[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19231-19233]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           MIGUEL ANGEL RODRIGUEZ, NEW OAS SECRETARY GENERAL

  Mr. DODD Mr. President, I had the privilege and pleasure this morning 
of attending the induction of Miguel Angel Rodriguez as the new 
Secretary General of the Organization of American States. 
Unfortunately, the only once every 5 or 6 years induction of the 
Secretary General of the OAS occurred almost at the same time we had a 
joint session of Congress with the acting Prime Minister of Iraq. It is 
unfortunate these events could not have been better coordinated, 
because I know there are many of my colleagues who would have enjoyed 
attending this very important ceremony that includes our hemisphere yet 
also felt the need to be at the joint session this morning.
  I also regret that our own President was unable to be at this 
induction ceremony. We had Presidents from Costa Rica, from Suriname, 
Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, Peru, Dominica, the Vice 
Presidents of Colombia and Panama, Foreign Ministers, and Ambassadors 
representing our neighbors in this hemisphere in a very important 
induction. It is about 300 yards from the Oval Office to the building 
of the Organization of American States. I know the President is busy 
and had other matters on his mind, maybe, this morning.
  I forgot to mention, by the way, the President of Nicaragua and the 
Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, and the Prime Minister of Saint 
Vincent and the Grenadines were there as well.
  It was an excellent speech that Miguel Angel Rodriguez, the former 
President of Costa Rica, gave this morning, talking about the 
importance of democracy and freedom and liberty, and the efforts being 
made in Latin America to secure greater democracy and greater freedoms 
for the millions of people who call the Americas their home.
  It has not been an easy time for many of these Presidents, with the 
difficulties they have faced economically and with the natural 
disasters. We just heard the eloquent comments of my friend and 
colleague from Florida about the recent devastation of his home State 
of Florida, with three hurricanes hitting his home State.
  Many of these small countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have 
faced similar problems. We know in Granada, 90 percent of the homes 
were destroyed in this country by the hurricane that passed over it. We 
know the devastation that occurred in Jamaica and the Bahamas. In 
Haiti, 650 people died just last week as a result of the hurricane 
hitting in that country. Central America, El Salvador, and Nicaragua 
are still trying to recover from the devastations that have hit them 
over the last number of years.
  We know about the economic difficulties in Argentina and the problems 
that exist in Peru. The difficulties in Colombia are ongoing.
  This is an important area of the world. I know we are preoccupied for 
all the obvious reasons with events in Iraq and Afghanistan, but Latin 
America is our neighbor. These are nations that are our closest 
neighbors, some of which have been stalwart friends of ours during 
difficult times.
  The new Secretary General spoke eloquently this morning about the 
importance of democracy and the importance of freedom in the Americas, 
and how important it is that we do everything we can to support these 
efforts, recognizing the future of these nations will depend upon 
strengthening democratic institutions in these countries.
  Democracy does not depend upon the support of the powerful. In fact, 
quite the contrary. Dictatorships, to survive, depend upon the support 
of the powerful. Democracies and freedom depend upon the support of 
those who are weaker, those who are fragile. If they fail to support 
democracy, then it doesn't make it.
