SECRETARY KERRY TOUTS LOWERING U.S. TRADE BARRIERS

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
Remarks at the Launch of the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Partnership
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Loy Henderson Auditorium
Washington, DC
January 17, 2014

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Ben, thank you very, very much. Thanks for your incredible collaboration and leadership on all of this. Mr. Vice President, thank you for being here with us today. And Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, old pal, thank you for being here and being part of this. And Roberta Jacobson, I just – her ears should be burning because I just swore in a new class of civil servants here, and I just called her “the best of the best” and a whole bunch of things, and so – look at her, she’s – (laughter). But she is doing a spectacular job. And Evan Ryan, who’s not up here, shares efforts on this, and we have a great team. And it’s really exciting to be able to be engaged in this kind of an initiative.

I know Roberta from her time as an OAS fellow in Argentina. Really found her worldview shaped through that experience. And so she comes to this with a very personal kind of early commitment that really helps us to translate this into the program that it’s becoming and going to become. And Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, likewise. I’ve watched her for years and years and years as she and I –

MS. TOWNSEND: A hundred years. (Laughter.)

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, you know. You and I – I actually knew Kathleen when she was – that puts me in a different category, and I think Senator Biden, too. So whatever happens, I’m – (laughter) – I’m way the hell ahead of you, so relax. (Laughter.)

I’m really pleased to see that Steve Vetter is here. He leads the Partners of the Americas, and that’s created opportunities across the hemisphere for more than five decades, no small accomplishment. And I’m also happy that Steve Ferst is here from NAFSA, another organization which has done so much to promote these kinds of global exchanges.

And most of all, I want to thank the fellow to my left, the Vice President of the United States, for being with us because his presence here really underscores the Administration’s priority of creating shared prosperity across the hemisphere. On official visits to Panama, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, and throughout his five years in the White House and well before that in the 30 years or so that he was on the Foreign Relations Committee, the Vice President has helped to make this priority a reality. And because of his pragmatic and personal commitment to this kind of diplomacy, connecting young people to the future, to opportunity – which is really getting people in touch with our values and their interests, and that marriage is critical. And the Vice President is a key asset for the President of the United States in helping us to engage and reach out in this kind of a program.

He and I both believe – as does President Obama. I think if there’s any topic that the President has put sort of first among equals, if you will, it’s education. And I – we share the belief, all of us here on this podium, education is the great equalizer of the 21st century, because of the dramatic changes that have taken place in the workplace and the challenges of globalization. And the success of many of the leaders in this room is, frankly, a testament to that reality. The Costa Rican ambassador, Muni Figueres, received her BA at City College in New York. Nester Mendez, the ambassador from Belize, did graduate work right down the street at George Washington. And Jose Antonio Meade, who I met with this morning in a trilateral with our friends from Canada, he is Mexico’s foreign secretary and he received his PhD at my alma mater, Yale University.

You have no idea how many people you meet – when I go around the world representing the country and meet a foreign minister, environment minister, finance minister, prime minister, president – who with pride talk about their time in the United States at one college or another or graduate school and what it has meant to shaping their views.

All of the people I just mentioned are distinguished diplomats who come from three different nations, and they pursued very different programs of study. But for each one of them, studying abroad in the United States helped them succeed in a much more internationalized world. As President Obama said last year in Mexico, “When we study together, we learn together, we work together, and we prosper together.” And that’s why the President launched this initiative of 100,000 Strong. It’s an ambitious goal: double the two-way traffic of young people studying in our respective universities.

So I’m proud to announce today that the State Department, with our partners in the private sector, have already raised – and we’ve just begun – have already raised a total of 3.65 million to promote study abroad and cross-cultural learning across the Americas. And as I said, that’s the beginning. We’re going to continue this effort.

These investments are going to help universities develop greater capacity to support study abroad, and they will challenge and reward institutions to find innovative ways to spur greater exchanges and to encourage schools and students who haven’t traditionally participated in this to come to see its value.

I am genuinely proud that the State Department is doing this, and I want to thank Santander Bank and ExxonMobil for their contribution as members of the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Founding Circle. I want to applaud Coca-Cola, Freeport McMoRan, and the Ford Foundation for being the initiative’s first contributing partners.

