    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
    [June 6, 2005]
    [Pages 938-941]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the Opening Session of the Organization of American States
    General Assembly in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
    June 6, 2005

        Thank you all very much. Welcome to the United States. Thanks for
    having me. Madam Secretary, thank you for your service; thank you for
    your friendship; thank you for your short introduction. [Laughter]
        Ambassador Maisto, Members of the United
    States Congress--four members, by the way, of the Florida delegation
    have joined us today, and I'm grateful that they have come. Secretary
    General Insulza, thank you;
    congratulations. Thank you for coming by the Oval Office the other day
    to give me a briefing. Assistant Secretary General, thank you, sir. It's good to see you again. Distinguished
    visitors and guests. I'm honored to be here at this meeting of the
    Organization of American States.
        The ties that bind the Americas are particularly vivid here in
    Florida. I mean, if you spend any time in this State, you'll find people
    from all over our hemisphere who live here. This State has benefited
    because immigrants from throughout the hemisphere have made their homes
    here. I know firsthand--I'm pretty familiar with the State's
    Governor. [Laughter] He keeps me abreast of what's
    taking place in this State.
        You know, our ties are represented in different ways. Perhaps you
    know this, but my brother was lucky enough to marry
    a fantastic woman from Mexico; the first lady
    of Florida is Mexican-born. A United States Senator from Florida, Mel
    Martinez, was born in Cuba. No, the ties in
    our hemisphere between America and our hemisphere are particularly
    strong in Florida. It's a perfect place to have the meeting. Thank you
    for choosing Florida.
        As I look out at the distinguished foreign ministers, I find we have
    much in common. We're the children of the New World, founded in empire
    and fulfilled in independence. Our people are united by history and
    geography. And the United States shares a commitment with you to build
    an Americas that live in liberty, trades in freedom, and grows in
    prosperity.
        We come together at a great moment in history, when freedom is on
    the march around our world. In the last year-and-a-half--think about
    this--we've witnessed a Rose Revolution in Georgia, an Orange Revolution
    in Ukraine, a Purple Revolution in Iraq, a Tulip Revolution in
    Kyrgyzstan, a Cedar Revolution in Lebanon, and these are just the
    beginnings. Across central Asia, hope is stirring at the prospect of
    change, and change will come. Across the broader Middle East, we are
    seeing the rise of a new generation whose hearts burn for freedom, and
    they will have it.
        This love of liberty has long roots in our own hemisphere. Not long
    after the United States won its independence from Britain, patriots
    throughout the Americas were inspired to take their own stand. One of
    them was an Argentine general named Jose de San Martin. During the
    struggle for independence from Spain, the general declared, ``In the
    last corner of the Earth that I might find myself, I will be ready to
    sacrifice my existence for liberty.''
        San Martin's dream of liberty has found a home in the Organization
    of American States. This organization's founding documents calls the
    Americas to its ``historic mission to offer to man a land of liberty and
    a favorable environment for the realization of his just aspirations.''
    That mission was given its clear direction in the Inter-American
    Democratic Charter declaring that ``the peoples of the Americas have a
    right to democracy, and their governments have an obligation to promote
    it and defend it.'' And today, what was once a distant

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    dream is now within our reach, an Americas wholly free and democratic
    and at peace with ourselves and our neighbors.
        In the new Americas of the 21st century, democracy is now the rule,
    rather than the exception. Think of the dramatic changes we've seen in
    our lifetime. In 1974, the last time the OAS General Assembly met in the
    United States, fewer than half its members had democratically elected
    governments. Today, all 34 countries participating in this General
    Assembly have democratic, constitutional governments.
        Only one country in this hemisphere sits outside this society of
    democratic nations, and one day, the tide of freedom will reach Cuba's
    shores as well. The great Cuban patriot Jose Marti said it best, ``La
    libertad no es negociable.''
        The dramatic gains for democracy we have witnessed in our hemisphere
    must not be taken for granted. Democratic change and free elections are
    exhilarating events. Yet we know from experience they can be followed by
    moments of uncertainty. When people risk everything to vote, it can
    raise expectations that their lives will improve immediately, but
    history teaches us that the path to a free and prosperous society is
    long and not always smooth. Each nation must follow its own course,
    according to its own history. Yet the old and new democracies of the
    Americas share a common interest in showing every citizen of our
    hemisphere that freedom brings not just peace; it brings a better life
    for themselves and their families.
        In the new Americas of the 21st century, bringing a better life to
    our people requires choosing between two competing visions. One offers a
    vision of hope. It is founded on representative government, integration
    into the world markets, and a faith in the transformative power of
    freedom in individual lives. The other seeks to roll back the democratic
    progress of the past two decades by playing to fear, pitting neighbor
    against neighbor, and blaming others for their own failures to provide
    for their people. The choices we make will determine which vision will
    define the Americas our children inherit. We must make wise decisions
    today to ensure a better tomorrow.
        To give our children a better tomorrow, our citizens must see that
    democracy delivers more than promises. They need to see in their daily
    lives that their hard work and enterprises are rewarded. They need to
    see that in a democratic society, people can walk in the streets safely,
    corruption is punished, and all citizens are equal before the law. And
    when the people of the Americas see that opportunity and social mobility
    are real, they will know that in a free and democratic society, the only
    limit to how far they can go is the size of their dreams.
        The United States believes it has an obligation to help build this
    better tomorrow for all the citizens. Working with our partners in the
    region, my Government has helped the leaders of this hemisphere meet our
    goal of delivering treatment to 600,000 HIV sufferers across the region.
    In 2002, the United States launched the Millennium Challenge Account to
    help poor nations and to revolutionize the concept of development aid.
    My administration's approach is based on this commonsense idea that
    development aid works best in countries that are proving their
    commitment to govern justly, to invest in their citizens, and to open up
    their economies. Under this program, aid will go to those who deliver
    results for their people.
        Next week, Honduras will become the second country to sign a
    Millennium Challenge compact--for a $215 million program that will help
    Honduran farmers grow better crops, as well as money to build highways
    that will open markets for them around the region and the world.
        To advance economic development in the Americas, the U.S. Government
    already makes about $5 billion in loans and grants to the region
    throughout [through] * the