  At a time such as this, it is important that we pay attention to the 
words of our friends and neighbors in this hemisphere, particularly the 
words this morning so eloquently delivered by Miguel Angel Rodriguez at 
his induction as the new Secretary General of the Organization of 
American States. I know several of our House colleagues were there. My 
colleague from Minnesota was there, the chairman of the subcommittee on 
Latin American affairs, which is the Subcommittee on Western 
Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Narcotics Affairs. I thank him for being 
there. So we had some representation from both the House and this body 
for this induction ceremony.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the eloquent speech given 
by Miguel Angel Rodriguez be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                         The America of Freedom

       His Excellency Abel Pacheco de la Espriella, President of 
     the Republic of Costa Rica;
       His Excellency Runaldo Ronald Venetiaan, President of the 
     Republic of Suriname;
       His Excellency Oscar Berger, President of the Republic of 
     Guatemala;
       His Excellency Ricardo Maduro, President of the Republic of 
     Honduras;
       His Excellency Elias Antonio Saca, President of the 
     Republic of El Salvador;
       His Excellency Boniface Alexandre, President of the 
     Republic of Haiti;
       His Excellency Baldwin Spencer, Prime Minister of Antigua 
     and Barbuda;
       His Excellency Enrique Bolanos, President of the Republic 
     of Nicaragua;
       His Excellency Ralph E. Gonsalves, Prime Minister of Saint 
     Vincent and the Grenadines;
       His Excellency Alejandro Toledo, President of the Republic 
     of Peru;
       His Excellency Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of 
     Dominica;
       His Excellency Francisco Santos, Vice President of 
     Colombia;
       His Excellency Samuel Lewis Navarro, Vice President of 
     Panama;
       Ministers of Foreign Affairs and members of official 
     delegations;
       Ambassador Carmen Marina Gutierrez, Chair of the Permanent 
     Council;
       Mr. Assistant Secretary General;
       Ambassadors, Permanent Representatives;
       Ambassadors;
       Dignitaries that honor us with your presence;
       Distinguished First Ladies;
       Distinguished guests;
       Ladies and Gentlemen:
       The long journey of men and women in search of freedom led 
     them to the promised land of the Americas. Here the ideals of 
     thinkers and poets, the worries of farmers and artisans, the 
     hopes of young and old caused nations to flourish, gave rise 
     to constitutions and the proclamation of rights,

[[Page 19232]]

     and forged progress. Independence came with the smell, color, 
     and shape of freedom. Battles were waged against a system 
     that allowed slavery and control over land and Indians, 
     against segregation and male chauvinism, exclusion and 
     privilege. The seeds of freedom, justice, and solidarity were 
     sown, irrigated with blood and fertilized with intelligence 
     and the tenacity of women and men, farmers and professionals, 
     youth and adults of all races and origins.
       We have learned along the way that freedom is forged and 
     dignity exercised through concrete works. And step by step, 
     through trial and error, and by taking up where we left off, 
     we have gradually built our democracies.
       We have come so far that we feel encouraged to continue our 
     journey. The fact that so much remains to be achieved morally 
     obliges us to do our utmost.
       In this twenty-first century, inspired by the values we 
     share, imbued with the ideals of our forefathers, and 
     outraged by the pain of poverty, inequity, and exclusion, we 
     women and men of the Americas must redouble our efforts to 
     expedite the achievement and full exercise of human freedom 
     and dignity.
       Day after day we see the world changing at an amazing pace. 
     Our Hemisphere, now as never before, is part of the dizzying 
     and unsuspected challenges emerging from the globalization 
     that has come to stay, with all the hopes it harbors for 
     freedom and now no longer isolated development opportunities, 
     as well as with its challenges and difficulties.
       Since inertia is not a fitting response, we must have the 
     courage to take up, with creativity and responsibility based 
     on our common values and the abundance of cultural diversity 
     that is the hallmark of the Americas, the challenge of 
     transforming globalization into a great leveler of the 
     inequalities among peoples.
       The leveling needed must be economic and social so as to 
     distribute the benefits of development more equally among and 
     within countries. It must also be political, in order to 
     deepen democracy. To bring about transparent governments and 
     enterprises. To punish the corrupt. To respect indigenous 
     cultures. To ensure gender equality. To guarantee unqualified 
     respect for human rights.
       As the ultimate expression of our freedom and dignity, 
     human rights must not only be recognized and declared. They 
     need to be effectively protected. For that, it is essential 
     to respect the rule of law at the national level and to 
     strengthen that guarantee which transcends national borders, 
     namely the inter-American human rights system. Its success 
     and the favorable impact it has had on behalf of citizens are 
     eloquently manifested in the demand it has generated among 
     the women and men of the Americas. We urgently need to expand 
     its capacity to meet that demand and to promote its autonomy; 
     to find ways to finance it as a full-time instrument, to 
     achieve its universal acceptance, better coordination among 
     its organs, and resolute political support for compliance 
     with the decisions those organs take in their respective 
     spheres of competence.
