U.S. hopefuls turn attention to Latin America

Demographic changes driving vote-seekers to Hispanic arena

WASHINGTON — Courting the burgeoning Hispanic vote in the United States, the presidential candidates are looking southward, vowing to take Latin America off the political backburner but differing sharply on how to do it.

In recent days, Democratic front-runner Barack Obama and John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, have given major policy speeches on Latin America. They have promised to pay more heed to the oft-neglected region that has been largely ignored over the past seven years as President Bush focused on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But the candidates have clashed over how to improve relations with the United States' southern neighbors, differing over such thorny issues as whether to normalize relations with Cuba and how aggressively to pursue trade liberalization.

This year, both parties are aggressively wooing Hispanic voters, many of whom retain strong ties to Latin America. Of the 45 million Latinos living in the U.S., 71 percent have their family roots in Mexico or Central America. READ MORE

By BENNETT ROTH - Houston Chronicle