拉丁美洲有两个明显的政治/外交挑战突显出来：古巴即将到来的转变或继承危机，该地区“两种左派”力量的持续上升，其中一种是由委内瑞拉总统雨果·查韦斯代表的左派，另一种是由巴西影响力不断增强的总统卢拉·达席尔瓦所代表的左派。
Two distinct political/diplomatic challenges stand out: Cuba’s imminent transition or succession crisis, and the continuing ascent of the region’s “two lefts,” one represented by Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez and the other by Brazil’s increasingly influential President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.