Monday, March 1, 2010

 

Secretary Clinton Seeks to Further Engage Latin America

 

America.gov

 

Note: On Saturday, February 27, the U.S Department of State issued the following statement by Secretary Hillary Clinton:

 

Earthquake in Chile

 

We are closely monitoring reports from Chile and across the Pacific Rim, and our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have loved ones affected by this tragedy.

The United States stands ready to provide necessary assistance to Chile in the days and weeks ahead and is coordinating closely with senior Chilean officials on the content and timing of such support. Our Embassy in Santiago has established a command center and is working to ensure the safety of any affected American citizens.

I leave for the region tomorrow and will be in close contact with President Bachelet and other leaders. Our Hemisphere comes together in times of crisis, and we will stand side by side with the people of Chile in this emergency.

 

Source: Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. State Department

 

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Clinton to Expand U.S. Engagement with Latin America

 

By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.

 

Washington, Feb. 26 — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s six-day, five-nation visit to Latin America is a continuation of U.S. efforts to engage the nations of the Western Hemisphere on a wide array of issues, says a senior U.S. diplomat.

 

Clinton will hold meetings with individual leaders and groups of leaders during her trip focusing on three sets of issues: social equity and social justice; public security and law enforcement; and democratic governance, Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela said at a news briefing February 26. He is the assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs.

 

“President Obama and the secretary have pledged a greater engagement with the countries of the Western Hemisphere. We’re working on a whole host of bilateral issues, with all of the countries in the region,” he said.

 

Clinton will travel to Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Costa Rica and Guatemala from February 28 to March 5. The trip has been built around the inauguration of President-elect José Mujica of Uruguay in Montevideo and the Pathways to Prosperity conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Valenzuela said.

 

Obama also has designated the U.S. ambassador to Uruguay, David Nelson, and Carmen Lomellin, the U.S. permanent representative to the Organization of American States, to attend the Mujica inauguration, the State Department said.

 

“Uruguay is a country with a long and strong democratic tradition,” Valenzuela said, and it is the second-largest contributor to peacekeeping operations based on population of any country in the world.

 

Uruguay’s contributions to Haiti, before the devastating earthquake that struck in January, were almost equivalent in terms of size to that of Brazil, illustrating its commitment to providing assistance to the nations of Latin America, he added.

 

Before departing for Uruguay, Clinton is scheduled to meet with Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza of the Organization of American States on February 26. Under Secretary of State William Burns is meeting with senior Brazilian officials in Brasilia before Clinton’s arrival there March 2, Valenzuela said.

 

Valenzuela said that a key ingredient in the secretary’s meetings with Latin American leaders is to seek common solutions to common problems and not a situation where the United States dictates to anyone.

 

Clinton will hold consultations with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, with whom she holds a special relationship, and also with President-elect Sebastián Piñera, who takes office March 11, he said. In Brazil, Clinton will meet with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Foreign Minister Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim in Brasilia and in Sao Paulo she will hold a town hall meeting with students at a local university.

 

Clinton will participate in the Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas conference in San Jose, Costa Rica, March 3–4. The Pathways to Prosperity initiative, which began in late 2008, is designed to link Western Hemisphere countries that are committed to democracy and open markets to promote inclusive growth, prosperity and social justice. It is designed to help countries learn from one another’s experience through the exchange of practices for spreading the benefits of economic growth.

 

“Pathways is one of the secretary’s signature initiatives. She has expanded this initiative that began earlier to add a whole host of other components, including such things as microcredit, ways in which you can empower women,” Valenzuela said. “It all fits in within the theme of trying to look for ways to enhance competitiveness and to address issues of social inclusion.”

 

Another example is corporate social responsibility in the ministerial-level talks in San Jose, he added. While in Costa Rica Clinton will hold talks with President Oscar Arias Sánchez and President-elect Laura Chinchilla.

 

On the final day of her trip in Guatemala, Clinton will hold meetings with Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom, and with Presidents Porfirio Lobo of Honduras, Mauricio Funes of El Salvador, Arias of Costa Rica, and Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic. Valenzuela said the full schedule is still being developed and there may be other presidents meeting with the group.

 

One other bilateral meeting scheduled for Clinton is a meeting with Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. The range of issues will go beyond bilateral issues, Valenzuela said, to include terrorism and Iran.

 

“These are questions that we will discuss with them,” Valenzuela said. “We will not be discussing the Falklands issue with them. This is a matter for Argentina and for Britain.”

 

“It is not a matter for the United States to make a judgment on,” he said.

 

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Merle David Kellerhals Jr. is an America.gov staff writer.  America.gov, Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.