TESTIMONY OF
THOMAS A. SHANNON
ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF
STATE,
BUREAU OF WESTERN
HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS (WHA)
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
BEFORE
THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON WESTERN
HEMISPHERE
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 5, 2008
Mr. Chairman and Members of
the Committee:
Thank you for the
opportunity to provide an overview of U.S.
policy in the Americas. This is an important opportunity to discuss
bipartisan achievements in a region important to the United States and the well-being of
our people.
We live in a hemisphere
characterized by dynamic, positive change.
Democracy, free markets, and economic integration have unleashed
powerful popular forces. The elected
governments of the Americas
are working to translate these forces into tangible benefits for its people -
such as expanding economic opportunity and reducing poverty; connecting
national infrastructures, integrating electricity grids and energy markets; and
collaborating on alternative energy sources.
This story of positive change has an underlying theme: dialogue and
engagement between countries, and broad recognition that we must address our
differences but also appreciate the commonalities that bind us together. So it is no coincidence that the success
stories of our region are increasingly products of cooperation and
collaboration, and vibrant multilateralism.
We see the Americas on the
cutting edge of transformational political and economic change in the
world. This is a region that has
completed the first and most dramatic stage of political change. It has moved largely from authoritarian
governments to democratically-elected governments. It has moved from closed economies to open
economies that rely on trade to link to globalized markets. It is a region that now faces the next
generation of transformational challenges, which are in some ways more
persistent and more difficult to overcome.
The key is finding a way to enable democracy to address the dramatic
social obstacles this region faces, especially poverty, inequality, and marginalization. Our community calls for a renewed and sustainable
strategy of engagement, which our policy is designed to achieve.
U.S. policy in the Americas is designed to help our
partners meet the next generation of transformational challenges and show that,
at the end of the day, democracy can deliver the goods. The focus of our policy is fourfold:
·
First, to
consolidate democracy and the democratic gains of the past. This includes broadening participation in the
democratic system to assure that ordinary citizens have a role in the political
process;
·
Second, to
promote prosperity and economic opportunity in the region;
·
Third, to invest
in people, because we recognize that economic opportunity without individual
capacity to take advantage of that opportunity is meaningless to the vast
numbers of the poor and vulnerable in Latin America and the Caribbean; and
·
Finally, to
protect the security of democratic states.
We have taken a bipartisan
approach to implementing our strategy, and with the help of the U.S. Congress
have made considerable progress in the right direction. We have renewed bilateral and multilateral
engagement and have re-focused assets for greatest impact. We continue to seek a balanced approach to
our foreign assistance programs to advance democratic, economic, social, and
security goals. Since 2001, we have
spent over $7.5 billion in development programs, including alternative
development funded out of ACI (now ACP), and about $4.5 billion in security
programs, including remaining ACI programs.
If our FY 2009 request is approved, development programs since 2001 will
top $8.5 billion and security programs will reach approximately $6.7 billion, including
$1.1 billion for Merida,
for a total of over $14 billion
Consolidating Democracy
The United States is committed to fostering
democratic governance and protecting fundamental rights and liberties in the Americas. Working multilaterally through the
Organization of American States (OAS) and other institutions in the
Inter-American System, we are helping our partners in the Americas
respond to poverty, inequality, and marginalization. With our support and funding, the OAS is
working to strengthen its capacity to help the Americas’ elected governments
respond to the challenges of democratic governance and honor the region’s
shared commitments under the Inter-American Democratic Charter. We are supporting the work of those building
broader based political parties that incorporate communities which have
traditionally been marginalized. We also continue our support to OAS’ Electoral
Observation Missions and our efforts to deepen inter-regional pro-democracy
cooperation between the OAS and the African Union.
Working bilaterally, we
support all sectors to strengthen Haiti’s democracy and promote
long-term development. The United States remains Haiti’s largest bilateral donor,
with a foreign assistance request of more than $245 million in FY 2009. Programmed in close coordination with the
Government of Haiti and other international donors, our aid focuses on
governance and the rule of law, elections, security, economic growth, and
critical humanitarian needs. With
reduced inflation, increased GDP, and a shift from peace building to peace
keeping, it is clear that the benefits of democracy are taking hold.
