OVERVIEW OF U.S. POLICY TOWARD LATIN
AMERICA
HEARING BEFORE THE
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN
AFFAIRS
SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE
WESTERN HEMISPHERE
MARCH 1, 2007
ERIC FARNSWORTH
VICE PRESIDENT
*** As Prepared
for Delivery ***
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the
Subcommittee. It is a privilege to be with you to discuss a topic of such
importance and timeliness. As you know, the Council of the Americas (“Council”) is a leading policy voice
on Latin American, Caribbean, and Canadian
issues. For over 40 years, our mandate has been to promote democracy,
open markets, and the rule of law throughout the Americas. Thank you for the
invitation to speak before you today.
Attention to US Interests in the Americas a
Priority
The President’s upcoming trip to Latin America is a timely
reminder of the myriad interests that the United States maintains in the region.
It provides an excellent opportunity to pursue them within the context of an
emerging friendship agenda for the region that we should be pursuing through a
variety of different means. For too long the US policy debate has tended toward
two extremes. On the one hand, perceived US neglect of the region and the
war in Iraq have led some to suggest that US relations with Latin America are
fundamentally broken, and that we should expect little in terms of regional
cooperation to achieve our goals in the hemisphere. On the other hand,
some suggest that Latin America has been unwilling to do much on its own behalf
to strengthen its position in the global economy, and has shown little to offer
the United States
beyond intending immigrants. Therefore, they say, competing global
priorities can more usefully be pursued.
Mr. Chairman, I would submit to you that both views are
wrong. The reality is more nuanced, and it is important that we
understand both our own interests in the region as well as the tools and
prospects we have for achieving them in order that US policy can be most successful
over both the short and longer terms.
In fact, Latin America is
vital to US national security interests. From border security, to energy
security, to economic security, to assistance with global issues such as
nuclear non-proliferation and peacekeeping, individual Latin American nations
have been critical, if frequently underappreciated, partners. And history
shows that we have the best chance of achieving our own interests in the Americas when
we actively promote the issues of most importance to Latin Americans
themselves: accountable representative democracy,
broad-based economic development, transparent and effective rule of law, and an
overall tone in relations that stresses mutual interests based on true
partnership.
Pursuing the US Agenda
The President’s trip provides an excellent opportunity to
advance this agenda, and we look for concrete results that bespeak continuously
maturing hemispheric relations. As well, we are also pleased the
President has said he plans to attend the APEC meetings in Peru in 2008, adding that critical nation to the
expanded White House travel itinerary and highlighting the increasingly
important relationship between Latin America, North America, and Asia. To be sure, many of the issues I will discuss
below, including energy, trade, immigration, and foreign assistance, require
Congressional action. The trip is a beginning, but Congress will
ultimately have a determinative voice in promoting the US agenda in the Americas,
and we strongly encourage the consistent pursuit of core US interests in the Americas across the longer
term.
Brazil
We believe that a key to US relations with Latin America is
the relationship with Brazil.
It is appropriate that the President will be traveling there first, and that Brazil’s
President Lula will return the visit later this month. Without putting
undue expectations on the bilateral relationship, nonetheless the President has
the opportunity to promote several issues of importance to the United States, within the context of Brazil’s
efforts to play a more robust global role. For example, US energy security would be enhanced by working
more collaboratively with Brazil
to develop and promote ethanol resources, which the Council has strongly
supported. Of course, to be most effective, the US tariff on
sugar-based ethanol would also have to be reduced or eliminated. As well,
even as Iran defies the
international community by continuing to develop its nuclear program, Brazil, through
its membership in the IAEA and given its own voluntary rejection of nuclear
weapons, can be an effective partner in these matters should it decide to play
such role. Finally, of course, global trade talks—the Doha WTO
agenda—will continue to get a boost to the extent the United States and Brazil
work together to address agriculture subsidies and market access issues
worldwide. Recent discussions at senior levels have been promising, and
they should continue to be pursued with vigor. Promoting a partnership on
ethanol would also support such a trade agenda.
Mexico
Although he travels to Mexico
last, the President will also have an excellent opportunity to make progress in
our vital relationship with Mexico.
Despite his narrow margin of victory in the elections last summer, President
Calderon has taken steps to solidify his mandate by reaching out to the
opposition while moving to address issues of common concern, including crime
and broad-based economic development. By supporting his strong start in
addressing criminal activities and in cooperating closely with the United States on law enforcement and border
control, the United States
can solidify a relationship which has been called our most important worldwide.
