[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 18 (Monday, May 12, 2008)]
[Pages 666-671]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the Council of the Americas

May 7, 2008

    Thank you all. Please be seated. Bill, thank you for the kind 
introduction. Thanks for giving me a chance to come by and see that the 
Secretary of State's dining room is a lot better than the President's 
dining room. [Laughter] I'm honored to be here. I'm pleased to be with 
the Council of Americas again. I appreciate what you do to promote 
personal and economic freedom throughout the region, throughout the 
Americas. I appreciate your strong concern about the need for liberty to 
be spread--liberty in forms of government and liberty in forms of 
economies.
    I am honored to be here with the Secretary of State, Condoleezza 
Rice, better known in the neighborhood as Senorita Arroz. [Laughter] I'm 
pleased to be with Carlos Gutierrez, the Secretary of Commerce, Susan 
Schwab, the U.S. Trade Representative. Thrilled to be here with Susan 
Segal, the president and CEO of the Council of Americas; a dear family 
friend, former member of the Cabinet of--in 41, Robert Mosbacher; Mack 
McLarty as well--people who care a lot about the region. Thank you for 
joining us here. I'm also pleased to be here with Ministers, 
representatives, Ambassadors from the Governments of Canada, Colombia, 
Mexico, and Peru. Honored you all are here.
    The foundation of a good foreign policy is good relations with your 
neighbors. A peaceful and secure neighborhood is in the interest of the 
United States of America. And so I want to talk to you about the 
hemisphere we share, the challenges we face, and the aggressive work 
that the United States is doing to help make the Americas a place of 
hope and liberty.

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    In recent decades, there have been positive developments in Latin 
America. Countries have moved away from an era of dictatorships, era of 
civil strife. Unfortunately, today, some countries in the region are 
seeing a resurgence of radicalism and instability. And one nation in the 
region remains mired in the tyranny of a bygone era, and that is Cuba.
    Yesterday I had a fascinating opportunity to speak with a leading 
Cuban dissident, a former political prisoner, and a wife of a man who is 
held in a Cuban prison simply because he expressed his belief that all 
people should live in a free society. Videoconferencing is one of the 
great wonders of the 21st century. And to be able to sit in the White 
House and talk to these three brave souls in Havana was a inspiring 
moment for me. It reminded me about how much work the United States has 
to do to help the people in Cuba realize the blessings of liberty.
    It also reminded me of a couple of things. One, that there's an 
eternal truth when it comes to freedom; that there is an Almighty, and a 
gift of that Almighty to every man, woman, and child, whether they be 
American, Cubano, or anywhere else, is freedom; and that it's going to 
take the courage and determination of individuals such as the three I 
met with to help inspire the island to embrace freedom.
    The Cuban Government recently announced a change at the top. Some in 
the world marveled that perhaps change is on its way. That's not how I 
view it. Until there's a change of heart and a change of compassion and 
a change of how the Cuban Government treats its people, there's no 
change at all. The regime has made empty gestures at reform, but Cuba is 
still ruled by the same group that has oppressed the Cuban people for 
almost half a century. Cuba will not be a land of liberty so long as 
free expression is punished and free speech can take place only in 
hushed whispers and silent prayers. And Cuba will not become a place of 
prosperity just by easing restrictions on the sale of products that the 
average Cuban cannot afford.
    If Cuba wants to join the community of civilized nations, then 
Cuba's rulers must begin a process of peaceful democratic change. And 
the first step must be to release all political prisoners. They must 
respect the human rights in word and in deed. And they must allow what 
the Cuban people have desired for generations: to pick their own leaders 
in free and fair elections. This is the policy of the United States, and 
it must not change until the people of Cuba are free.
    We will face other challenges in the hemisphere as well. I'm deeply 
concerned about the challenge of illicit drug trade. First, I fully 
understand that when there is demand, there will be supply. And the 
United States of America is implementing a strategy to reduce--a 
comprehensive strategy to convince our people to stop using illegal 
drugs. I talk to my counterparts all the time in the region. And I talk 
about how we can work together--and I'll explain some strategies here in 
a minute--but I also remind them that so long as the United States uses 
illegal drugs, you know, drug dealers will find a way to get their 
products here.
    We made some progress on reducing demand. Since 2001, the rate of 
drug use among the young has dropped by 24 percent. Young people's use 
of marijuana is down by 25 percent. The use of ecstasy has dropped by 
more than 50 percent. Methamphetamine use is down by 64 percent. 
Overall, it's estimated that 860,000 fewer young people in America are 
using drugs today than when we began. But obviously, we still have a lot 
of work to do. And so my commitment to our friends in the neighborhood 
is, the United States will continue to implement its comprehensive 
strategy to do our part to reduce demand for illegal drugs.
    Secondly, we're working to intercept illegal drugs before they reach 
our citizens. Every day, the men and women of the DEA, the Coast Guard, 
the Border Patrol, and other law enforcement organizations are working 
tirelessly to intercept drugs, to stop money laundering, and to bust the 
gangs that are spreading this poison throughout our society. We've had 
some success. We've seized record amounts of cocaine coming into the 
United States. Last year, these efforts resulted in a significant 
disruption of the availability of cocaine in 38 major cities. We still 
have more work to do.
    And a final leg of our strategy is this: We will work with our 
partners, Mexico and the