Our FY 2009 foreign
assistance request of $20 million for Cuba is consistent with
recommendations in the second Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba (CAFC)
report. Since the formation of CAFC, Economic
Support Funds to Cuba
jumped to over $21 million in FY 2004 and an estimated $45 million in FY 2008. This assistance is key to helping the
democratic opposition and civil society promote the dialogue needed for a
successful transition to democracy. The United States
reaffirms the belief that the Cuban people have an inalienable right to
participate in an open and comprehensive dialogue about their country’s future,
free of fear and repression, and to choose their leaders in democratic
elections. We reiterate Secretary Rice’s
February 24, 2008 message regarding our support of the Cuban people in their
efforts to obtain “the fundamental rights and liberties expressed in the United
Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Inter-American Democratic
Charter.” We continue to urge the Cuban
Government to begin a peaceful transition to democracy and encourage
international partners to help the Cuban people bring about positive
change.
Promoting Prosperity
One of the biggest
challenges facing democracies in the Americas is delivering the benefits
of free markets, trade, and economic integration. With total GDP on the rise in Latin America
and the Caribbean from $1.7 trillion in 2002
to $3.4 trillion in 2007, and the number of people living in poverty decreasing
from 44 percent in 2002 to approximately 35 percent in 2007, we are seeing
improvements. With the successful
reduction in the cost of sending money to the region, remittances have nearly
doubled since 2002 to more than $60 billion per year, with more than 75 percent
coming from the United
States.
To help sustain these gains
over the long term, the United States
is helping create economic opportunity in the Americas through our free trade
agenda, which now includes countries accounting for two-thirds of the gross
domestic product of the hemisphere. With
the conclusion of ten free trade agreements, we have built a chain that
stretches along the Pacific coast of the Americas
from Canada to Chile. We strongly urge Congress to approve the
pending free trade agreements with Colombia
and Panama
to bring two strategically and economically significant allies into the network
of U.S. FTAs.
Helping Central America and
the Dominican Republic
reap the benefits of their Free Trade Agreement remains an important priority
and is reflected in our FY 2009 request for bilateral programs and $40 million
in regional labor and environment programs.
The participation of four hemisphere partners who emphasize free trade, Canada, Chile,
Mexico and Peru, in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) Summit is another positive demonstration
of the economic importance of the Americas in the world market. We expect the Americas’
participation in APEC to continue to expand, as Colombia
and Ecuador
are also seeking membership.
The Millennium Challenge
Corporation (MCC) helps reinforce our efforts in eliminating corruption,
promoting transparency, improving healthcare and education, and connecting
people to markets through complementary programs. MCC has signed compacts totaling more than
$850 million with El Salvador,
Honduras, and Nicaragua. It has also signed more than $77 million in
threshold agreements with Guyana,
Paraguay, and Peru. We continue to target our foreign assistance
to supplement and leverage MCC efforts.
The United States
is also addressing the challenges of energy cost, diversity, and availability
in the hemisphere through the development of global and regional markets for
ethanol and bio-diesel. The goal is to
develop a promising new source of local fuels that will promote energy security
and sustainable development, especially in Central America and the Caribbean.
Investing in People
The United States is helping to unlock the vast
potential of the peoples of the Americas
by working with our partners to invest in people through improved education and
training, health care, access to capital, economic infrastructure, and security
for their families and property. We are
making progress in this area through combined efforts.
Since 2001, we have funded
more than 7,000 professional exchanges, including citizen exchanges,
International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and the Voluntary Visitor
program; and over 700 youth program participants, including College Horizons,
the Martin Luther King Fellows program, and Youth Ambassadors. During the same period, we funded more than
7,500 Fulbright students, teachers and scholars from the region to study and
research in the U.S. The United States
also committed to provide $75 million for the President's Partnership for Latin
American Youth. The Partnership will help
provide thousands of students in the hemisphere with new opportunities for
English language training, home country and U.S.-based study, scholarships, and
skills development to improve students' ability to gain employment.
Additionally, we have spent
more than $1.5 billion in foreign assistance on health programs [Child Survival
and Health (CSH) and Global HIV/AIDS Initiative (GHAI)] since 2001. We also witnessed the USNS COMFORT contribute
to improving healthcare in the region during a four-month deployment during
which it visited 12 countries and treated nearly 100,000 patients.
Since 2001, Peace Corps has
spent an average of $44 million per year in the region and provided an average
of more than 2,200 volunteers to the hemisphere to advance world peace and
friendship.
Protecting the Democratic State
In recent years, we have
worked with our partners in the hemisphere to transform the security agenda for
the region and forge a consensus on the vital link between security and prosperity. We are confronting nontraditional threats
such as organized crime, terrorism, drug trafficking, gangs, natural disasters,
and pandemics. By protecting the people
of the Americas,
we strengthen democracy, promote social justice, and create a secure space for
citizens and states to pursue economic prosperity.
