SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S REMARKS WITH COLOMBIAN FOREIGN MINISTER HOLGUIN

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 
Remarks With Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Bogota, Colombia
August 12, 2013

MODERATOR: (Via Interpreter) Good afternoon. The meeting between Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia, and the Secretary of State, John Kerry, and Maria Angela Holguin, Minister of Foreign Affairs has just concluded.

FOREIGN MINISTER HOLGUIN: (Via interpreter) Good afternoon to all of you. First of all, I should like to extend a welcome to John Kerry, Secretary of State, on his visit to Colombia. And we are very grateful to him for having chosen Colombia for the first trip to the region that he has carried out. It’s the first time that Secretary Kerry comes to Colombia, and it’s a great honor for us to have him here. It has been a very beneficial meeting, in addition to other meetings that he held throughout the morning. He met with President Juan Manuel Santos and also with a group of members of the Colombian delegation as well as the U.S. delegation.

We would like to tell Secretary of State Kerry and the United States how grateful Colombia is for the support received throughout recent years in our struggle to achieve peace, in strengthening the military in Colombia, and the work done to have the conditions of security that Colombia has nowadays. The support from the USAID and Secretary Kerry’s support in the peace process – he was able to talk with the President of the advances made in the peace conversations, and we are grateful for the interest shown by him in something that is so very necessary to Colombians.

In the same way, the cooperation that we’ve received from USAID – that we’ve received from the United States in different programs, such as those that we have to strengthen certain institutions, the rural areas, which are so very important for security in Colombia, and to achieve peace in these places.

In the same manner, we will have high-level meetings in a short while on topics that are very important to both countries – energy, science and technology, the environment. We were talking about how beneficial it would be to work together on climate change, and we’re very committed here in Colombia in order to participate in multilateral institutions. We were also able to speak about the situation concerning drugs. The report submitted by the OAS during the recent meeting of the OAS Assembly and how to take up again the same talks at UN level and at OAS level in the conference that will be held in 2016.

I would like to congratulate Secretary Kerry for the effort made in being able to work for peace between Israel and Palestine. The talks, which have started up again and on which he has been working so arduously, which requires such a degree of commitment, we hope that they will be very successful. The peace efforts made in different parts of the world are very important in order to be able to live in our world in conditions which are acceptable, as we have seen in the case of Colombia. And this is very important for the quality of life of Colombians.

It’s been a very useful visit. We hope that the rest of your trip will be equally successful and we hope to see each other again in Washington in September.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you. Well, thank you very much, Foreign Minister Holguin. It’s a great pleasure for me to be able to be here with the Foreign Minister. We’ve gotten to know each other a little bit both in person at the other meetings and on the telephone, and I am personally very, very appreciative for her cooperative approach to the issues that we both need to work on and do work on. I’ve been traveling to Latin America for many years now, particularly starting in 1985 during a time of great difficulty and trouble in places like El Salvador and Nicaragua. I was never able to come to Bogota before, Colombia, and so I’m really happy to be here in this beautiful city in a country that has an incredible story to tell to the world about transformation. And I am very appreciative to President Santos and to Foreign Minister Holguin for their very, very warm and generous welcome to this city, but also for their very cooperative attitude, the constructive approach that we had to any number of issues today.

The truth is Colombia and the United States agree on so many different parts of our agenda today, and we have built a very, very strong relationship on shared values and on common interests. I was a member of the United States Senate starting in 1985, so I came to the challenge as Chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee during the early part of my tenure in the Senate when there was a very tough set of choices facing Colombia. Today I come here to congratulate as completely as I can the people of Colombia who have together joined in an amazing transformation. This is one of the great stories not just of this hemisphere, but really of the world, where we see so many governments that are challenged today, some of whom are failing and some have failed. Colombia is a success story, and the United States of America is proud of whatever small part we’ve been able to be sharing with our friends in Colombia in an effort to get where we are, moving towards, hopefully, stability throughout the region.

I was particularly pleased this morning to be able to meet with Colombia’s – the Government of Colombia’s peace negotiators and also to be able to speak with President Santos about peace efforts. The Santos Administration has undertaken a very courageous and very necessary and very imaginative effort to seek a political solution to one of the world’s longest conflicts, and any negotiation that can help to strengthen Colombia’s democracy, that promotes respect for rule of law and human rights, and achieves an enduring peace that the people of Colombia can share in is a welcome development, and the United States of America will support that peace.