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countries of Central America, to take on the international drug trade. I 
am deeply concerned about how lethal and how brutal these drug lords 
are. I have watched with admiration how President Calderon has taken a 
firm hand in making sure his society is free of these drug lords. And 
the tougher Mexico gets, the more likely it is they--that these drug 
families and these kingpins will try to find safe haven in Central 
America.
    And that is why I committed my administration to the Merida 
Initiative. It's a partnership, a cooperative partnership with Mexico 
and Central America that will help them deal with the scourge of these 
unbelievably wealthy and unbelievably violent drug kingpins. And I want 
to work with Congress to make sure that, one, they fully pass our 
requests in the upcoming supplemental debate, and also remind Members of 
Congress that the strategy that we have put forth is a strategy designed 
with the leadership of the Central American countries as well as with 
Mexico. It's a strategy designed to be effective. And so when Congress 
passes our supplemental request, they also got to make sure that they 
implement the strategy we proposed in full.
    Another challenge is to--promoting social justice in the region. 
Nearly one out of four people in Latin America lives on $2 a day. 
Children never finish grade school. Mothers have trouble finding a 
doctor. In the age of growing prosperity and abundance, this is a 
problem that the United States must take seriously. As the most 
prosperous country in the world, the United States is reaching out to 
help our partners improve the lives of their citizens.
    Social justice requires access to decent health care. And so we're 
helping meet health care needs in some of the most remote parts of Latin 
America, primarily by using the United States military's medical 
personnel to treat local citizens.
    I'll never forget going to Guatemala and seeing the clinics run by 
our troops. America is a compassionate country. We're plenty strong when 
we need to be. But our military has provided unbelievably good care for 
a lot of people who have never seen health care before. The missions 
last year provided treatment for 340,000 individuals in 15 countries. 
And this year, a new series of humanitarian assistant missions will 
treat an additional 320,000. I mean, it's so important when people think 
of America and think of the neighborhood that they understand social 
justice is at the forefront of our agenda.
    Social justice requires access to decent education as well. And 
since 2004, the taxpayers of the United States have provided more than 
$300 million for education programs throughout the region, with a 
special emphasis, a special focus, on rural and marginalized 
populations.
    Last year as well, the Secretary and I announced a new partnership 
for Latin American youth to help train thousands of young people in the 
Americas with their English and to provide opportunity to study here in 
the United States. And the reason why is simple: We want people in our 
neighborhood to have the skills necessary to take advantage of the 
opportunities of the 21st century. It's in the interest of the United 
States that we promote good health policies and good education policies.
    Social justice also requires institutions that are fair, effective, 
and free of corruption. It's hard to have a hopeful society when 
leadership steals the taxpayers' money. It's hard to have a hopeful 
place when the people aren't comfortable with the nature of government. 
And so we'll continue our bilateral aid, and I'm proud of the amounts of 
money we're spending in the region. But we've also changed the way that 
we're providing aid by insisting upon rules of governance, rule of law, 
the education--the investment in education and health of its people, and 
governments to embrace marketplace economies.
    And we do this what's called--through what's called the Millennium 
Challenge Account. It is a new way to say that, yes, we're going to 
provide taxpayers' money, but we expect something in return from the 
governments that we help. I don't think it's too much to ask a 
government that receives U.S. aid to fight corruption. A matter of fact, 
I think it's a request that's long overdue. I don't think it's too much 
to ask a government that we help to invest in the health and education 
of their children. Nor do I think it's too much to ask for a government 
to accept marketplace economics.

