush.

She also does a great job of calling them out here:

If you want to be treated like statesmen, behave like statesmen. Stop asking, stamping your feet and threatening. Take the initiative, propose things and keep your word. Develop a bilateral agenda that incorporates both countries’ issues, interests and concerns, and propose specific goals within specific time periods.

The sad thing is it appears that they have no concept of diplomacy. They just want what they want when they want it and then become puerile when they get the slightest pushback.