He said a lot more than he is being given due credit for by your biased columnist.
" The stakes could not be higher. It is time for us to recognize that the future security and prosperity of the United States is fundamentally tied to the future of the Americas. If we don't turn away from the policies of the past, then we won't be able to shape the future. The Bush Administration has offered no clear vision for this future, and neither has John McCain.
So we face a clear choice in this election. We can continue as a bystander, or we can lead the hemisphere into the 21st century. And when I am President of the United States, we will choose to lead.
It's time for a new alliance of the Americas. After eight years of the failed policies of the past, we need new leadership for the future. After decades pressing for top-down reform, we need an agenda that advances democracy, security, and opportunity from the bottom up. So my policy towards the Americas will be guided by the simple principle that what's good for the people of the Americas is good for the United States. That means measuring success not just through agreements among governments, but also through the hopes of the child in the favelas of Rio, the security for the policeman in Mexico City, and the answered cries of political prisoners heard from jails in Havana."
The rest of his actual speech can be found here. I think if you will read it, you will find that your reference author has filtered it through a pretty sour filter, straining out an altered version and leaving behind what was best about it, for reasons which only he can explain to you.
But unless you take the trouble to understand the source materials, do me a favor and don't just flog these piss-poor altered versions of sour interpretation around. Stick to what is actually being communicated, assuming you can understand it.