America's best friend in Latin America is Colombian president Alvaro Uribe.

America's best friend in Latin America is Colombian president Alvaro Uribe. He has brought more prosperity and stability to his country than any other leader in recent memory. He also offers an important regional counterweight to the ambitions of Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez. Congressional Democrats nevertheless have delayed a foreign-aid package that would help Colombia, as well as a free-trade agreement that would benefit both countries. They justify their coolness toward Uribe by citing Uribe's domestic foes, who have tried to link the president to outlawed paramilitary groups. Colombians themselves don't seem nearly so startled by these unsubstantiated charges--in one recent poll, according to the Washington Post, Uribe's approval rating topped 80 percent. After meeting with Uribe on his recent visit to Washington, however, Nancy Pelosi saw fit to issue a press release that scolded Uribe's human-rights record. If only she were so tough on her new friends in Syria.