The United States partnership with Colombia extends far beyond our mutual interests. It’s not just about our trade, it’s not just about our support in Plan Colombia or for the peace process. On investment, on many other issues, now more than ever, because of our partnership, we’re able to create good-paying jobs. And that is tied to our success – both of us – in being able to export our goods around the world. Latin America’s remarkably dynamic markets with its large and increasing middle class of consumers are critical to growing our economy in the United States as well as to supporting quality jobs. This works for both of us. It’s good for Colombia, it’s good for the region, it’s good for the United States, it’s good for the hemisphere. And that’s why the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement is so important.

I was pleased to work on that agreement as a member of the Finance Committee. I supported it. I am glad that it is now the law, and I am delighted that we can now say that it is having a positive impact. I want to thank President Santos, I want to thank our own Ambassador Mike McKinley, who is soon leaving here to take another post, for their important work in helping to complete this agreement. And it is high-standard agreements like the free trade agreement with Colombia that, frankly, will ensure that workers and companies in both countries have a level playing field on which to be able to compete for their customers. It’s no accident that trade with Colombia has gone up about 10 percent since the passage, and that means more jobs, it means more money for families here in Colombia, it means more people moving into the middle class.

It also reminds us that countries like Colombia that have moved so far in so little time are open for business, not just with the United States and in this hemisphere but with the world. And increasingly, Colombia is playing more of a role on a global basis. The Government of Colombia has been a superb partner with us on issues of trade, but it has also played a regional role in the Pacific Alliance. And the United States has a free trade agreement with all four members of the Pacific Alliance, so we were very pleased to be admitted last month as an official observer. And I want to thank the Foreign Minister for her help in making that happen.

The United States and Colombia also share an interest in ensuring that economic growth is broad based. We want economic growth to be shared with everybody up and down the economic ladder. We want it to be socially inclusive. And that is why we are working together through the WEAmericas Initiative in order to break down the barriers that women face in trying to start and grow a small or medium sized business. We’re advancing our commitment to sustainable growth through the Connecting Americas 2022 initiative, which seeks to provide universal access to reliable, affordable, and clean electricity.

The United States also supports Colombia’s efforts to promote human rights and rule of law. The Santos Administration has passed a landmark victim’s law and it has taken important steps to improve labor rights through the Labor Rights Action Plan. President Santos has made clear that violence against labor organizers, human rights defenders, community leaders, and elected officials cannot and will not be tolerated. And that is a commitment that we in the United States greatly appreciate and respect. We support Colombia’s efforts to ensure accountability and to protect those who are working to make Colombia a more peaceful, democratic, and secure state.

We also want to thank Colombia for its work at the United Nations and the Organization of American States, where they have been working to protect democratic freedoms and human rights. And we look forward to seeing continued progress, momentum hopefully, on the U.S.-Colombia Action Plan for Racial and Ethnic Equality. This focuses our efforts on social inclusion and that is to ensure that everyone has access to the opportunities that society affords us.

So Madam Foreign Minister, thank you again for your gracious hospitality. Thank you most importantly for your commitment to strengthening this important partnership. I look forward to working with you in the months and years ahead, and we’re grateful for the journey that the people of Colombia are sharing with the rest of the world and for the progress that Colombia has made.

Thank you. Be happy to take some questions.

MODERATOR: (In Spanish.)

QUESTION: Thank you, (inaudible). Following reports last month that the U.S. National Security Agency had intercepted telephone and internet communications in Colombia, your government issued a strong statement rejecting what it called espionage and violations of privacy and international conventions, and said you would ask the United States for an explanation. In your conversations today with Secretary Kerry, did you and President Santos explore those issues? Are you now confident you have a full understanding of them and have you asked for any further action by the United States to stop or otherwise adjust that surveillance?

And to Secretary Kerry, what kind of reassurance were you able to give Colombia about the nature and extent of past and future U.S. surveillance in the hemisphere?