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    The Millennium Challenge Account has invested $930 million in our 
region thus far to assist the countries of El Salvador, Guyana, 
Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Peru. And let me talk about just some 
of the initiatives to give you a sense for the types of programs we're 
talking about.
    In Honduras, the United States is providing assistance to nearly 
1,300 farmers so they can develop their farmland and provide for their 
families. In Nicaragua, we've helped small farmers and entrepreneurs 
increase their productivity in rural communities. In Paraguay, we're 
working to--with local leaders to reduce the cost of starting new 
businesses.
    See, the whole purpose is to encourage enterprise, infrastructure 
that'll help people get goods to markets; to provide the capacity--
increase the capacity of these countries to be able to provide hope for 
their people. This is a really good program, and the Congress needs to 
fully fund it as they debate the appropriations bills this year.
    The Millennium Challenge Account is one way to promote prosperity, 
but perhaps the most--not perhaps--the most effective way is through 
trade. Trade brings increased economic opportunities to both the people 
of Latin America and the people of the United States.
    Congress recognized these opportunities. I mean, Congress took a 
look at whether or not we ought to have free trade agreements in our 
neighborhood, and they started doing so with Peru. And the bill, 
thankfully--the trade bill with Peru passed by a large bipartisan 
majority. It's a good agreement. It's good for Peru. It also happens to 
be good for the United States. And now my call on Congress is to take 
that same spirit by which they passed the Peruvian trade agreement and 
do the same thing for Colombia and Panama.
    About 17 months ago, the United States signed a free trade agreement 
with Colombia. Ever since, my administration has worked closely with 
Congress to seek a bipartisan path for considering this agreement. I 
understand trade votes are hard. And that's why we continually reached 
out with--to Congress. We've had more than 400 consultations, meetings, 
and calls. We've led trips to Colombia for more than 50 Members of 
Congress. We've worked closely with congressional leaders from both 
parties. We've responded to concerns over labor and environmental 
standards by including some of the most rigorous protections of any 
trade agreement in the history of the United States. We have bent over 
backwards to work with members from both parties on the Hill.
    And despite this, Congress has refused to act. One month ago, I sent 
the bill to implement the agreement to the Congress. Yet the Speaker 
chose to block it instead of giving it an up-or-down vote that the 
Congress had committed to. Her action is unprecedented. It is extremely 
unfortunate. I hope the Speaker is going to change her mind. I hope you 
help her to change her mind. If she doesn't, the agreement is dead, and 
this will be bad for our workers, our businesses, and it'll be bad for 
America's national security.
    Approving the agreement would strengthen our economy. Today, almost 
all of Colombia's exports enter the United States duty free. Yet 
American products exported to Colombia face tariffs of up to 35 percent 
for nonagricultural goods and much higher for many agricultural 
products. Think about that. They export into the United States duty 
free, and we don't have the same advantage. I would call that a one-
sided economic agreement.
    Failure to pass the free trade agreement, therefore, is making it 
much harder to sell our products into Colombia. To try to put this in 
perspective for you, this weekend we reached an unfortunate milestone 
when the tariffs imposed on U.S exports to Colombia reached an estimated 
$1 billion since the free trade agreement was signed. There's a--that's 
1 billion good reasons why the United States Congress ought to pass this 
bill. Passing the agreement, we could create the--[applause].
    Members of Congress need to think about this. Once implemented, the 
Colombia free trade agreement would immediately eliminate tariffs on 
more than 80 percent of American exports of industrial and consumer 
goods. Many American exports of agriculture and construction equipment, 
aircraft and auto parts, and medical and scientific equipment would 
immediately enter Colombia