It’s also fitting that we host this event on that same day that Foreign Secretary Meade and I celebrated the 20th anniversary of NAFTA. And through two decades, the vast majority of North Americans have seen incredible benefits as we’ve lowered the barriers to trade, brought talent together and investments across the lines. We now trade about $1.2 trillion a year, compared to $77 billion with Brazil a year, and about $59 billion with India. So we massively, as North America, dwarf, and we haven’t paid enough attention, frankly, to building the longer-term future by creating this kind of relationship.

So I can tell you this: No matter where we’re from, every one of us shares the same basic aspiration – opportunity, security. And we all know that that better future is within reach if you have the chance to reach for the brass ring which comes from education. We are living in a world where countless countries, including this hemisphere, have vast populations under the age of 30 – 65 percent in some, 60 percent; 50 percent under the age of 21, 40 percent under the age of 18. And if those young people who are able to be wired and see what the rest of the world is getting and doing don’t have an opportunity to reach out and touch that, we’re all going to inherit the consequences of our lack of focus and inattention.

So it’s my honor now to introduce someone who has done so much in promoting these partnerships and this prosperity across our two continents, the Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden. (Applause.)

U.S. OFFICIAL'S REMARKS AT ANNUAL CARIBBEAN-UNITED STATES SECURITY COOPERATION DIALOGUE

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
Remarks at the 4th Annual Caribbean-United States Security Cooperation Dialogue
Remarks
William J. Burns
Deputy Secretary of State
Washington, DC
December 6, 2013

Good morning. We gather here this morning on a sorrowful note – mourning with the rest of the world the passing of a truly great man, Nelson Mandela. I ask that all of you join me in a moment of silence to honor Mr. Mandela, and all that he stood for. Thank you.

It is an honor to welcome you back to Washington. I want to thank all of you -- our Caribbean partners and international donors -- for your commitment to an initiative of great importance not only for the Caribbean, but indeed for the entire Western Hemisphere.

Last month, in a speech at the Organization of American States, Secretary Kerry declared that “the era of the Monroe Doctrine is over.” He explained that in this new era, the United States seeks a relationship of equals adhering “not to a doctrine, but to the decisions that we make as partners to advance the values and interests we share.”

The Caribbean Basin Security Initiative offers a vivid example of what that kind of partnership can yield. It is a partnership based on shared responsibility and mutual respect. It is a partnership based on shared approaches to shared challenges. And it is a partnership that is achieving results -- reducing illicit trafficking, increasing public safety, and promoting social justice. But as all of you know, our task is far from complete. There is still much that we can do to build an even more effective partnership. Let me say a few words about the progress we’ve made and how we might build on that progress in the coming year.

First, we are accelerating our efforts to prevent the trafficking of narcotics, weapons, and persons. In part due to progress in other parts of the Hemisphere, the Caribbean is seeing an increase in drug trafficking… an increase in the number of criminal gangs… an increase in the number of weapons… and an increase in violence that is undermining regional stability and economic growth.

In response, we are deepening regional law enforcement cooperation so that Caribbean nations can share fingerprint and other data about suspected criminals that lead to arrests and prosecutions. We are increasing our efforts to stop arms trafficking – destroying nearly 2,000 weapons and three tons of ammunition over the past three years. We are improving maritime security through expanded training exercises with a specific focus on counternarcotics missions. And we are increasing train and equip efforts to build the capacity of law enforcement agencies and security forces throughout the Caribbean. Indeed, thanks in part to the Initiative, drug seizures are up 40-percent in the Dominican Republic and almost 300-percent in Guyana.

But we can do more. The Regional Integrated Ballistic Information Network is operational, but is not fully integrated. We can accomplish that this upcoming year. We can also do a better job of detecting and interdicting threats before they make it to our shores by improving information sharing and our maritime domain awareness.

And with multiyear plans for the maintenance and sustainment of our maritime assets, we can be sure that we will have the means to address this threat not just today or tomorrow, but for many years to come.

Second, we are making strides in our effort to prevent and reduce crime and violence, disrupt and dismantle organized gangs, and improve border security. By pooling our resources and our knowledge, we are helping Caribbean states develop a stronger and more effective justice sector. For example, this past year, Jamaica’s Organized Crime and Anti-Corruption Task Force dismantled a major criminal syndicate, arrested more than 100 suspects, and seized hundreds of vehicles and computers and tens of millions of dollars. We are also making progress in implementing civil asset forfeiture legislation to make sure law enforcement and rule of law agencies have the resources they need to do their job. Indeed, this past September, under its newly passed law, Dominica had its first successful cash seizure.