FOREIGN MINISTER HOLGUIN: (Via interpreter) Today we did touch on this subject with Secretary Kerry, but beyond this, the cooperation between the two countries from the time this came up in the face of public opinion has been very important. I was able to talk to Ambassador McKinley from the outset and was a visit paid by people from the Ministry of Defense and people who work in the intelligence community as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – visited Washington, and an important meeting was held which turned out to be very positive. We wanted to gain more information on the issue, and I think in a very positive fashion and very constructive at the same time, this is important for Colombia. All the assistance in this respect has been relevant, to say the least, and we hope that this will be done within the framework of bilateral and legal conditions in the relationship that we have. And we have received the necessary assurances in order to continue to work on this.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much, Foreign Minister. I appreciate that comment and I appreciated the conversation we had, which was very, very straightforward. Frankly, we work on a huge number of issues and this was, in fact, a very small part of the overall conversation and one in which I am confident that I was able to explain thoroughly precisely how this has received the support of all three branches of our government, it has been completely conducted under our Constitution and the law, and how we have respected the concerns of other countries and will continue to. And the President has taken great steps in the last days with his press conference most recently to reassure people of United States intentions here.

I think it’s very obvious to everybody that this is a dangerous world we’re living in. It’s very, very different from anything we’ve known since September of 2011 – of September 11th of 2001. And we are necessarily engaged in a very complex effort to prevent terrorists from taking innocent lives in many different places. Most recently, we had threats, as we know, to our Embassy in Yemen. We responded appropriately, I think, in an effort to protect those people. But that’s the only thing that we’re engaged in is an effort to prevent the devastating, completely unprovoked, totally reckless and wanton taking of life that occurs with car bombs and suicide vests and IEDs and other mechanisms of death. And the United States will share with every country in the world our best efforts and calls on every country in the world to join us in an effort to turn people towards a peaceful resolution of disputes and towards a ending of this kind of wanton violence. And everything that we do will be geared in an appropriate way to work with our friends and our partners to respect their laws and to do this in a way that meets the highest standards of expectations of rights and privacy.

MODERATOR: (In Spanish.)

QUESTION: Secretary Kerry, I want to ask you about one of the things that the Foreign Minister brought up, the Middle East Peace Process. Have you spoken personally with Prime Minister Netanyahu about their settlement announcements? I thought that everyone agreed at the beginning of this that they weren’t going to make any kind of statements that would fuel the conflict. And I know you’ve always said that there’s going to be some bumps in the road, but this seems like a pretty big speed bump here right at the onset of the talks that are supposed to reconvene on Wednesday.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I have a telephone call in to Prime Minister Netanyahu right now and I talked to Minister Livni just earlier this morning, and our people are on the ground in Jerusalem, in Israel, meeting and talking with all of the interested parties right now.

First of all, let me convey to Prime Minister Netanyahu our hopes that he has a very quick recovery from this surgery that he underwent the day before yesterday, and I expect to talk to him very, very shortly.

The announcements with respect to settlements were to some degree expected because we have known that there was going to be a continuation of some building in certain places, and I think the Palestinians understand that. I think one of the announcements or maybe one of them was outside of that level of expectation, and that’s being discussed right now.

I do not believe it will become what you call a speed bump in that sense. We are working through these modalities every day as we go forward. As you know, or as the world I hope knows, the United States of America views all of the settlements as illegitimate. That is the policy of the United States. And we have communicated that policy very clearly to our friends in Israel and we have worked very closely with the Palestinians in order to try to make certain that everybody understands what the road forward will be like.

I think what this underscores, actually, is the importance of getting to the table, getting to the quickly, and resolving the questions with respect to settlements, which are best resolved by solving the problem of security and borders. Once you have security and borders solved, you have resolved the question of settlements. And so I urge all the parties not to react adversely or to provoke adversely, whichever party may do one or the other in any way, but to understand the importance of the moment that everyone has achieved here, and that is to move forward quietly, carefully, deliberately to negotiate the major issues. With the negotiation of major issues, these kinds of hot-point issues really become much easier to – in fact, they are eliminated as the kind of flashpoints that they may be viewed as today.

I expect to talk to Prime Minister Netanyahu either later today or early tomorrow, and I’m sure that we will work out a path forward.

MODERATOR: (In Spanish.)