       The political organization of freedom is democracy. Through 
     intelligent debate and free and tolerant participation, it 
     enables us make public decisions based on a majority view and 
     to freely elect our governors, with checks and balances to 
     protect the rights of all. In that manner, in peace and with 
     the humility that comes from acknowledging our ignorance, 
     democracy allows us to feel our way, correct mistakes, and 
     continue making headway, combining our efforts to find the 
     compromises that bring us closer to more just conditions.
       Democracy is always fragile, because it does not rely on 
     the strength of the powerful. It is based on legitimacy, 
     which comes from respecting the rules of the game, and on the 
     opportunity for change to come about peacefully, because 
     democracy allows today's political minorities to become 
     majorities tomorrow. Because we wish to live in freedom, our 
     Inter-American Democratic Charter has made living in a 
     democracy a human right for all women and men in the 
     Americas. Our challenge is to achieve the equilibrium needed 
     for the OAS to guarantee this right without prejudice to the 
     right of peoples to self-determination and nonintervention. 
     National sovereignty, a value we proudly share, rests upon 
     those foundations, which, in today's world, require the 
     existence of full democracies.
       Nourishing, stimulating, and protecting democracy poses 
     numerous demands. We need strong and transparent political 
     parties that allow different interest groups to join together 
     in building national positions and that engage in open 
     dialogue with individuals, other parties, and institutions of 
     civil society. Means of communication free to investigate, 
     inform, and debate. Honest, accountable governments, with as 
     few discretionary powers as possible, bound by the 
     Constitution and the law, and subject to review by the 
     courts. Governments which respect the separation of powers, 
     the assignment of spheres of competence, and the existence of 
     local political authorities and organized social groups. We 
     need citizens who actively participate in public life. 
     Politicians who regard public office as an opportunity to 
     serve, not as a pretext for perks.
       The Organization and the member states have made 
     considerable headway toward consolidating fundamental 
     democratic values, as we have seen in recent months. While 
     respecting self-determination and sovereignty and engaging in 
     constructive multilateral dialogue, we will continue acting 
     to ensure that the lights of liberty and democracy shine 
     throughout the Hemisphere. The Organization's activities in 
     this key area need to be institutionalized in order for it to 
     coordinate, preserve, and further enrich the experience it 
     has acquired, which is why we have already proceeded to 
     create the Department of Democratic and Political Affairs and 
     the Office of Political Affairs, Ethics, and Transparency.
       We take heart at the consensus now emerging about 
     democracy. Parties differ today not about democracy or 
     autocracy, liberty or communism. In almost all America that 
     debate has been superseded. Today's political debate focuses 
     on other issues. How best to provide public services. The 
     most appropriate economic and social policies. Where best to 
     raise and spend public funds. This new emphasis in political 
     discourse, focusing on the quality of a family's evening 
     meal, education and health, peace in communities, the decency 
     of work and of wages, and the opportunities for savings, 
     investment, and enterprise--in short, the everyday 
     ingredients of citizens' lives--represents an enormously 
     important change that must be reflected in a strengthening of 
     the democratic system.
       With the emphasis now squarely placed on citizens' well-
     being, with democratic freedom and with responsible ongoing 
     action, today the foremost challenge for the peoples of the 
     Americas is to rid ourselves of the shackles of poverty, 
     inequity, and exclusion.
       Em cada nacao estamos chamados i cracao de riqueza e bem-
     estar. A Organizcao interamericana nao pode ser indiferente 
     ante a pobreza e o subdesenvolvimento.
       History teaches us that freedom is the best tool for 
     construction and progress. Free exchanges, incentives to 
     create wealth, property rights respected by all, freedom to 
     enter into contracts and partnerships, and the enforcement of 
     contractual agreements are essential for creativity, 
     competitiveness, and increases in output.
