On the face of it, the new interest that President George W Bush has shown in themes like social welfare and energy co-operation ought to be welcomed. Mr Bush’s recognition that significant numbers of Latin Americans have been excluded from the benefits of globalisation represents an important first step in developing a policy that can counter the appeal of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s populism in poorer parts of the region. His enthusiasm for a new energy alliance with Brazil is also a policy that has strong potential.

Indeed, these are precisely the areas that the US needs to prioritise in order to develop a more ”positive agenda” towards the region, one of the recommendations of a perceptive report on US policy towards Venezuela published recently by Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue.