The impending change of government in the US gives rise to the question of whether relations between Washington and the Latin American region can be rearranged. Will the southern neighbours of the US continue to have reason to feel like the backyard of the great power to the north, and will the US continue to show no interest in them? According to recent polls, the Latin American countries have hardly any priority in the concept of the US Democrats. After his election, Mr Obama talked to numerous other countries before he called Mr Uribe, Colombia’s head of state, in 36th place. And he announced that he intended to defeat his enemies, support his friends, consolidate old alliances, and forge new ones. What does that mean for Latin America?