Of particular note, the US President’s efforts along with his counterparts in
Mexico and Canada to develop a stronger, more competitive North America to meet
the Asian economic challenge is delivering concrete results, as I saw just last
week in Ottawa during a tri-lateral meeting of
ministers to discuss the Security and Prosperity Partnership. Of course,
the bilateral issue of primary importance to Mexico
remains better management of the migration issue, on which I have testified
previously before this Subcommittee, and concrete progress to advance a
workable solution, including more rapid economic development in Southern
Mexico, would be welcomed by Mexico City and would also help
us alleviate our own migration concerns.
Colombia
In Colombia,
the President’s visit comes at an important time, when much attention is
rightly being focused on the high levels of violence there as well as recent
corruption scandals in the legislature. The President will have the
opportunity to receive assurances of the concrete steps that the Uribe government is taking to root out and bring to justice
those, whether inside or outside the government, who may have provided illicit
support for the paramilitaries or engaged in other illegal acts. More
must be done. At the same time, we must also recognize the progress that
has already been made in Colombia given US assistance under Plan Colombia, and
continue to work with the Uribe government, one of
the US’ staunchest allies in the region, to assist its efforts to end the
vicious FARC and ELN insurgencies while also assisting the fight against drug
trafficking. In this regard, passage of the pending trade agreement,
which would provide access for US exports into Colombia
on the same basis that Colombian exporters already enjoy into the United States,
is essential. By passing the pending FTA, Congress would lock in the
economic and political gains that have already been made, on a bipartisan
basis, to link Colombia
to the global economy by providing good jobs for many who would otherwise have
limited prospects outside the illegal economy. It would also provide
additional tools to support labor and gender rights. The same can be
said, frankly, for the pending agreements with Peru
and Panama.
On the other hand, failing to pass these agreements on a timely basis would
severely undercut our friends at a delicate moment, while straining US credibility
in regional affairs and global trade matters to the breaking point.
Uruguay
We applaud the President for his decision to travel to Uruguay.
Under President Vazquez, a socialist, the government there has proven to be
adept in its efforts to pursue a course of pragmatism and thoughtful steps to
engage the global economy. When the Council hosted President Vazquez at
our annual Washington Conference on the Americas
last May, he used the occasion to announce his desire to explore an enhanced
trade relationship with the United
States, which we endorse, a decision that
ultimately led to the recent signing of a trade and investment framework
agreement between the two nations. In the famous words of Deng Xiaopeng, it doesn’t matter whether the cat is black or
white…what matters is whether the cat catches mice. And President Vazquez
is charting a very interesting, independent course within South
America. We believe he has created a model for thoughtful
engagement with the United
States, a true third way, and we encourage
the further development of a relationship that may be small in practical terms,
but which is outsized in symbolic and strategic terms.
Guatemala
Finally, the President’s travel to Central America will be
an excellent opportunity to highlight passage of the Central America-Dominican Republic trade agreement, and to draw attention
to the progress made since the end of the last Central American conflict, in Guatemala in
1996. Having said that, Central America
remains an impoverished region, plagued by crime stemming from its geographic
location between the world’s largest producers of coca and the world’s largest
consumers of cocaine and other illicit drugs, as well as the organized gangs
that the region’s overwhelmed security forces struggle to contain.
Economic growth brought on by the full implementation of CAFTA will directly
assist these matters. As well, security cooperation to address street
crime within the context of human rights protections and a lack of impunity
should be an important priority for the visit, as well as support for
infrastructure development through such means as the Millennium Challenge
Corporation. After so much progress, treasure, and effort to bring peace
to the region, we can ill afford to see democratic institutions eroded by
failing to address the challenges that Guatemala and other Central
American nations can only resolve in concert with the international
community.
Conclusion
Mr. Chairman, members of the Subcommittee, the Latin America agenda is a full one. The President’s
upcoming trip is an opportunity to promote a friendship agenda of partnership
and engagement with willing regional partners. By doing so, with
realistic expectations and a commitment to long-term regional engagement, we
will have the greatest opportunity to take steps to achieve fundamental US
interests in the Americas while erecting a concrete breakwater against populist
and other regional currents inimical to US interests. Working with
Congress, the time for such actions is now.
Thank you again for the opportunity to be with you
today. I look forward to your questions.