But here too we can take decisive steps forward this year. We can do a better job of sharing biometric law enforcement data regionally, through efforts like the Advanced Fingerprinting Information System. And by making sure that all Initiative members have the proper legislative authorities for the seizure of assets by all states and investing them in a dedicated security fund, we can support law enforcement efforts in the years to come.

Finally, and most importantly, we are paying special attention to the safety and security of our citizens, especially the young people who represent our hopes and dreams for the future of the Caribbean. Our main approach is prevention – making sure that we offer opportunities and services to youth so they avoid entering the juvenile justice system. To date, more than 52,000 young people have participated in Initiative programs in education and workforce development across the Caribbean. They are learning critical life and job skills, contributing positively to their communities, and working together with law enforcement to help resolve local conflicts and reduce violence.

To succeed, we need to work more closely with the private sector and our community leaders to develop the employment skills of at-risk youth and to provide them with sufficient opportunities to apply those skills. And we can work together to make sure alternative sentencing for youth is a routine practice of courts throughout the Caribbean region. This too will require building stronger connections among law enforcement, civil society, and business leaders.

We came together this year committed to building a more effective partnership. I am confident that with continued political will, and sustained focus on implementation, our partnership will only grow stronger. And as it does, we can all be certain that we will be building a more peaceful and prosperous Caribbean Basin and contributing to a more peaceful and prosperous Western Hemisphere.

Thank you all very much.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS TO ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES (OAS)

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT  
Remarks on U.S. Policy in the Western Hemisphere
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Organization of American States
Washington, DC
November 18, 2013

Mr. Secretary-General, thank you very, very much. Thank you for a wonderful welcome on this absolutely beautiful, luscious, seductive fall day, as pretty as it gets, and one that’s quickly prompting all of us to ask why we’re at work today. I’m privileged to be here. I want to thank the Inter-American Dialogue. Thank you, Michael Shifter, and thank you, Ambassador Deborah-Mae Lovell for the invitation to be here. I want to thank the Organization of American States for inviting me to speak here this morning. And it’s always wonderful to be in this remarkable, beautiful, historic building.

A few minutes ago, we were down below in the atrium and Secretary-General Insulza took me over to see the peace tree that President Taft planted more than 100 years ago. It’s a remarkable tree, and it’s a testimony to the deep roots of the OAS, which is the quintessential multilateral entity of the Americas and has its origins obviously dating back to even before that peace tree was planted. The – I was tempted to tell a story about William Howard Taft who – and a famous introduction that he made – but I’m going to spare you that particular story – (laughter) – but it’s a very funny one, and worth at some point sharing with you. I’m delighted to be in the company of former Trade Representative Carla Hills. Great to be here with you. And I’m particularly proud to be here with our Assistant Secretary Roberta Jacobson, who does such an outstanding job with respect to all of the Western Hemisphere, has come – just come back from China on a dialogue in China regarding the Western Hemisphere and Latin America particularly.

Since I became Secretary of State, I’ve had the privilege of speaking in some beautiful rooms like this in about, what, 30 countries all over the world. But I cannot tell you how nice it is to speak in one where I get to drive for two minutes instead of fly 12 hours. It makes a difference.

The fact is that this is a very important moment for all of the American states. Fifty years ago, President Kennedy spoke about the promise of the Western Hemisphere, and in what would become, sadly, his final address on foreign policy. President Kennedy expressed his hope for a hemisphere of nations, each confident in the strength of its own independence, devoted to the liberty of its citizens. If he could only see where we are today. In the half century since he spoke, more and more countries are coming closer and closer to realizing his vision and all of our hopes.

When people speak of the Western Hemisphere, they often talk about transformations that have taken place, but the truth is one of the biggest transformations has happened right here in the United States of America. In the early days of our republic, the United States made a choice about its relationship with Latin America. President James Monroe, who was also a former Secretary of State, declared that the United States would unilaterally, and as a matter of fact, act as the protector of the region. The doctrine that bears his name asserted our authority to step in and oppose the influence of European powers in Latin America. And throughout our nation’s history, successive presidents have reinforced that doctrine and made a similar choice.

Today, however, we have made a different choice. The era of the Monroe Doctrine is over. (Applause.) The relationship – that’s worth applauding. That’s not a bad thing. (Applause.) The relationship that we seek and that we have worked hard to foster is not about a United States declaration about how and when it will intervene in the affairs of other American states. It’s about all of our countries viewing one another as equals, sharing responsibilities, cooperating on security issues, and adhering not to doctrine, but to the decisions that we make as partners to advance the values and the interests that we share.

