VivirLatino

While Americans might be preoccupied with saving sea lions in the Galapagos, it seems that as a country we aren’t very concerned about our neighbors to the South. A new Zogby poll shows that in spite of the fact that there are now more Latinos than ever living in the U.S., nobody seems to care about Latin America: only 7% of the surveyed public thought Latin America was the most important region for the United States. Spain’s El Pais reports that according to this survey, the average citizen “sees Latin America negatively and through the lens of immigration”.

Which region was the most important? The Middle East, with 43% of respondents, followed by Southeast Asia with 20% and Europe with 12%.

We don’t seem to care about Canada either. Fritz Wenzel of Zogby International sums it up: “Because of the closeness, perhaps the results are surprising. It’s as if Americans were looking to the East and to the West but not North or South.”

Nope, we only seem to care when there are financial interests involved.

Interestingly, poll results show that most Americans think Venezuela has the most pull in the region. Don’t tell Hugo Chavez, it might go to his head!