During his first months in the White House, in January 2001, George Walker Bush announced his intention of moving closer to the countries of Latin America, with a view to helping them to find the new path that would lead them to development and progress. Bush enthusiastically proclaimed the advent of the ‘New American Century’ for the entire continent of Amerigo Vespucci. The Latin American countries, however, remained sceptical of this declaration. A few months later North American promises were set aside following the 11 September attacks, the global war on terrorism was under way and the American President’s attention was focused on the Middle East. The ‘New American Century’ looked like a programme to promote and reinforce United States supremacy on the international scene.

During the second Bush administration, Latin America was still a region of secondary importance for American foreign policy. Several months before he was due to leave the White House, Bush undertook a round of visits to five Latin American countries: Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Brazil and Uruguay. Rather than to fulfil the failed promises of his first mandate, these visits had two principal objectives. The first was to counter the influence of the Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez throughout the region. It was furthermore an opportunity for the White House to distract media attention from problems in Iraq, and buy time to carry out a review of American strategy in the Middle East.

This article analyses foreign policy manoeuvres in relation to Latin America during the Bush era (2002-08). It examines first the Monroe Doctrine, guiding principle of North American diplomacy in the southern hemisphere for more than 180 years. It then looks at the four main lines of action undertaken by the Bush Administration: the war on terrorism and drug trafficking, free-trade agreements, energy resources and immigration.