As the old proverb says, La union hace la fuerza. The union – in unity, there is strength. Through our shared commitment to democracy, we collectively present a vivid example to the world that diversity is strength, that inclusion works, that justice can reject impunity, and that the rights of individuals must be protected against government overreach and abuse. We also prove that peace is possible. You don’t need force to have fuerza. The vision that we share for our countries is actually within our grasp, but we have to ask ourselves some tough and important questions in order to secure our goal.

First and foremost, will we together promote and protect the democracy, security, and peace that all the people of the Americas deserve? Second, will we seize the chance to advance prosperity throughout the Western Hemisphere and educate the young people who will drive the economies of the future? And third, will we together meet a responsibility that requires more strength, and thus more unity than ever before, and thereby effectively address the threat posed by climate change?

Now, how we answer these questions will determine whether or not we can actually become the hemisphere of nations that President Kennedy envisioned, each country existing side-by-side, confident, strong, and independent and free. The first question is actually answered by the broad protection of democratic values that have become the rule and not the exception within the Western Hemisphere. In a few short decades, democratic representation has, for the most part, displaced the repression of dictators. But the real challenge of the 21st century in the Americas will be how we use our democratic governments to deliver development, overcome poverty, and improve social inclusion.

Last summer, I traveled to Brasilia, and as I was leaving my meeting with the Foreign Minister, I was greeted by a group of protestors. Now, I don’t speak Portuguese – my wife does, I don’t – but I did understand the four-letter words that they yelled because they were in English. (Laughter.) And as jarring as it can be sometimes, that moment was actually the picture of a healthy democracy.

And today, it is our shared democratic values that have enabled us to weather challenges like the understandable concerns around the surveillance disclosures, concerns that prompt us all to figure out how we’re going to get through and build a stronger foundation for the future based on our common democratic values and beliefs.

Successful democracies depend on all citizens having a voice and on respecting those voices, and all governments having the courage and the capacity to listen to those voices. We can be immensely proud, I think, of this hemisphere’s democratic trajectory and of the institutions that we built in order to hold ourselves to the future and to be accountable. That is the difference, and to hold ourselves to the OAS Charter.

And we also express our concern when democratic institutions are weakened, as we’ve seen in Venezuela recently. In March of this year, the United States joined with many of you right here in this very room, as a matter of fact, to affirm the independence and the mandate of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

We have also joined together to support the OAS electoral observation missions throughout the hemisphere, including the one for the election in Honduras next week. All of us here have an opportunity to help assure that this election is transparent, inclusive, peaceful, and fair, and that the process is one that the Honduran people could actually rely on in order to express their will. We – all of us – must do everything that we can to support the OAS efforts to provide assistance and impartially observe the elections. There is no better expression of our strength and unity than following through on that effort.

We also know well that the critical ingredient of a successful democracy is how we provide for our security at home for all of our citizens. Safe streets, safe neighborhoods, safe communities, really do depend on upholding the rule of law.

In June, I went to Guatemala and I met with Attorney General Paz y Paz. She has made extraordinary progress in combating corruption and organized crime, protecting women from violence, and prosecuting human rights violations.

In August, I traveled to Bogota and I saw a remarkable demonstration of Colombia’s sacrifice and progress in the fight against illegal drugs and violence, a fight which has actually made it possible for President Santos’s courageous effort to achieve sustainable and just peace.

I think it is undeniable what our unity of purpose is. Step by step, making our democracies stronger and our people more secure – in Guatemala, in Colombia, and throughout the Americas. And for the most part, I think you’ll agree with me the Western Hemisphere is unified in its commitment to pursuing successful democracies in the way that I describe.

But one exception, of course, remains: Cuba. Since President Obama took office, the Administration has started to search for a new beginning with Cuba. As he said just last week, when it comes to our relationship with Cuba, we have to be creative, we have to be thoughtful, and we have to continue to update our policies.

Our governments are finding some cooperation on common interests at this point in time. Each year, hundreds of thousands of Americans visit Havana, and hundreds of millions of dollars in trade and remittances flow from the United States to Cuba. We are committed to this human interchange, and in the United States we believe that our people are actually our best ambassadors. They are ambassadors of our ideals, of our values, of our beliefs.