       We know that, to generate the wealth needed to overcome 
     poverty, we require institutions and prudent fiscal, 
     monetary, credit, exchange-rate, and foreign-trade policies 
     that promote macroeconomic stability, productivity, 
     competition, and the liberalization of our economies. We also 
     need to improve infrastructure, promote access to science and 
     technology, and protect the environment.
       For this free creativity to succeed in bringing benefits 
     for all, for economic growth to be shared, we need free 
     markets; we need to prevent, by means of the rule of law, the 
     misuse of power and privilege; and we need governments that 
     guarantee competition, promote competitiveness, and provide 
     training and support for the most vulnerable so that they can 
     avail themselves of opportunities. Thus we need strong and 
     efficient governments, collecting, by fair means, sufficient 
     taxes to finance their tasks and establishing an economic and 
     social order that eliminates poverty, inequity, and 
     exclusion.
       Irrespective of its theological or philosophical 
     underpinnings for individuals or countries, in America we 
     have chosen to make solidarity an essential value of our life 
     in society--but it urgently needs to materialize. For the 
     sake of that solidarity, it is important to promote the 
     training of human capital through efficient social policies, 
     with no place for corruption or patronage. This is where 
     policies of a universal nature, such as health and the 
     priority that must be given to education as the principal 
     instrument for individual advancement, social equity, and 
     civilized coexistence, combine with policies of a specific 
     nature, targeting families needing special attention to help 
     them take advantage of opportunities.
       Hemispheric cooperation must include designing economic and 
     social policies that promote integral development. Trade and 
     integration, cooperation and partnership among peoples, and 
     the sharing of best practices in government policies and 
     services are tasks that the Summits of the Americas have 
     brought to the OAS, and for which we need to strengthen 
     coordination among all the international agencies working in 
     these fields in the Hemisphere. I am deeply grateful to the 
     heads of the Inter-American Development Bank, the Inter-
     American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, and the 
     Pan American Health Organization, as well as the Economic 
     Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the United 
     Nations Development Programme, for the profound conviction 
     and commitment they have shown with respect to this proposal. 
     As a result, we have already met on two occasions to join 
     forces in this task, which we hope in the future to extend to 
     other international entities whose presence here testifies to 
     their commitment to the well-being of the women and men of 
     the Americas.
       A Hemisphere united in the quest for shared growth that 
     will enable us to be rid of poverty, inequity, and exclusion, 
     a Hemisphere that aspires to transform globalization into a 
     politically, economically, and socially equalizing factor, 
     cannot leave behind

[[Page 19233]]

     zones, regions, or countries. We must therefore evaluate the 
     implementation of mechanisms of solidarity that enable us to 
     foster greater cohesion and integral, shared development.
       Only thus, bound together in our shared determination, will 
     we be able to meet our moral obligation to tackle poverty. 
     Two hundred years ago, one of our fellow nations rose up as a 
     pioneer for liberty and against inequality, poverty, and 
     discrimination. Today, the people that inspired Toussaint 
     Louverture poses a gigantic challenge to the moral conscience 
     of the Americas. In Haiti the pain of poverty is manifest in 
     all its unmitigated cruelty. The OAS must be the conscience 
     that reminds us all of the vast and prolonged effort Haiti 
     requires. Cette nation qui nous est chere a besoin de la 
     solidarite des Ameriques. Et un Continent americain solidaire 
     avec Haiti avancera vers une croissance dans la solidarite.
       The full exercise of freedom is curtailed by threats to 
     security and personal, family, and collective peace. The 
     multifaceted nature of human life means that threats lurk in 
     numerous areas. That is why we in the Americas have opted for 
     a multidimensional concept of security that the Caribbean 
     states have promoted.
       This is the defense of life, security, and peace, not only, 
     as in the past, vis-a-vis the eventuality of a conflict 
     between states, but also in the face of terrorism, drug 
     smuggling, international crime, epidemics, and natural 
     disasters that jeopardize the very existence of small states, 
     such as the hurricanes whose painful toll in human and 
     material loss is now faced--with a courage, dignity, and 
     efficiency we admire--by Grenada, Saint Vincent and the 
     Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Jamaica, Barbados, The Bahamas, and 
     Haiti, with the solidarity and support of CARICOM, and by the 
     Dominican Republic and Florida and several southern states in 
     the United States of America. To those peoples and their 
     governments, we extend our solidarity.