The Merida Initiative will establish a new paradigm for regional
security cooperation with Mexico
and Central America. The goal of the Merida Initiative is to
strengthen state institutions in the region and to reinforce regional
cooperation to break the power and impunity of criminal organizations that
intimidate state institutions, threaten Mexican and Central American
governments’ abilities to maintain public security and the rule of law, and
pose a hazard to the safety and security of the United States. Funds are divided among three “pillars” of
activities: 1) counternarcotics, counterterrorism,
and border security; 2) public security and law enforcement; and 3) institution
building and rule of law. The Central America portion of the Initiative seeks to
directly respond to needs identified by Central American governments at the
inaugural U.S.-SICA (Central American Integration System) Dialogue on Security
last year. The Merida Initiative is a vital extension of our
regional approach to combating the threats of drug trafficking, transnational
crime, and terrorism that undermine security and builds upon successes gained
to date.
The Security and Prosperity
Partnership (SPP) with Canada
and Mexico
has been a key component to our regional security strategy. The SPP includes provisions to coordinate
border policies, promote trade facilitation, encourage regulatory cooperation
and prepare for possible pandemics in North America.
We have also made great advances
in our efforts to combat illicit narcotics cultivation and trafficking and to
promote licit economic and social development in Colombia. We have included a FY 2009 request of just
under $543 million to continue our support in Colombia and build upon progress
made so far. Colombia’s USG-supported aerial and manual eradication programs
continue to halt the rapid growth in coca cultivation with a decline of over
seven percent between 2001 and 2006 (from 169,800 to 157,200 hectares). The estimated potential cocaine production
over the same period declined 35 percent, from 839 MT to 545 MT, reflecting the
impact of eradication programs on crop yield rates. Additionally, the Government of Colombia estimates
that over 45,000 people have demobilized since 2002 (14,000 under the
individual desertion program and over 31,000 paramilitary under the collective
program), and Colombia’s
justice system officially completed its conversion to an oral accusatorial
system similar to that of the U.S.
in January 2008. This new system has
allowed new criminal cases to be resolved in months instead of years, and
conviction rates have risen from less than three percent to over sixty percent. We will also continue support for refugees
and internally displaced persons.
Colombia has also made significant progress in reducing the
level of violence in recent years, including violence against trade unionists. Since 2002, kidnappings are down 83 percent,
homicides are down 40 percent, and terrorist attacks are down 76 percent. Homicides of trade unionists declined by 79
percent between 2002 and 2007, and as of 2007 the homicide rate for trade
unionists is less than one-quarter the rate for the general population. The number of homicides of trade unionists
has declined over the same period that the number of trade unionists enrolled
in the Ministry of Interior and Justice’s (MOIJ) protection program has
increased. Already, more than 9,400
individuals, nearly one-fifth of whom are trade unionists, are taking advantage
of this protection. Last year, the
program successfully protected every union member who chose to enroll.
The Andean Trade Promotion
and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) (expanded from the Andean Trade Preference
Act in 2002) has also contributed significantly to export diversification in
beneficiary countries and strengthened the legitimate economies of the region
as an alternative to narcotics production. We are working with Congress to approve
the Colombia FTA and join the Peru FTA in establishing permanent reciprocal
trade relations with two ATPDEA beneficiaries. We have concerns about the actions of
the other two beneficiaries, Bolivia
and Ecuador, including with
respect to the treatment of U.S.
investors. We will use the short-term
extension of ATPDEA that the President signed into law last week to engage
Congress and these governments in discussions regarding their continued
eligibility under this program.
The United States’ bipartisan commitment to our
partnership with the Americas
has been reinforced through the Summit of the Americas
process. Summits have helped lay the
groundwork of the pillars of U.S.
policy toward the region—consolidating democracy, promoting prosperity,
investing in people to advance social justice, and protecting the democratic
state—through concrete programs in these areas.
The United States
looks forward to building upon these commitments with our hemispheric partners
as we begin negotiations for the Fifth Summit of the Americas
in Trinidad and Tobago
in early 2009. Looking forward to the Fifth
Summit, we must develop together concrete, measurable goals and demonstrate to
the people of our countries how the Summit
process positively affects their lives.
The President has
reaffirmed his commitment to furthering political, economic, and social
advancement in the Americas
through 12 trips to the region – more than any other U.S. President. Cabinet level visits have totaled more than
70 in the last two years and there have been more than 100 Congressional
delegations since 2001. Together,
through our bipartisan efforts, we will link democracy with development,
generate broad-based growth through freer trade and sound economic policies,
invest in the well-being of people from all walks of life, and make democracy
serve every citizen more effectively and justly.
Thank
you again for inviting me to testify today.
I would be happy to answer any questions that you have.