And while we also welcome some of the changes that are taking place in Cuba which allow more Cubans to be able to travel freely and work for themselves, these changes should absolutely not blind us to the authoritarian reality of life for ordinary Cubans. In a hemisphere where citizens everywhere have a right to be able to choose their leaders, Cubans uniquely do not. In a hemisphere where people can criticize their leaders without fear of arrest or violence, Cubans still cannot. And if more does not change soon, it is clear that the 21st century will continue, unfortunately, to leave the Cuban people behind.

We look forward to the day – and we hope it will come soon – when the Cuban Government embraces a broader political reform agenda that will enable its people to freely determine their own future. The entire hemisphere – all of us – share an interest in ensuring that Cubans enjoy the rights protected by our Inter-American Democratic Charter, and we expect to stand united in this aspiration. Because in every country, including the United States, each day that we don’t press forward on behalf of personal freedoms and representative government, we risk sliding backwards. And none of us can accept that.

Even as we celebrate the democratic values that have spread throughout Latin America, we must also acknowledge where those values are being challenged. After all, timely elections matter little if they are not really free and fair with all political parties competing on a level playing field. A separation of powers is of little comfort if independent institutions are not able to hold the powerful to account. And laws that guarantee freedom of the press, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion are of little consequence if they are not enforced. Democracy is not a final destination; it is an endless journey. And every day, all of us must renew our decision to actually move it forward. And we are no less immune to that reality here in the United States than anywhere else; in fact, in recent days, perhaps even more susceptible to it.

We’ve also – all of us – got important decisions to make about how we bring about shared economic prosperity – the prosperity to which we all aspire. To start with, educational opportunity, above all, must be a priority. It is only with widely available, high-quality education that our workforce, the workforce of the hemisphere, will be equipped for the jobs of the future. Education, as we all know, opens up other doors as well. As former Senator J. William Fulbright said: “Having people who understand your thought is much greater security than another submarine.” That’s the idea behind the State Department’s Fulbright exchanges. And it is the idea behind President Obama’s 100,000 Strong in the Americas initiative, which is aimed at increasing the flow of exchange students in both directions here in the Western Hemisphere.

But my friends, education, as we know, is only the first step. We must also press even harder to help create jobs and economic opportunity for our young people for the day after graduation comes and goes. Our hemisphere is already, as the Secretary General mentioned in his introductory comments, a thriving market of nearly a billion people. Over the past decade, the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean grew at a rate of 4 percent a year. The United States is proud to play a role in this. Just last week, we announced more than $98 million in private financing for 4,000 small- and medium-sized businesses throughout the hemisphere in order to encourage this energy and create it and keep it moving.

And the kind of growth that the region is experiencing fueled by sound economic policies, innovative social programs, and increased international trade and investment – that growth has dramatically improved the lives of all of our citizens. In the past decade alone as trade has grown between the United States and Latin America – nearly tripled – more than 73 million people, as the Secretary General mentioned, have been lifted out of poverty. Think about that. That’s more people than live in Canada and Argentina combined. It’s an extraordinary story, and it’s a story of success. It’s a story of policies that are working but need to be grown, not moved away from. Imagine what is possible if we continue to open up trade and investment in our children’s futures.

When I was a senator, I was very proud and pleased to vote to ratify both the Colombia and the Panama Trade Promotion Agreements, which President Obama signed into law. And we’re already seeing the growth that these agreements made possible. During the first year of the U.S.-Colombia FTA, nearly 800 Colombian companies of all sizes entered the U.S. market for the very first time. These new exporters sold their goods and services in more than 20 different American states. And today, Vice President Biden is traveling to Panama to visit the canal expansion project that will continue to spark increased trade throughout the region.

Under President Obama’s leadership, we’ve also helped expand the region’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, taking it beyond Chile and Peru to include Canada and Mexico. And we have redoubled our commitment to NAFTA, the greatest single step toward shared prosperity in this hemisphere, which I am pleased to say also I voted for at a time when I think people remember it was very contentious and very difficult. But all of us know – can’t rest on those agreements alone. That’s not enough. We know we can do more. And if we do more, the Western Hemisphere will continue to be a leader in the global markets for decades to come.

One of the opportunities that is staring at us that I just mentioned a moment ago about these many opportunities – one of those opportunities is a $6 trillion market and has 4 billion users. I’m talking about the new energy market – biggest market in human history. The market that created such extraordinary wealth in the 1990s where in America, in the United States, every single quintile of American income earner, from the bottom right through to the top – everybody saw their incomes go up. And we all know it was a time when we balanced the budget three years in a row. It was a time of extraordinary growth.

