US congressional approval of the Central American Free Trade Agreement; the election of a pro-US candidate to the presidency of the Inter-American Development Bank; and last Thursday - at a meeting between Presidents George W. Bush and Álvaro Uribe - signs of an even stronger and more durable relationship between the US and Colombia, its key ally in the Americas.

The US, it seems, is regaining its diplomatic touch in a region where Washington's prestige and influence has been recently at a low ebb. However, there is much to do and little indication yet that the administration has devised a strategy to cope with the growing influence of Venezuela's radical nationalist president, Hugo Chávez.