Last week, ahead of President Obama’s meeting with the Business Roundtable, the Roundtable and the U.S. Council for International Business released a report saying that, “the success of American companies, and of the U.S. workers they employ, increasingly hinges on their success as globally engaged companies.”

Indeed, there is some optimism in Washington that President Obama, free from political constraints in his second term (i.e., Big Labor opposition to free trade), can implement a robust international trade agenda as a sure-fire way to create new jobs at home, markets for U.S. goods and services, and investment opportunities abroad.  Much of that talk is focused on action regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership and a trans-Atlantic free-trade agreement with Europe.

We have just co-authored a paper for the American Enterprise Institute — “An action plan for US policy in the Americas” — the essence of which can be distilled down to the following: Mr. President, stop ignoring Latin America!

via We need a strategic pivot to Latin America | Shadow Government.