The market that drove that growth was a $1 trillion market with 1 billion users – the high-tech computer, home computer model. That was the market – technology. The energy market is six times that market. And the 4 billion users today will grow to 6 billion, ultimately 9 billion between now and 2050. It will help us to answer the third and final question that I mentioned – whether or not we will leave to our children and grandchildren a planet that is healthy, clean, and sustainable. Actually, this is not so much a question as it really is a compelling challenge, the challenge of a generation, maybe even the challenge of a century, maybe even the challenge of life itself on the planet if you digest adequately all that science is telling us today.

More than two decades ago, I visited Brazil as part of the U.S. delegation to the Rio Summit. This was the first time that the global community came together united to try to address climate change. It was also the trip where I got to know an amazing Portuguese-speaking woman named Teresa, who three years later would become my wife. So I like Rio. It’s a good place. (Laughter.)

But Teresa and I still talk about a young 12-year-old girl from Vancouver named Severn Suzuki, who took the stage at that summit in order to, as she put it, quote, “fight for her future.” Twenty-one years later, I still remember what she said about climate change, as follows: “I’m only a child,” she told us, “yet I know we are all in this together and should act as one single world towards one single goal.” Severn understood something that a lot of folks today need to grasp, something still missing from our political debate, like the saying goes that I said a moment ago, La union hace la fuerza – we need that more than ever now with respect to this challenge of climate change. Decades later, we have a lot to learn from that young woman.

The Americas have become the new center of our global energy map. Our hemisphere supplies now one-fourth of the world’s crude oil and nearly one-fourth of its coal. We support over a third of global electricity. And what that means is that we have the ability and the great responsibility to influence the way that the entire world is powered. To do this, it will require each of our nations to make some very fundamental policy choices. We need to embrace the energy future over the energy of the past.

And I am well aware – I’ve been through these battles in the United States Senate – I know how tough it is. I know how many different industries and how many powerful interests there are to push back. But we, people, all of us have a responsibility to push back against them. Climate change is real. It is happening. And if we don’t take significant action as partners, it will continue to threaten not only our environment and our communities, but as our friends from the Caribbean and other island nations know, it will threaten potentially our entire way of life, certainly theirs.

The challenge of climate change will cost us far more for its negative impact than the investment that we need to make today in order to meet the challenge. Every economic model shows that, and yet we shy away. Our economies have yet to factor in the monetary costs of doing nothing or doing too little. The devastating effects that droughts can have on farmers’ harvests; the hefty price tag that comes with rebuilding communities after every catastrophe, after every hurricane or tropical storm tears through them and leaves a trail of destruction in their wake; the extraordinary cost of fires that didn’t burn as ferociously and as frequently as they do today because of the increased dryness; the increasing signs of loss of water for the Himalayas as the glaciers shrink; and therefore, as the great rivers of China and other countries on one side and India on the other are threatened as billions of people see their food and food security affected.

These are real challenges, and they’re not somewhere in the future. We’re already seeing them now. For all of these reasons, combating climate change is an urgent priority for President Obama and myself, and we know that we are one of the largest contributors to the problem. There are about 20 nations that contribute over 90 percent of the problem. That’s why President Obama unveiled a new Climate Action Plan to drive more aggressive domestic policy on climate change than ever before. And the good news is the agenda that he’s put together is one specifically designed to be able to be done by administrative order so you don’t have to wait for Congress to act.

Many other nations in the Western Hemisphere are also working hard to do their part as well. And I’m proud to say that as part of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas, the United States has collaborated with more than two dozen countries, Latin America, and the Caribbean in order to support effective programs to address the reality of this grave threat. But if we take advantage, my friends, this is not a threat where there is not a solution. We have a solution, a number of them staring us in the face. We just don’t make the political decision because of these forces that push back.

We know what the alternatives are. We know the advantage of the enormous breakthroughs that are happening in clean energy. And if we share expertise and deploy new technologies throughout the region, if we connect the electrical grids throughout the Americas, then we can share and sell power to each other at different points of time in different ways with a more vibrant marketplace. If we harness the power of the wind in Mexico and the biomass in Brazil, the sunshine in Chile and Peru, the natural gas in the United States and Argentina, then the enormous benefits for local economies, public health, and of course climate change mitigation could reach every corner of the Americas and beyond.