QUESTION: (Via interpreter) Good afternoon, Mr. Secretary. The topic that has to do with the Colombia peace process is very important both for you and for us, and the resources that you’re going to devote to the solution to this conflict amount to how much? Is there a budget for this, for the post-conflict situation, and how are these funds to be used? Do you have special goals to be achieved for the resources that you are going to be turning over to Colombia?

SECRETARY KERRY: I think over the last years, beginning with Plan Colombia, the United States of America has made it as clear as we know how that we are on the side of the Colombian people in this effort to try to find peace. And the American people, the American taxpayer, have gladly shared billions of dollars in an effort to try to help make peace by supporting your efforts through your government, by supporting your training and police and border and security and other kinds of issues, in an effort to grow the capacity of Colombia. And Colombia has shown an unbelievable ability to use this to the best of ability and to make a difference.

So I can guarantee you, having done this for these last many years, the United States is not going to suddenly stop being engaged or walk away from this peace process. As I mentioned in my opening comments, we are deeply supportive of what President Santos is trying to achieve. I know this began in earnest with President Uribe a number of years ago, and for a number of years the main focus was on security alone. But we believe, as does President Santos, that Colombia has reached a point now where in its development, in its security, in its trade, in its governing capacity, that it is important for them to try to look to what is sustainable for the long term, and that means finding peace.

So the United States will support the peace process. No, there is not a specific delineated set of figures with respect to a budget because there is not yet a specific agreement around which to build that plan. But we will remain completely supportive of Colombia’s efforts to achieve the peace. I believe it’s a courageous path that the President has put Colombia on, and we will continue to support it.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) A final question from Mr. (inaudible) from El Tiempo.

QUESTION: (Via interpreter) Secretary of State Kerry, welcome to our country and thank you very much for answering our question. Different officials from the Obama Administration have said that they back fully the peace process that is carried out by the Colombian Government with the FARC’s guerillas. Such as there was a Plan Colombia at one point in time, are you thinking of a Plan Colombia not for war, but for peace? And that support from the U.S. Government, will it be enough to think of a possibility of granting a pardon to the members of the guerillas?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, it’s not for the United States to make that kind of decision at this moment when there are negotiations underway. That would be an insult to the sovereignty of the Government of Colombia and it would be inappropriate with respect to President Santos’ own process. We need to respect that process, and we do respect it. We are supportive of it, but this is a negotiation that has to take place between the Government of Colombia and FARC, and obviously, they are engaged in deep negotiations in Cuba at this moment. I had the privilege of meeting this morning with the team. It’s a very capable, very experienced, knowledgeable team, and I think we need to give them the space to do what they need to do together with the President and the Foreign Minister and the government to make their decisions.

As a friend of Colombia, President Obama wants the people of this country to know that when you achieve that peace the United States of America will do everything in our power to help respect it and to help you to be able to implement it. And obviously, at that point in time, we will have discussions about what else may be necessary in order to guarantee its success and sustainability over the long term.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Secretary of State, thank you very much. To the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, thank you very much, and to our colleagues as well.

U.S. STATEMENT ON "WORLD REFUGEE DAY"

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

World Refugee Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
June 20, 2013　


Today, the United States joins the international community in honoring the resilience, courage, and determination of refugees all over the world, and the work of many countries in providing refuge, both temporary and permanent.

This year, the crisis in Syria has led to more than 4.25 million Syrians being displaced internally, more than 1.5 million becoming refugees, and millions more caught up in the unspeakable violence. Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey have opened their borders to those fleeing the bloodshed. We appreciate their generosity in hosting uprooted people and families, whether in refugee camps or local communities, and are proud that the United States is at the forefront of international efforts to provide humanitarian assistance.

The United States is the single largest donor to refugee relief efforts around the world, working to care for refugees displaced by other conflicts, including in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, and Sudan, and we have helped address protracted refugee situations around the world, including those affecting Afghans, Burmese, Colombians, and Somalis.

We have seen some progress this year, thanks to the hard work and commitment of diplomats and aid workers everywhere, including staff of the organizations we support, such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and many nongovernmental organizations. In 2012, two of the most protracted refugee situations in Africa came to a close, with Liberia and Angola now stable after bitter civil wars. We have also taken extra steps to ensure greater protection for refugees against sexual violence and exploitation.