       A vision of the Americas as a land free from terrorism, 
     violence, and crime, from epidemics and the preventable 
     effects of natural disasters, is a dream that unites us in 
     this twenty-first century. It is a dream that requires us to 
     develop national and inter-American policies that are 
     effective and mindful of human rights. A vision that demands 
     that we share knowledge and that our nations cooperate with 
     one another in matters related to intelligence gathering, 
     improvements in our police forces, and judicial, financial, 
     health, and civil-defense systems. Current and future 
     generations demand that we move resolutely ahead to make this 
     dream a reality, and we have therefore immediately proceeded 
     to adapt our organizational structure in line with that task. 
     The part the OAS has played in these endeavors for over a 
     century must be consolidated in the structure of its General 
     Secretariat. To that end, we have created the Department of 
     Multidimensional Security and the Office on Threats to Civil 
     Society, in order to achieve an appropriate grasp and 
     institutional memory of those activities.
       Our vocation is to create an America at peace. Peace among 
     the nations that comprise it, peace for its people, and peace 
     with the environment.
       To ensure that it lives up to the most noble cause it 
     serves of democracy, human rights, security, and integral and 
     shared development, this General Secretariat needs to be 
     streamlined in its organization and procedures. For that it 
     needs to focus on those priorities, to have a clear vision of 
     where it wants to go, efficient management by objectives, 
     accountability, team spirit, and teamwork. It also means that 
     the helmsman must pursue the course charted by the member 
     states, which in turn requires that the General Secretariat 
     provide timely and efficient support to facilitate, in the 
     Permanent Council and General Assembly, the development of a 
     far-sighted hemispheric approach. These tasks are made easier 
     by the considerable progress achieved by the OAS over the 
     past ten years under the apt guidance of its Secretary 
     General, former President of Colombia Cesar Gaviria.
       From the bottom of my heart, as a student and patriot of 
     the Americas, I thank Their Excellencies, the Heads of State 
     and Government, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, First 
     Ladies, Former Presidents, Ministers, and Members of the 
     Legislature and Judiciary, and High Officials who are with us 
     here today for the extraordinary support they lend to the OAS 
     by generously honoring us with their presence.
       I realize that the burden is heavy and the challenge 
     enormous. I shall devote myself to this task, asking God's 
     guidance, to the utmost of my ability and conviction, as a 
     token of gratitude to the peoples and governments that have 
     honored me with their trust. Yet I place my trust in the 
     goodness of Providence, the values that guide the governments 
     of America, the abilities of my colleagues in the 
     Organization, and the courage and dedication of the women and 
     men of the Americas.
       With our common values and tireless effort, together we 
     will be equal to the challenge. Able to move from 
     disillusionment to enjoyment of democracy. From frustration 
     to hope for human development. From magical realism to 
     idealistic pragmatism, in policies and specific programs. 
     From the pursuit of freedom to the use of it as a tool for 
     forging happiness, progress, and solidarity.
       Building that vision, helping it to materialize, converting 
     it into reality is the great task that, with all humility, I 
     invite the OAS to accomplish. With the solidarity of us all, 
     we will be able to build the America of freedom: the freedom 
     and creativity that provide grounds for rational optimism, 
     realistic hope, and a dream that can come true.

  Mr. DODD. On behalf of all of us, I am sure my colleagues will agree 
when they read his remarks, we thank him for his leadership and look 
forward to working with him to strengthen the OAS, to make it a more 
viable and important organization as these wonderful friends and 
neighbors of ours grapple with the economic and natural disasters they 
face and as they do everything in their power to strengthen democracy 
and freedom throughout this hemisphere.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, may I ask the Chair what the status is 
of our schedule right now?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate is currently in morning business.

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