This is what a new inter-American partnership is really all about. The Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho, one of the most widely read authors in the world, wrote “When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change.” So the question for all of us is: Will we have the courage to make the tough choices and the willingness to change? Fifty years from today, on the hundredth anniversary of President Kennedy’s call to the region, will the hemisphere of nations that he dreamed about become a reality?

Many years ago, the United States dictated a policy that defined the hemisphere for many years after. We’ve moved past that era. And today, we must go even further. All of the things that we’ve talked about today – the future of our democracies, the strength of our democracies, the development of those democracies, the inclusion of all of our people in a system with accountability and without impunity for the defections, our shared prosperity and all that brings us, the education of our children, the future of our planet, our response to climate change – all of these things do not depend on the next administration or the next generation. They depend on us now.

And the question is: will we work as equal partners in order to achieve our goals? It will require courage and a willingness to change. But above all, it will require a higher and deeper level of cooperation between us, all of us together, as equal partners in this hemisphere. That is the way we will make the difference, and that is the way we will live up to our responsibility.

Thank you very much. (Applause.)

U.S.-BARBADOS RELATIONS

Photo:  Westindia Day Celebration .   Credit:  Wikimedia.
FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
U.S. Relations With Barbados
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
Fact Sheet
June 4, 2012
The United States and Barbados have had friendly bilateral relations since Barbados' independence from the United Kingdom in 1966. Barbados and U.S. authorities cooperate closely in the fight against narcotics trafficking and other forms of transnational crime. The two countries have signed a mutual legal assistance treaty; an updated extradition treaty covering all common offenses, including conspiracy and organized crime; and a maritime law enforcement agreement.

U.S. Assistance to Barbados
The United States has supported the government's efforts to expand the country's economic base and to provide a higher standard of living for its citizens. U.S. assistance is channeled primarily through multilateral agencies such as the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, as well as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID's Eastern Caribbean program, which includes Barbados, has focused on promoting economic growth through an improved business and investment climate, helping governments and the private sector compete in the global marketplace, combating HIV/AIDS, and protecting fragile ecosystems. Barbados receives counternarcotics and youth development assistance from the United States under the regional Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) and is eligible to benefit from the U.S. military's exercise-related and humanitarian assistance construction program.

Bilateral Economic Relations
Barbados has an open economy with a marked dependence on imports, 40% of which come from the United States. Barbados is a beneficiary of the U.S. Caribbean Basin Initiative, which aims to facilitate the economic development and export diversification of the Caribbean Basin economies by providing countries with duty-free access to the U.S. market for most goods.

Barbados's Membership in International Organizations
As a small nation, the primary thrust of Barbados' diplomatic activity has been within international organizations. Barbados and the United States belong to a number of the same international organizations, including the United Nations, Organization of American States, Inter-American Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and World Trade Organization.

U.S. OFFICIAL’S REMARKS AT OAS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

FROM :  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Remarks to the 42nd OAS General Assembly
Remarks Roberta S. Jacobson
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs As prepared for delivery
Cochabamba, Bolivia
June 4, 2012
(Remarks delivered by Ambassador Carmen Lomellin, United States Permanent Representative to the OAS)
I want to begin by thanking President Evo Morales, Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca, Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, and Assistant Secretary Albert Ramdin for organizing and hosting this 42nd General Assembly of the Organization of the American States.

It is a pleasure to be with all of you in Cochabamba to advance this dialogue that is so important to all the citizens of our hemisphere, and indeed, all the citizens of the world.

Mr. Chair, the United States is deeply committed to food security. Shortly after taking office, President Obama identified addressing global hunger and food insecurity as one of the top priorities of this administration. Over the past three years, the United States has launched an unprecedented effort to forge a strong and swift global response to alleviate the misery of chronic hunger that affects an estimated 1 billion people around the world.

This global campaign began with the commitments made by President Obama and our partners at the G-8 Summit in L’Aquila, Italy in July 2009. The United States pledged $3.5 billion over three years to fight global hunger that helped to leverage and align resources from other partners and donors. Our efforts ultimately mobilized more than $22 billion for a global food security initiative to revitalize investment in the agricultural sectors of poor countries and increase food supply for the neediest among us.

In May 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched “Feed the Future,” a comprehensive effort by the United States to enhance food security. We have focused on investing in nutrition and agricultural development to reduce hunger, while addressing critical emergency needs through humanitarian food assistance. At the Camp David Summit last month, President Obama announced the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, a shared commitment to achieve sustained and inclusive agricultural growth in Africa to raise 50 million people out of poverty over the next 10 years, in partnership with the G-8 countries, Africa’s leadership, and private sector support.

