Remarks at 37th Annual Washington Conference on the Americas

It's an honor to join you for the 37^th Annual Washington Conference on the Americas, an institution with which I've been very familiar for many years now. I see many long-time friends here today. Needless to say, it's good to see all of you. Secretary Rice sends each of you her best wishes and appreciation for everything the Council of the Americas does to promote dialogue and cooperation in the Hemisphere that we call "home." As you know, she is traveling outside the country at the moment in two conferences on Iraq that are taking place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Many of you have heard that we are characterizing 2007 as a "year of engagement" in the Hemisphere. That's not to suggest that U.S. Hemispheric engagement is in any way new--not for you certainly in the private sector, not for us in government--but to indicate that we think 2007 is extremely important. 2007 is a year for helping our partners meet urgent needs by ensuring that democracy and democratic governments deliver the security, services, and opportunities the people of the Hemisphere rightly expect. We've come too far in recent decades to let the progress that we have made lose momentum. This is a year for pushing ahead, not being driven off course, or conceding that some parts of the Hemisphere are too hard to help.

2007, for instance, should be a year when we and our partners begin the long process of restoring a free Cuba to its place in the inter-American system. After all the free, competitive elections we saw in the Hemisphere last year, why shouldn't Cuba have the opportunity to follow suit?

President Bush inaugurated this year of engagement with a very productive visit to Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico in March. He underscored our commitment to the region.

First, he made clear that we are ready and willing to engage any democratic government, regardless of where it falls on the political spectrum, in real partnership.

Second, he emphasized that we want to strengthen our relationships in the Hemisphere not just at a government-to-government level, but also at a people-to-people level.

This is a region that has taken great strides toward freedom. On balance, we can take satisfaction from that fact, but only on balance. I say that because we see mixed results in the political sphere that must give us pause. Questionable decision-making in some capitals threatens to spread poverty and inequality rather than reduce poverty and inequality. This could discredit the democratic process we all have worked so hard to advance and should give us all great motivation to deepen our Hemispheric engagement.

It's crucial that the Hemisphere's democracies be able to translate substantial gains in freedom and democracy into tangible, meaningful improvements in the daily lives of their people. Workers throughout the region want to know that economic growth in open markets will lead to good jobs and higher standards of living. Parents across the hemisphere are concerned about the prevalence of narcotics, about the effects of drug-trafficking on our children, and about the malignant corruption drug-trafficking can produce within the institutions of governance.

The Administration therefore is committed to helping our neighbors meet basic needs like education, healthcare, and housing, and maintain economies that make it possible for workers to provide for their families. These were central themes in the President's trip, and they were well-received. The overwhelming majority of countries in our hemisphere want a good relationship with the United States. In fact, most already have a good relationship with our country. Now by strengthening those relationships, we can use challenges to democracy as catalysts for political, social, and economic development.

One of the key elements of our engagement in the region is helping our neighbors build growing economies that are open to the world--economies that will provide greater opportunities for their people. This, of course, is central to the mission of the Council of the Americas and underscores the importance of your business and investment decisions.
Already we are seeing the tangible benefits of free trade through the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement.

CAFTA-DR means a lot more than just lower tariffs for Central America and the Dominican Republic. CAFTA-DR is helping our partners

• Build their capacity to export;
• Expand and improve their business operations;
• Attract significant new investment;
• Create new jobs and business opportunities;
• Raise their labor and environmental protection standards as a way of protecting their labor forces and natural resources; and
• Last but not least, CAFTA-DR is improving the region's global competitiveness.

We're extending our positive agenda to help our neighbors build better, more productive lives elsewhere in the Hemisphere as well. The pending FTAs with Colombia, Panama, and Peru are key to our goal of promoting economic stability and growth while encouraging private sector expansion in a way that alleviates poverty.

Colombia, Panama, and Peru are excellent candidates for FTAs with the United State. These three countries embrace democratic governance and open markets as the way to create economic opportunity and freedom for their people; they share our belief that these free trade agreements will contribute to development and growth, and they share our commitment to ensure that the benefits of these agreements reach all sectors of society.

U.S. trade with Colombia, Panama, and Peru has nearly doubled over the past 4 years, reaching $27.9 billion last year. That is more than our total trade with all our Middle Eastern and North African FTA partners combined. If those countries won overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress, why shouldn't Colombia, Panama, and Peru-proven economic partners so much closer to home with such enormous upside potential?

The Millennium Challenge Account, the MCA, is another vital form of U.S. engagement in the Hemisphere. In many ways, MCA programs are the perfect complement to our FTAs. After all, duty free access to U.S. markets is only an asset if producers in our FTA partner countries are able to physically get their goods to the market. MCA programs are building that needed infrastructure.

Finally, let me offer a few words about a topic of great concern everywhere in the region, and that is energy security. High energy costs are a great burden on developing economies, so we are committed to helping our neighbors secure energy supplies at the best prices possible. To do this we're engaging with producers, consumers, and NGOs, both bilaterally and multilaterally. Our approach is multifaceted. It includes:

• Diversifying suppliers and expanding production through free, competitive and open markets;
• Diversifying energy types by promoting alternative fuels (including biofuels) and new technologies within the region;
• Promoting energy efficiency and conservation through technology, international partnerships, and market pricing; and
• Expanding the international use of strategic oil stocks.