The United States has a proud tradition of welcoming those fleeing violence and persecution, including more than 58,000 refugees from 66 countries who were resettled to the United States in fiscal year 2012 and the nearly 70,000 refugees who are expected to arrive in the United States in the coming fiscal year to rebuild their lives. Their presence makes our country more diverse, our culture richer, and our national character stronger.

PRESIDENT OBAMA AT CEO SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE
President Barack Obama participates in the CEO Summit of the Americas panel discussion at the Hilton Hotel,Colombia, April 14, 2012. President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff and President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos took part. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
April 14, 2012



Remarks by President Obama at CEO Summit of the Americas
Gran Salon Bolivar
Hilton Hotel
Cartagena, Colombia
10:43 A.M. COT
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, first of all, I want to thank President Santos and the people of Colombia for the extraordinary hospitality in the beautiful city of Cartagena.  We're having a wonderful time.  And usually when I take these summit trips, part of my job is to scout out where I may want to bring Michelle back later for vacation.  So we'll make sure to come back sometime in the near future.  (Applause.)
I want to acknowledge Luis Moreno of IDB, as well as Luis Villegas of the National Business Association of Colombia, for helping to set this up, and everybody who's participating.

As President Rousseff indicated, obviously we've gone through some very challenging times.  These last three years have been as difficult for the world economy as anything that we've seen in our lifetimes.  And it is both a result of globalization and it is also a result of shifts in technology.  The days when we could think of each of our economies in isolation, those days are long gone.  What happens in Wall Street has an impact in Rio. What happens in Bogota has an impact in Beijing.

And so I think the challenge for all of our countries, and certainly the challenge for this hemisphere, is how do we make sure that that globalization and that integration is benefiting a broad base of people, that economic growth is sustainable and robust, and that it is also giving opportunity to a growing, wider circle of people, and giving businesses opportunities to thrive and create new products and new services and enjoy this global marketplace.

Now, I think the good news is this hemisphere is very well positioned in this global economy.  It is remarkable to see the changes that have been taking place in a relatively short period of time in Latin and Central America and in the Caribbean.  When you look at the extraordinary growth that's taken place in Brazil, first under President Lula and now under President Rousseff, when you think about the enormous progress that's been made here in Colombia under President Santos and his predecessor, what you see is that a lot of the old arguments on the left and the right no longer apply.

And what people are asking is, what works?  How do we think in practical terms about delivering prosperity, training our people so that they can compete in the global economy?  How do we create rule of law that allows businesses to invest with some sense of security and transparency?  How do we invest in science and technology?  How do we make sure that we have open and free trade at the same time as we're making sure that the benefits of free trade are distributed both between nations but also within nations?
And the good news is I think that, through various international organizations and organizations here within the hemisphere, we've seen enormous progress.  Trade between the United States and Latin, Central -- South America, Central America and the Caribbean has expanded 46 percent since I came into office -- 46 percent.
Before I came to Cartagena, I stopped in Tampa, Florida, which is the largest port in Florida.  And they are booming and expanding.  And the reason is, is because of the enormous expansion of trade and commerce with this region.  It's creating jobs in Florida, and it's creating jobs in Colombia, and it's creating jobs in Brazil and throughout the region.  Businesses are seeing that if they have an outstanding product or an outstanding service, they don’t have to restrict themselves to one market, they now have a regional market and ultimately a global market in which they can sell their goods and succeed.
A couple of things that I think will help further facilitate this productive integration:  Number one, the free trade agreement that we've negotiated between Colombia and the United States is an example of a free trade agreement that benefits both sides.  It's a win-win.  It has high standards -- (applause) -- it's a high-standards agreement.  It's not a race to the bottom, but rather it says each country is abiding by everything from strong rules around labor and the environment to intellectual property protection.  And so I have confidence that as we implement this plan, what we're going to see is extraordinary opportunities for both U.S. and Colombian businesses.

So trade agreements of the sort that we have negotiated, thanks to the leadership of President Santos and his administration, I think point the way to the future.
In addition, I think there is the capacity for us to cooperate on problems that all countries face, and I'll take just one example -- the issue of energy.  All of us recognize that if we're going to continue to grow our economies effectively, then we're going to have to adapt to the fact that fossil fuels are a finite resource and demand is going up much faster than supply.  There are also, obviously, significant environmental concerns that we have to deal with.  So for us to cooperate on something like joint electrification and electric grid integration, so that a country like Brazil, that is doing outstanding work in biofuels or hydro-energy, has the ability to export that energy but also teach best practices to countries within the region, create new markets for clean energy throughout the region -- which benefits those customers who need electricity but also benefit those countries that are top producers of energy -- that's another example of the kind of progress that we can make together.

