[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 40 (Thursday, March 8, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2895-S2897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             LATIN AMERICA

  Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, later today, President Bush will start on a 
6-day visit to five countries in the Western Hemisphere: Brazil, 
Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico.
  The trip comes at an important time for the region and for U.S. 
relations with our hemispheric neighbors. In an historic convergence, 
during a 13-month period beginning in November 2005 and ending this 
past December, a dozen countries throughout Latin America and the 
Caribbean held Presidential elections. Those elections are a testament 
to the tremendous democratic strides made throughout the Americas 
during the past two decades and saw governments elected to power that 
span the ideological spectrum.
  In many ways, the election results symbolize the important political, 
economic, and social change occurring throughout the Americas. As many 
have noted, the elections gave voice to a yearning across the 
hemisphere for social and economic development--a yearning among tens 
of millions of people for a better life. This is a welcome development 
and a challenge to all of us who wish to see the Americas continue down 
a path of democracy with justice, because, while we should welcome this 
democratic call for change, we must recognize that hard and steady work 
lies ahead to make these hopes a reality.
  That a desire for fundamental change has been expressed through the 
ballot box is an enormous stride forward. Too often, change in the 
Americas has occurred in an anti-democratic fashion. Those days must 
permanently be put to rest. All citizens of the Americas have a 
fundamental right to live in freedom and to express themselves through 
robust democratic institutions.
  That a desire for expanded prosperity has been given such clear voice 
raises the stakes. Governments must now do more to address the basic 
needs and aspirations of their people in an effective, democratic, and 
sustainable way. A failure to fulfill the most basic functions of 
government, and a failure to create the conditions in which tens of 
millions across the Americas can realize their hopes and break free of 
poverty could undo these gains. The denial of opportunity is now the 
most significant threat to the consolidation of democracy in the 
region.
  Unfortunately, the elections and this desire for change have occurred 
at a time when U.S. prestige and influence have fallen to depths not 
seen in at

