More stories from the back-yard

Some recent steps by Juan Santos, the president of Colombia, which he has made toward China are causing concerns in the US and are putting pressure on the Congress to finally pass the free trade agreement (FTA) with Colombia. Maybe this is exactly what Santos is aiming for when he's playing that game, after all. But his moves which got a lot of recent publicity should be put in the actual context of his larger attempts to diversify Colombia's foreign policy options. So this shouldn't be under-estimated. It's yet another block from the back-yard fence which the US generally takes for granted but has to keep maintaining, should it avoid finding itself in a uncomfortable situation where they'd have to step in again (hello, Costa Rica?)

( So let's sprinkle some context into this )