On the education front, every country in the region recognizes that if we're going to compete with Asia, if we're going to compete with Europe, we've got to up our game.  We have to make sure that we've got the best-trained workers in the world, we've got the best education system in the world.  And so the work that President Rousseff and I are doing together to try to significantly expand educational exchanges and send young people who are studying science and engineering and computer science to the United States to study if they're Brazilian, down to Brazil to study best practices in clean energy in Brazil -- there's enormous opportunity for us to work together to train our young people so that this hemisphere is filled with outstanding entrepreneurs and workers, and allows us to compete more effectively.

So there are a number of areas where I think cooperation is proceeding.  Sometimes it's not flashy.  I think that oftentimes in the press the attention in summits like this ends up focusing on where are the controversies.  Sometimes those controversies date back to before I was born.  (Laughter.)  And sometimes I feel as if in some of these discussions or at least the press reports we're caught in a time warp, going back to the 1950s and gunboat diplomacy and Yanquis and the Cold War, and this and that and the other.  That's not the world we live in today.

And my hope is, is that we all recognize this enormous opportunity that we've got.  And I know the business leaders who are here today, they understand it; they understand that we're in a new world, and we have to think in new ways.
Last point I want to make -- I think when you think about the extraordinary success in Brazil, the success in Colombia, a big piece of that is governance.  You can't, I believe, have, over the long term, successful economies if you don't have some basic principles that are being followed:  democracy and rule of law, human rights being observed, freedom of expression.  And I think -- and also personal security, the capacity for people to feel as if they work hard then they're able to achieve, and they have motivation to start a business and to know that their own work will pay off.

And I just want to compliment both Brazil and Colombia, coming from different political traditions, but part of the reason why you've seen sustained growth is governments have worked effectively in each country.  And I think that when we look at how we're going to integrate further and take advantage of increased opportunity in the future, it's very important for us not to ignore how important it is to have a clean, transparent, open government that is working on behalf of its people.

And that's important to business as well.  The days when a business feels good working in a place where people are being oppressed -- ultimately that's an unstable environment for you to do business.  You do business well when you know that it's a well-functioning society and that there's a legitimate government in place that is going to be looking out for its people.

So I just want to thank both of my outstanding partners here.  They're true leaders in the region.  And I can speak, I think, for the United States to say that we've never been more excited about the prospects of working as equal partners with our brothers and sisters in Latin America and the Caribbean, because that's going to be the key to our success.  (Applause.)

* * * *
MR. MATTHEWS:  President Santos, I guess there are some issues in America -- we have a very large Hispanic population.  Ten percent of our electorate is going to be Hispanic in background.  We are the second-largest Spanish-speaking country in the world after Mexico.  People have dual languages in the United States, of course, but there is so much Spanish speaking. You have the chance to sit next to President Obama now.  Do you want to ask him about the ways you think the United States could help your country in the drug war?
* * * *
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Do you want me to respond?

MR. MATTHEWS:  Yes, sir.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, this is a conversation that I've had with President Santos and others.  Just as the world economy is integrated, so, unfortunately, the drug trade is integrated.  And we can't look at the issue of supply in Latin America without also looking at the issue of demand in the United States.  (Applause.)
And so whether it's working with President Santos or supporting the courageous work that President Calderón is doing in Mexico, I, personally, and my administration and I think the American people understand that the toll of narco-trafficking on the societies of Central America, Caribbean, and parts of South America are brutal, and undermining the capacity of those countries to protect their citizens, and eroding institutions and corrupting institutions in ways that are ultimately bad for everybody.

So this is part of the reason why we've invested, Chris, about $30 billion in prevention programs, drug treatment programs looking at the drug issue not just from a law enforcement and interdiction issue, but also from a public health perspective. This is why we've worked in unprecedented fashion in cooperation with countries like Mexico on not just drugs coming north, but also guns and cash going south.