[[Page 670]]

duty free. So would farm exports like high-quality beef and cotton and 
wheat and soybeans and fruit. And eventually, the agreement would 
eliminate all tariffs on U.S. goods and services.
    Opening markets is especially important during this time of economic 
uncertainty. Last year, exports accounted for more than 40 percent of 
America's total economic growth. Forty percent of the growth was as a 
result of goods and services being sold from the United States into 
foreign markets. With our economy slowing, it seems like to me that we 
should be doing everything possible to open up new markets for U.S. 
goods and services. More than 9,000 American companies, including 8,000 
small and midsized firms, export to Colombia. And approving this 
agreement, opening up markets for their goods and services, would help 
them increase sales, would help them grow their businesses, and would 
help them pay good-paying jobs.
    If you're interested in work in America, if you're interested in 
economic vitality, you ought to be doing everything you can to make it 
easier for U.S. companies to be selling overseas.
    And finally, approving this agreement is a urgent national security 
priority. Colombia is one of our strongest allies in the Western 
Hemisphere. I admire President Uribe a lot. He is courageous. He shares 
our values. He is a strong, capable partner in fighting drugs and crime 
and terror. The Colombia Government reports, since 2002, kidnapings in 
Colombia have dropped 83 percent, terrorist attacks are down 76 percent, 
murders have dropped by 40 percent. He's got a strong record of doing 
what he said he was going to do.
    And despite the progress, Colombia remains under intense pressure in 
the region. It faces a continuing assault from the terrorist group known 
as FARC, which seizes hostages and murders innocent civilians. Colombia 
faces a hostile and anti-American neighbor in Venezuela, where the 
regime has forged an alliance with Cuba, collaborated with FARC 
terrorists, and provided sanctuary to FARC units.
    President Uribe has stood strong. He has done so with the assurance 
of American support. Congress's failure to pass the Colombia free trade 
agreement has called this support into question. President Uribe told 
Members of Congress that approving this agreement is one of the most 
important ways that America can show our unwavering commitment to 
Colombia. Congressional leaders need to send a message that we support 
this brave and courageous leader and that we will not turn our back on 
one of our most steadfast allies.
    Yesterday I met with the President of Panama. I assured him our 
efforts to get the Panamanian trade bill passed will be just as 
vociferous and vigorous as our efforts to get the Colombia trade bill 
passed. Congress must understand, they have a chance to spread 
prosperity in our neighborhood; they have a chance to support friends in 
our neighborhood. And there's no better way to express that friendship 
than to support the Colombia free trade agreement, the Panamanian free 
trade agreement, and while they're at it, to send a clear message around 
the world that the South Korean free trade agreement is good for the 
U.S. economy as well.
    The ties between the people of the United States and the people of 
Latin America are important to our country. They're important to our 
prosperity, and they're important to the national security interests of 
the country. We share a deep bond, a bond between friends and a bond 
between neighbors. And because of this bond, the United States will, and 
must, remain committed to making sure that Latin America is a place of 
opportunity, a place of hope, a place of social justice, a place where 
basic necessities like health care and education are not too much for 
any child to dream about, or a place where poverty gives way to 
prosperity, and a place, above all, where freedom is the birthright of 
every citizen.
    I want to thank you for taking on the cause. I thank you for your 
vision. I thank you for your steadfast support of doing what's right in 
our neighborhood. And it's been my honor to come and share some thoughts 
with you. God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 1:14 p.m. at the State Department. In his 
remarks, he referred to William R. Rhodes, chairman, Council of the 
Americas; former White House Chief of Staff Thomas F. ``Mack'' McLarty; 
Cuban dissident

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Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello; former Cuban political prisoner Jorge Luis 
Garcia Perez; Berta Soler Fernandez, wife of Cuban political prisoner 
Angel Moya Acosta; President Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa of 
Mexico; and President Martin Torrijos Espino of Panama. The Office of 
the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these 
remarks.