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least a generation. As has been the case throughout the world, our 
standing in the Americas has suffered as a result of the misguided 
policies and actions of the Bush administration. It will take 
significant work to repair the damage wrought by 6 years of neglect and 
mismanagement of relations.
  The United States can ill afford this deterioration of our standing. 
With each passing day, we draw closer together to our neighbors to the 
south. This convergence creates new challenges, but it also opens the 
door to a more hopeful future. If we pay careful attention to 
developments throughout the region and respond to them in a thoughtful 
and respectful way, then we can advance our many and varied national 
interests at stake in the Americas.
  I welcome the President's decision to travel to five important 
countries in Latin America, and to reaffirm the importance of our 
relationship with the more than 500 million people who live to our 
south. I am, however, disappointed that the President has fallen so 
short in his promise to transform U.S. relations with the Americas. Our 
regional relationships cannot be properly attended to with one 6-day 
trip, a series of photo opportunities, and some lofty rhetoric on 
collaboration.
  Nor does the Bush administration's declaration of 2007 as the year of 
engagement with the Americas suffice. One year of engagement out of 
seven is simply not good enough. In light of the Bush administration's 
woeful record, creating false expectations does more harm than good. We 
must be realistic about the challenges we face, and what we are doing 
to address them. We must devote our full time and our respectful 
attention to our relations within the hemisphere.
  Earlier this week, President Bush spoke of a ``social justice'' 
agenda for the Americas. He was right to underscore the importance of 
addressing the basic needs of millions of our neighbors languishing in 
poverty. The primary responsibility for doing so, of course, lies with 
the governments and societies throughout the hemisphere. Yet helping to 
lift people out of widespread poverty is in our interests, just as it 
is in accord with our values. When instability spreads to our south, 
our security and economic interests are at risk. When our neighbors 
suffer, all of the Americas suffer.
  The United States has an important role to play. Yet the President 
sends a mixed message when he makes his call for a social justice 
agenda after presenting the Congress with a budget for fiscal year 2008 
that, with the exception of HIV/AIDS funding, slashes both assistance 
for economic development and health programs in the Americas. At a time 
when our standing in the hemisphere is so low, we cannot afford to send 
this kind of message. Our commitment to justice in the Americas must be 
expressed in more than one thoughtful expression in one pre-trip 
speech. Our commitment must be matched by our deeds, not just our 
words.
  It is my hope that the President will break from his practice of 
touting the importance of the Americas during his travels only to turn 
his back upon his return.
  Each stop on the President's trip presents an opportunity to move 
beyond rhetoric, to renew relations in the hemisphere, and to set a new 
course for sustained followthrough in a way that advances important 
U.S. interests.
  In Brazil, it has been reported that President Bush is expected to 
join with President Inacio Lula de Silva to announce greater ethanol 
cooperation between the United States and Brazil. Together, the United 
States and Brazil are the world's largest ethanol producers and 
consumers. Brazil's more than 30 years of renewable fuel technology 
investments allowed it to achieve energy independence last year. 
Ethanol now accounts for 40 percent of Brazil's fuel usage. More than 
80 percent of cars sold in Brazil today are flex-fuel vehicles capable 
of running on gasoline, ethanol, or a mixture thereof.
  Greater Brazilian production of renewable fuels could boost 
sustainable economic development throughout Latin America and reshape 
the geopolitics of energy in the hemisphere, reducing the oil-driven 
influence of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. The more interhemispheric 
production and use of ethanol and other biofuels occurs, and the more 
such indigenously produced renewable fuels are used to replace fossil 
fuels, the better it is for our friends in the hemisphere.
  As it relates to our country's drive toward energy independence, it 
does not serve our national and economic security to replace imported 
oil with Brazilian ethanol. In other words, those who advocate 
replacement of US-based biofuels production with Brazilian ethanol 
exports, however well intentioned they may be, are both 
misunderstanding our long-term energy security challenge and ignoring a 
valuable foreign policy opportunity. The U.S. needs to dramatically 
expand domestic biofuels production, not embrace a short term fix that 
discourages investment in the expansion of the domestic renewable fuels 
in industry. Also, accelerating technology advances and transferring 
the technology to our neighbors in the Caribbean and South America will 
help them employ their own resources to produce environmentally clean 
ethanol to reduce their imported oil bill, thereby promoting economic 
stability in the Caribbean and South and Central America and strengthen 
the U.S.-Brazil relationship.
  It is vital that President Bush keeps the Congress involved each step 
forward in a U.S.-Brazil relationship based on renewable fuels. This 
relationship must be structured so as not to hamper the domestic 
production of renewable fuels, or the development of new technologies 
here at home that can enhance our energy security.
  In Uruguay, President Bush has the opportunity to forge closer ties 
with President Tabare Vazquez and to show that the United States is 
ready, willing, and able to work productively with democratic-left 
governments. That this ability is in question and that it requires 
explaining underscores how badly the President and his administration 
have misunderstood and mismanaged the political, economic, and social 
change occurring throughout the Americas. The United States is seen as 
supporting democracy when it produces a desired result. It is vital to 
reverse that trend. I hope the President can begin that process, even 
if we have a long way to go.
  The United States has invested a great deal--nearly $5 billion during 
the past 7 years--to help stabilize Colombia. A more peaceful, just, 
and stable Colombia is undoubtedly in our national interest. It is 
imperative, however, that greater peace and stability contribute to a 
reduction in the flow of drugs from Colombia to the United States. Thus 
far, we have not seen the kind of dropoff that the effective pursuit of 
our interests demands.
  President Bush's closest ally in the region--Colombian President 
Alvaro Uribe--is embroiled in a controversy that has led to the arrest 
of eight of his supporters in the Colombian Congress and his former 
confidant and former chief of Colombia's secret police for ties to the 
country's narco-terrorist paramilitaries. President Bush must be 
careful to keep the pursuit of U.S. interests in Colombia distinct from 
specific personalities, or personal relationships. The further 
consolidation of legitimate governing institutions in Colombia--and the 
extension of their reach throughout Colombia are clearly in the 
national interest of the United States, and the interest of Colombia.
  Guatemala shares deep connections with the United States. Nearly 1 in 
10 Guatemalans now lives in the United States. Nearly $3 billion were 
remitted from the United States to Guatemala in 2005, representing 
approximately 10 percent of that country's gross domestic product. 
Having emerged from decades of internal conflict that left as many as 
200,000 of its citizens dead, Guatemala finds itself struggling with a 
new scourge of violence that is causing instability. Gang and drug-
related criminal violence and the country's staggering levels of 
poverty pose enormous challenges--challenges that affect our country as 
well. I am encouraged to see the Bush administration's new commitment 
to supporting a Central American regional approach to combat 
transnational gangs. This initiative should incorporate the most 
effective techniques and practices from the United States and from 
throughout the region. The United States must take the lead in rolling 
back the detrimental influence of these gangs in our own society and in 
Central America.

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  The relationship between the United States and Mexico is among our 
most important in the world. Getting it right is vital to advancing our 
core economic and security interests. To do that, a great deal of work 
needs to be done. Mexico is making strong efforts to address the drug 
trade and is working cooperatively with the United States on a number 
of security issues. But our complex relationship with Mexico has become 
captive to a single issue: the immigration debate in our country.
  There is consensus that our immigration system is broken. It is past 
time to fix it, and I am proud of my own support for a workable 
solution. We need a comprehensive approach to illegal immigration that 
stops the flow of illegal immigrants across our borders, better manages 
immigration flows going forward, and deals fairly with the illegal 
immigrants already living and working in our country. A workable 
solution will require bipartisan support, and I will work to build it. 
The President has consistently voiced his support, for comprehensive 
immigration reform. It is my hope that upon his return from Mexico he 
will get to work, converting his words into deeds to help push 
comprehensive immigration reform forward.
  A great deal of work needs to be done. We need to restore U.S. 
relations in the hemisphere. We need to consolidate the gains that have 
been made in the sweeping change of the last few years. We need to 
sustain our commitment to democracy, to social justice, and to 
opportunity for our neighbors to the south. The Western Hemisphere is 
too important to our core economic and security interests to be treated 
with the neglect and mismanagement that have defined the past 6 years. 
It is my hope that President Bush's trip marks the opening of a new 
chapter of cooperation and partnership a chapter of partnership with 
our neighbors to promote democracy with social and economic development 
for the benefit of all of us who live in the Americas. It is time for 
the United States to reclaim and renew its historic role as a leader in 
the hemisphere and an example of hope for all who seek opportunity in 
the Americas.

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