This is one of the reasons why we have continued to invest in programs like Plan Colombia, but also now are working with Colombia, given their best practices around issues of citizen security, to have not just the United States but Colombia provide technical assistance and training to countries in Central America and the Caribbean in finding ways that they can duplicate some of the success that we've seen in Colombia.
So we're mindful of our responsibilities on this issue.  And I think it is entirely legitimate to have a conversation about whether the laws in place are ones that are doing more harm than good in certain places.

I personally, and my administration's position, is that legalization is not the answer; that, in fact, if you think about how it would end up operating, that the capacity of a large-scale drug trade to dominate certain countries if they were allowed to operate legally without any constraint could be just as corrupting if not more corrupting then the status quo.
Nevertheless, I'm a big believer in looking at the evidence, having a debate.  I think ultimately what we're going to find is, is that the way to solve this problem is both in the United States, us dealing with demand in a more effective way, but it's also going to be strengthening institutions at home.

You mentioned earlier, the biggest thing that's on everybody's minds -- whether it's the United States, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Jamaica -- is, can I find a job that allows me to support my family and allows my children to advance and feel secure.  And in those societies where you've got strong institutions, you've got strong business investment, you've got rule of law, you have a law enforcement infrastructure that is sound, and an economy that's growing -- that country is going to be like a healthy body that is more immune than countries that have weak institutions and high unemployment, in which kids see their only future as participating in the drug trade because nobody has actually trained them to get a job with Google, or Pepsi, or start their own small business.

And so I think that it's important for us not to think that if somehow we look at the drug issue in isolation, in the absence of dealing with some of these other challenges -- institutional challenges and barriers to growth and opportunity and the capacity for people to climb their way out of poverty, that we're going to be able to solve this problem.  The drug issue in this region is, in some ways, a cause, but it's also, in some ways, an effect of some broader and underlying problems.  And we as the United States have an obligation not only to get our own house in order but also to help countries in a partnership to try to see if we can move in a better direction.  (Applause.)
* * * *
MR. MATTHEWS: Mr. President, do you want to respond?  I think the question that seems to be apparent here in the last couple of days is, first of all, tremendous enthusiasm, a zeitgeist here that's almost unusual in the world for positive optimism about the development in this part of the world.  It's not like it was -- just isn't the way it was we grew up with.

The challenge I think you just heard from the President of Brazil was the notion that Latin America is not interested in being our complementary economy anymore -- the agricultural end while we do the industrial end; they do the provision of raw materials and we do the finest and highest-level high-tech work. How do we either respond to Brazil's demand, really, to be partners and rivals -- they want to use our educational resources, they want to come north to learn how to compete with us -- right, Madam President?  You want to be equals.  You want to learn everything we know, and then take it back and shove it at us, right?  (Laughter.)  Isn't that it?

Well, anyway, that's the response -- I'd ask you for your response.  (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Chris, I'm not sure you're characterizing what President Rousseff said -- (laughter) -- but this is what happens when you get some of our U.S. political commentators moderating a panel.  (Laughter.)  They try to stir up things that may not always be there.  (Applause.)  And Chris is good at it.  He's one of the best.  (Laughter.)
But, look, this is already happening.  This is already happening.  Brazil has changed, Colombia has changed -- and we welcome the change.  The notion somehow that we see this as a problem is just not the case, because if we've got a strong, growing, prosperous middle class in Latin America, those are new customers for our businesses.  (Applause.)
Brazil is growing and that opportunity is broad-based, then suddenly they're interested in buying iPads, and they're interested in buying Boeing airplanes and -- (laughter.)

PRESIDENT ROUSSEFF:  Boeing -- Embraer.  (Laughter and applause.)

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  I was just trying to see how she'd respond to that.  (Laughter.)  But the point is, is that that's a market for us.  So we in the United States should welcome not just growth, but broad-based growth, of the sort that President Rousseff described.
I'll give you just -- I said I was in Tampa.  All those containers that are coming in, they have, in some cases, commodities coming from Latin America, but they also have finished products that are coming in from Latin America.  We have commodities that are going into Latin America that we're sending back on those containers, as well as finished products.  And so this is a two-way street.