My interest in this region goes back many years, so I am delighted that next week I will be visiting Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Panama. That will be my first visit south of the border as Deputy Secretary of State. I promise it won't be the last.

In addition, I'm pleased to note that in response to a call made by President Bush at the Fourth Summit of the Americas, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez will convene the "Americas Competitiveness Forum" in Atlanta June 11-13. Then, from June 19-21, Secretary Rice will host her counterparts from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) at a special Conference on the Caribbean. And later this summer, the White House will convene a Conference on the Western Hemisphere that will bring together representatives from the private sector, non-governmental organizations, faith-based groups, and volunteer associations.

If this sounds like a commitment to really deliver on the "year of engagement," I'm glad, because that is the message that I would like to convey. This Administration understands that the democratization of our hemisphere is a precious opportunity. It's broad, now it must be deep. It's almost full--minus Cuba, of course--now it must be fair. Democracy is for everyone, but to realize its immense potential, everyone, especially the United States and you, the job-creating, wealth-producing private sector, has to be completely engaged.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)

I'd be happy to answer a few questions.

QUESTION: Timothy Tell (ph), retired Foreign Service Officer. Everyone in this room, I'm sure is delighted to know that 2007 is the year of this hemisphere. And Javier's spelling out, in detail, of your biography that most of us know, that you are probably the world's walking expert in this building or in this town on this hemisphere.

Now that you are up on the seventh floor with all this tail-wind and power, are you going to be able to make sure that the people who are distracted by secondary and tertiary issues get their minds back on the ball (inaudible) and focus on something that is important for the national interest of the United States, as well as the well-being of the hemisphere, which is this hemisphere, and not other corners of the world?

DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: Well, Tim, first of all I am not the most expert person on this hemisphere within this building, but be that as it may I have had service there, as you noted, and I do think, as I said in my remarks, that this is an extremely important part of the world. It's the part of the world that we happen to live in, and we neglect this hemisphere at our own peril.

That is why, as I've just said, that I'm going to be taking a trip down to the region myself, and I expect to be engaged on relations with the hemisphere in this job, and I hope you would take that as a positive signal. About our international policies, and how that relates to what our priorities are both here and elsewhere in the world, we are after all (and you and I both know this through our experience) a country with global responsibilities.

So we have to be able to deal with a number of different challenges at the same time. I think we're capable of doing that, and I would hope that the examples that I have cited for you, including, most importantly, having expended considerable effort to successfully get the CAFTA agreement through the Congress. I think that was a very important development. And I think now, these pending FTA's (Panama, Colombia, and Peru) are equally critical and I think they're strategic in their significance. It's not just the economic consequences of having a FTA with these countries. It's important strategically, and in Congress they also have to think about the message it would send if these agreements were not approved. It would mean, I think, a victory for people who have an alternative view of development in the hemisphere. I think that would be a great setback strategically to the United States and to our interests in the hemisphere.

QUESTION: (inaudible)

DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: The question was what my thoughts were on how we should handle the relationship and the situation in Venezuela for the good of the continent. I think one thing that we ought to do, and that we are doing, is to not rise to the bait. I think it's important that we respond to situations emanating from Venezuela in a careful, measured, and considered fashion. That's one important point.

Another is to do what we can to strengthen our relationships elsewhere in the hemisphere as we watch the evolution of the situation in Venezuela. Sooner or later, I think that the government and people of Venezuela are going to find that the policies that Mr. Chavez is spending his monies on are simply not going to be sustainable. I don't see how you can go on spending billions of dollars in aid to other countries when you have blatant poverty in your own country, while at the same time you are running-down and degrading the wealth-producing portions of your economy, which I believe he's doing.

So sooner or later, these policies will fail. Of course, the issue is when is that going to happen, and how many effects his policies are going to have along the way. But I think we have to attempt to attend to the other relationships and not be provocative in our relationship with Venezuela. And lastly I think we should try to build a common view with fellow democracies and partners and friends in the region so we are seeing from the same page when it comes to dealing with Venezuela.

By the way, he's very modest, in the corner there. But I want you to know that Tom Shannon is just one of the finest regional assistant secretaries we have in the Department of State. (Applause) The applause meter is higher for him than it is for me, so I knew I was right.

Where are we? Please, the lady in the back.

QUESTION: That was no lady. Hi, Donna (inaudible).

DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: Ambassador! Sorry.

QUESTION: Hi, how are you. Because we have global responsibilities we also have global dialogue. I'm interested in your dialogue with countries in other parts of the world. What kind of topics about Latin America come up? Do the issues of Latin America figure in global discussions at all? And what kind are we given about how we should respond to our neighbors?

DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: Right. Well, there have been some issues with respect to Latin America that come up. But I've got to admit that probably not as many with respect to other regions of the world. Perhaps because there aren't the kind of flashpoints in our hemisphere that there are in, say the Taiwan Straight or in the humanitarian crisis in Darfur or in the situation in the Middle East.