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    Ex-Im Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the Trade
    and Development Agency. In preparation for the Summit of the Americas
    later this year in Argentina, my administration will be looking for new
    ways to prime the real engines of hope in the Americas, its small
    businesses and private enterprises and entrepreneurs. When people
    throughout the Americas see their lives improve and opportunity more
    abundant, their faith in democracy will grow and our hemisphere will be
    more secure.
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        * White House correction.
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        In the new Americas of the 21st century, one of the surest ways to
    make opportunity real for all our citizens is by opening our doors to
    trade. My Government is pursuing this goal at all levels, at the global
    level through the Doha round of the World Trade Organization, at the
    regional level through the Free Trade Area of the Americas, and at the
    bilateral level with free trade agreements with individual countries
    like Chile and Mexico and Canada. And the United States Congress is now
    considering the Central American and Dominican Republic Free Trade
    Agreement, which offers an historic opportunity to bring prosperity to
    the citizens of our hemisphere who have not known it.
        For the young democracies of Central America, CAFTA would bring new
    investment, and that means good jobs and higher labor standards for
    their workers. In these nations, wealthier citizens already enjoy access
    to goods and services produced abroad. By reducing tariffs on U.S.
    goods, all consumers in these countries will enjoy better goods at lower
    prices. These lower prices will also give Central American small
    businesses and farmers and entrepreneurs less costly access to U.S.
    machinery and equipment, which will make them more competitive and help
    their economies grow. By bringing economic growth to Central America,
    CAFTA will contribute to the rise of a vibrant middle class. And that
    makes us reach--a step closer to our goal, a goal of the Americas where
    the opportunities in San Jose, Costa Rica, are as real as they are in
    San Jose, California.
        For U.S. farmers and businesses and workers, CAFTA would expand
    opportunity by creating a more level playing field for our goods and
    services. Under existing rules, most of Central America's exports
    already enter the United States duty free, but U.S. exports still face
    hefty tariffs. By passing CAFTA, the United States would open up a
    market of 44 million consumers for our farmers and small-business
    people. CAFTA will replace a system that is often arbitrary with one
    that is fair and transparent and based on common rules.
        For the Western Hemisphere, CAFTA would continue to advance the
    stability and security that come from freedom. An Americas linked by
    trade is less likely to be divided by resentment and false ideologies.
    An Americas where all our people live in prosperity will be more
    peaceful. And an Americas whose countries have reduced the barriers to
    trade among ourselves will be a more competitive region in a global
    economy.
        CAFTA is more than just a trade agreement; it is a signal of the
    U.S. commitment to democracy and prosperity for our neighbors, and I
    urge the United States Congress to pass it.
        In the last half-century, the nations of the Americas have overcome
    enormous challenges, colonialism and communism and military
    dictatorship. At the start of this new century, these divisions have
    fallen away, and now we have it within our means to eliminate the
    scourge of poverty from our hemisphere. In this room, we still represent
    many different countries with different traditions and different mother
    tongues, but today we can say with pride that we all speak the common
    language of liberty. And by making the blessings of freedom real in our
    hemisphere, we will set a shining example for the rest of the world.
        Thank you for letting me come by. Que Dios los bendiga. May God
    bless you all.

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    Note: The President spoke at 11:50 a.m. at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/
    Broward County Convention Center. In his remarks, he referred to
    Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who introduced the President;
    Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza and Assistant Secretary General
    Luigi R. Einaudi of the Organization of American States; and Gov. Jeb
    Bush of Florida and his wife, Columba. The Office of the Press Secretary
    also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.