A New Agenda for the Americas

by U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell

(published in the Sunday Observer January 11, 2004)  

At the Quebec Summit of the Americas in April 2001, the democratically-elected leaders of the Western Hemisphere pledged "to strengthen representative democracy, promote good governance and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms". They also determined to "create greater prosperity and expand economic opportunities while fostering social justice and the realisation of human potential".

Since then, our governments have been working together to meet those goals, and we have made progress. But we have much more to do. Many countries have faced severe economic, political or social crises in recent years. Poverty remains unacceptably high and growth unacceptably low in too many places. Democratic institutions in much of the hemisphere remain weak and in need of reform.

To continue the work begun in Quebec, President Bush and his fellow leaders of the Americas meet this week (tomorrow and Tuesday) in Monterrey, Mexico. The Monterrey Summit's agenda includes stimulating economic growth, promoting good governance, fighting corruption and investing in people, especially in education and health. The summit's overarching aim is to reinvigorate our collaboration by setting practical goals that can improve rapidly the daily lives of people in the region.

To encourage broad-based growth, we will help small businessmen, farmers, and working families. Small and medium-sized businesses account for 80 per cent of the economic activity in Latin America and the Caribbean and generate 60 per cent of all jobs. We seek to reduce or remove altogether the obstacles to starting a small business, and to increase the availability of capital for business start-ups and expansions.

We will aid small farmers by ensuring they have clear legal title to their land, and greater access to credit based on that equity. We will make the sending of remittances from those working abroad both easier and less expensive. We will also bring financial services to working families. In short, our aim is to make the free market system work fairly for all the region's citizens.

At the summit, we will also take new, practical steps to enforce the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption. We will deny safe haven to fugitive corrupt officials and their assets. The US Congress has made it a felony for a US citizen to bribe a foreign public official, and we will revoke the visas of foreign officials we believe to be corrupt. We continue to work with our regional partners to improve their ability to prosecute white-collar criminals. We are determined that public treasure be used only for public benefit, not private gain.

We will also press for agreement to improve the region's schools and health care systems. Even the best school systems in Latin America and the Caribbean rank in the bottom quarter in worldwide tests. This is unacceptable. Our children need a high-quality education to succeed in a 21st-century economy. If we do not find the resources to invest in that education today, we will pay a far higher toll in lost earnings and lower living standards tomorrow. As a first step, we will urge our partners to draft well-defined educational standards and to institute regular testing to monitor progress.

Finally, we cannot ignore the public health challenge that is hard upon us. HIV/AIDS is a major threat in the Americas today, with nearly three million people in the region already infected. President Bush's US$15 billion Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and other US assistance will bolster the region's health care systems. As important, however, we will urge our partners to undertake a comprehensive programme to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, for our help with resources alone cannot do the job.

Monterrey is a fitting venue for the Summit of the Americas. It was there in 2002 that President Bush described the new US approach to development aid with the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), based on what is now called the Monterrey Consensus. Working in partnership with governments, communities and groups committed to good governance, the MCA is committed to investing in people and promoting economic freedom and opportunity for all.

Those are the same principles that motivate our Western Hemisphere strategy. We want all the people of the Americas to grow together in peace and freedom. To achieve that, it is not enough that politicians and diplomats pledge and pontificate. The Monterrey Summit must create real opportunities for people to improve their lives. This, ultimately, is the test that the Summit of the Americas must pass, and we are doing all we can to insure that it does so.