President Obama has described combating food insecurity as a moral imperative, an economic imperative, and a security imperative. And this imperative extends to the Americas, as our Bolivian hosts have so rightly recognized. Despite marked progress in reducing levels of malnutrition, the stark fact remains that the levels of food security in our hemisphere still do not match our natural abundance. Our region is now a major agricultural supplier to the world, but every day millions of people in the Americas still struggle to put food on the table, and every night too many children still go to bed hungry.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, an estimated 53 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean were undernourished in 2010. And the repercussions of food insecurity go far beyond its impacts on health and life expectancy. Food scarcity can deepen social tensions, contribute to levels of crime and violence, and even undermine the quality of democratic governance. As a noted French essayist wrote nearly two hundred years ago, “The destiny of nations depends on the manner in which they feed themselves.” Today, those words still ring true.

If we can help the rural poor produce more food and sell it in thriving local, regional, and global markets, we can decrease chronic hunger today and build an ample food supply for tomorrow.

Our flagship “Feed the Future” program targets investments in poor rural areas of three focus countries in the Americas: Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti. Over the next five years, these programs will assist almost one million vulnerable women, children, and family members—mostly smallholder farmers—escape hunger and poverty. We have advanced with Brazil our trilateral partnership in Honduras and Haiti, and we salute Brazil's leadership in our work together to improve health and food security in Africa. This cooperation provides concrete examples of how, working as equal partners, we can seek to spark positive economic growth that allows people and nations to rise from poverty.

Indeed, in addressing the problem of food security, we need to build on the important policy lessons learned over the past two decades. Governments must create sound policy environments that foster clear property rights and encourage domestic and foreign investment. Farmers need to have access to improved agricultural technology and the training to use it effectively. And, critically, real food security depends on lowering barriers to agricultural trade. While we all recognize that each government in this room, including my own, faces important political and economic constraints to further opening trade in agricultural products, this step would contribute markedly to hemispheric food security.

Moreover, fighting hunger is not an isolated challenge. Our efforts can only be sustainable when based in a strategy to promote socially inclusive economic growth. And this will require partnership between donor and partner countries, civil society, international organizations, and the local and multinational private sector.
Mr. Chair, the United States is certain that by working together, the members of the OAS can contribute collectively to food security at both the hemispheric and global levels. But to achieve that ambition, we must safeguard the political and economic progress that we have made to date.

In our work to contribute to global common goods – on issues as diverse as food security, climate change, or combating transnational crime – we know that our common cause does not compromise sovereignty, but safeguards it. As Secretary Clinton has said, “We must turn the Americas, already a community of shared history, geography, culture, and values, into something greater – a shared platform for global success.” That is why we must strive to strengthen the underpinnings of our democratic societies – good governance, responsive institutions, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms – that are essential elements of democracy and the founding principles of this Organization. As enshrined in the Inter-American Democratic Charter, we are bound to uphold the dignity of all persons by honoring their human, political, and civil rights to participate fully and freely in our societies.

This is a useful moment to remind ourselves that the Charter indicates that “freedom of expression and of the press are essential components in the exercise of democracy.” When citizens or media outlets speak out, dissent, or criticize, they are ensuring that this essential component is functioning as designed. We celebrate that our hemisphere has codified this profound truth, and undertake to ensure that these freedoms are always preserved. We should collectively value this record and seek to build upon it.

At this General Assembly in Cochabamba, we will adopt a Social Charter that, as a complement to the Inter-American Democratic Charter, will improve economic opportunity, social inclusion, and respect for human rights.

We will pass a resolution that continues the discussion on strengthening the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and we will agree on a document that ensures the autonomy and independence of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

We must stand together in full and robust support for these accomplishments along with our inter-American institutions and principles. In recent months, our discussions have sometimes seemed as if we are seeking to weaken the fabric that binds us together in the inter-American system, rather than focusing on how the countries of the Americas can work together to address the issues that most concern our citizens. I sincerely hope that this General Assembly will mark an inflection point that will guide us back to our core values and how we can work collectively to advance them.

Mr. Chair, let me conclude by reaffirming the commitment of the United States, and my personal commitment, to work with all of you in the spirit of genuine and equal partnership, to advance liberty and prosperity for all the citizens of the hemisphere.
Thank you.