When I came into office, one of my first decisions was to say that the G20 was not a temporary thing to respond to the world economic crisis; this should be the permanent forum for determining and coordinating direction in the world economy.  And frankly, there were some folks who were members of the G8 who were upset with me about that determination, but realistically you can't coordinate world economic issues if you don't have China and Brazil and India and South Africa at the table -- and Mexico.  That's not possible.

So the world has changed.  I think the United States and U.S. businesses stand to benefit from those changes.  But it does mean that we have to adapt to that competitive environment.  And all the advantages that President Rousseff mentioned we have as the United States -- its flexibility, our scientific edge, our well-educated workforce, our top universities -- those are the things that we continue to have to build and get better at.  And that's true for every country here.
Every one of the businesses here are going to be making determinations about where you locate based on the quality of the workforce, how much investment you have to make in training somebody to handle a million-dollar piece of equipment.  Do you feel as if your intellectual property is going to be protected?  Do you feel as if there's a good infrastructure to be able to get your products to market?  And so I think this is a healthy competition that we should be encouraging.

And what I've said at the first summit that I came to, Summit of the Americas that I came to, was we do not believe there are junior partners and senior partners in this situation. We believe there are partners.  And Brazil is in many ways ahead of us on something like biofuels; we should learn from them.  And if we're going to be trying to mount a regional initiative, let's make sure that Brazil is taking the lead.  It doesn’t have to be us in every situation.

Now, the flip side is -- and I'll close with this -- I think in Latin America, part of the change in mentality is also not always looking to the United States as the reason for everything that happens that goes wrong.  (Applause.)

I was in an interview -- several interviews yesterday.  These were actually with Spanish-speaking television stations that have broadcast back in the United States.  And the first interviewer said, why hasn't the United States done more to promote democracy in the region, because you've done a lot in the Arab Spring but it seems as if you're not dealing with some of the problems here in Latin America.  The next questioner said, why are you being so hard on Cuba and promoting democracy all the time?  (Laughter and applause.)  That’s an example, I think, of some of the challenges we face that are rooted in legitimate historical grievances.  But it gets -- it becomes a habit.

When it comes to economic integration and exchanges, I am completely sympathetic to the fact that there are challenges around monetary policy in developed and less-developed countries. And Brazil, for example, has seen the Real appreciate in ways that had been hurtful.  I would argue a lot of that has to do with the failure of some other countries to engage in rebalancing, not the United States.  But having said that, I think there's not a country in Latin America who doesn’t want to see the United States grow rapidly because we're your major export market.

And so most of these issues end up being complicated issues. Typically, they involve both actions in the United States as well as actions in the other countries if we're going to optimize the kind of growth and prosperity and broad-based opportunity that both President Santos and President Rousseff have spoken about.

And the United States comes here and says:  We're ready to do business.  We are open to a partnership.  We don’t expect to be able to dictate the terms of that partnership, we expect it to be a negotiation based on mutual interest and mutual respect.  And I think we're all going to benefit as a consequence of that. (Applause.)

MR. MATTHEWS:  Thank you very much, President Rousseff, President Santos, and my President, President Obama.  Thank you. It's been an honor.
END

U.S. GIVES $2 MILLION TO COLOMBIA'S LABOR MINISTRY

"WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today met with Colombia Minister of Labor Rafael Pardo to discuss Colombia's recent achievements in protecting workers' rights and to address the challenges that remain. She highlighted the ongoing technical cooperation between the U.S. Department of Labor and Colombia's Labor Ministry, and announced the award of a $2 million grant to the International Labour Organization to develop a robust presence in Colombia.

"Minister Pardo and his leadership team share our commitment to worker rights and strong and effective labor law enforcement," said Secretary Solis. "The grant from the U.S. Department of Labor announced today is but one effort to help ensure that Colombia has all the tools it needs to carry out this commitment."

The ILO presence will support the implementation of the Colombia Action Plan Related to Labor Rights through a variety of direct assistance activities. In April 2011, the plan was concluded between Colombia and the United States. Under it, Colombia committed to a series of measures to improve protection of labor rights, prevent labor violence and increase prosecution of the perpetrators of such violence.

These commitments lay the groundwork for significant labor rights improvements in Colombia. To date, Colombia has met each milestone in the action plan. Solis acknowledged that much work remains to achieve the full potential of the plan for Colombia's workers and reaffirmed her full commitment to work with Minister Pardo to overcome challenges."