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Newsletter from the Ambassador of the United
States of America |
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At the Fourth Summit of
the Americas last week, President Bush joined the other 33 democratically
elected leaders of the Western Hemisphere to address our shared challenges
for the 21st Century. President Bush has emphasized
that, “Democratic nations grow in strength because they reward and respect
the creative gifts of their people.”
This notion goes to the heart of the competing ideologies in Latin
America today. There are those who
wish to unleash the “creative gifts”
of their people, and others who would follow a path that limits
opportunities, and ultimately, freedom.
Outside of the Summit, “Anti-Summit” protesters
listened to a two-hour speech by the Venezuelan president who, in his own
words, came to “bury free trade.” His
speech offered no solutions to the hemisphere’s ills beyond empty slogans and
often virulent anti-American rhetoric.
His rant provoked meaningless and unnecessary violence as looters
destroyed furniture, computers, a rotisserie chicken outlet, a branch of the
Bank of Galicia, and a cookie store ironically named Havanna. The contrasting images here again are
clear: those people inside the Summit
working diligently to better the lives of the people of Latin America and
those who took to the streets intent upon destroying innocent people’s
property and their dreams of a better life. During the Summit itself,
the promotion in the region of unrestricted trade became a major and positive
initiative. The United States, the
European Union, and today even China and India, view free trade as a crucial
motor for wealth creation and the elimination of poverty. Of course, the benefits of free trade have
not been lost on the Western Hemisphere.
Thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexican exports to
our country exceeded U.S. exports to Mexico by $45 million in 2004. Twenty-nine nations
attending the Summit expressed support for a Free Trade Area of the Americas;
and four of the five countries that voiced some opposition to the FTAA have
not ruled it out. Importantly, the
economies of the countries that did support the FTAA at the Summit are the
most advanced and competitive in the region.
Those countries—including the United States, Mexico, Canada and
Chile—had economies that grew by 28.7% between 1999 and 2004. The economies of the five countries that
have not yet fully embraced the FTAA—Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and
Venezuela—decreased in size by 6.6% over the same period. Indeed, the share of the whole Western
Hemisphere’s GDP generated by those five economies has decreased from 8.1% in
1999 to 6.0% in 2004. As these statistics
reflect, with one vision—that of democracy and free trade—economies
flourished, opportunities increased, and strides were taken towards moving
people from poverty to hope. The
other vision—that of out-dated populist rhetoric and discredited economic
policies—created economies with little or no opportunity in which people’s
dreams, increasingly, are taking a backseat to the destructive impulses of a
few. On November 7, 2005, along with
Mexican Secretary of the
Comptroller General Eduardo Romero Ramos and Mexican Foreign Minister Luis
Ernesto Derbez, I attended the inauguration of the Regional Forum on Good
Government in Mexico to witness an important event: leaders of change from
Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean coming together to share their
lessons, their achievements, and the challenges they face to create
governments that are transparent, accountable and responsive to citizens. The Forum brought together over 80 delegates from
Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean to discuss reforms and strategies
that are essential elements on good government agendas, among them a
professional civil service, electronic government, freedom of information
initiatives, and citizen charters. The U.S. government has supported the
development of President Fox’s Good Government Agenda since its inception in
2001, and we applaud the administration’s diligent efforts to end corruption
in Mexico and make Mexican government more accessible to its citizens. Click
here for more information on the Forum Efforts at the Embassy in
early and late-October were focused heavily on aiding the victims on Hurricanes
Stan and Wilma here in Mexico. In response to both
hurricanes, the U.S. Embassy provided relief to the Mexican government
totaling more than $600,000, and during Hurricane Wilma, our Embassy worked
closely with local officials to protect and arrange for the evacuation of the
almost 15,000 American tourists stranded in the area by the hurricane. Like
Hurricane Katrina in the United States, at least one positive outcome from the immense
destruction caused by these natural disasters has been the strengthening of the cooperation and determination
of our two countries to work together to assist one another during our times
of need. Click here for
a detailed description of the Embassy’s Hurricane Stan and Wilma relief
efforts On October 6, 2005, I
visited the state of Coahuila and along with Coahuila Governor, Enrique
Martinez, witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement to protect water
and energy resources in the state. The
signing partners were the Government of Coahuila, the North American
Development Bank (NADBANK), and the Alliance to Save Energy. The agreement will allow an evaluation of
the potable water systems from several state regions, saving water and
electricity, as well as reducing the costs of supplying water to
municipalities. I was also able to
visit the Saltillo Technological Institute to witness the achievements of the
institute’s partnership with Lamar University and Texas A&M- Corpus
Christi, and to visit Cuatrociengas, a natural area that is protected and
conserved by the Mexican Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), the
Government of Coahuila, Pronatura Noreste, Nature Conservancy, municipal
authorities, farmers’ organizations and local citizens. Click here to
see more on my visit to Coahuila On October 11, 2005, I
visited La Malinche National Park near Tlaxcala, along with Mexican Secretary
of the Environment and Natural Resources Jose Luis Luege, Tlaxcala Governor
Hector Israel Ortiz, and high-ranking officials from the Untied States and
Mexico, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding detailing future environmental
cooperation between the United States and Mexico. The United States is working closely with our Mexican partners,
so that future generations of Mexicans will enjoy Mexico’s rich abundance and
natural beauty. Recognizing the vital
importance of forestry and water resources for Mexico’s future growth, the
United States has donated more than US$ 68 million since 1996, to fight fires
and support Mexico’s environment. We
also marked this occasion with the announcement of the donation of
fire-fighting equipment valued at US$ 550,000 that will protect fire fighters
who risk their lives for our safety and protect Mexico’s vital forest
resources. Click here to
see more on my visit to Tlaxcala Click here to see
photos of our visit to Tlaxcala Finally, as I noted in my email in to you in September, the
U.S. Embassy and people of the United States were greatly appreciative of the
rapid outpouring of sentiment and support from throughout Mexico after the
devastation caused in the United States by Hurricane Katrina, the worst
natural disaster to hit the United States in a century. As a gesture of thanks to the people of
Mexico, the Tim Laughlin Jazz Quartet toured the country on October 12
through 21, offering concerts and master classes in six cities: Mexico City,
Merida (Sister City to New Orleans), Veracruz, Xalapa, Nuevo Laredo and
Ciudad Juarez. The U.S. Embassy, U.S.
Consulates, and the US-Mexico Cultural Foundation sponsored the tour, and
were pleased to bring the sounds of New Orleans jazz—America’s unique music
form—to the people of Mexico. Click here to see
more on the Tim Laughlin Jazz Quartet As
always, thank you for the opportunity to share with you the activities of our
Mission in Mexico. May God bless
Mexico and the United States. With best wishes, I am, Sincerely,
Antonio O. Garza If
you would like more information about the events mentioned in this letter or
other Embassy initiatives, please visit the Public Affairs
section of our website located at http://mexico.usembassy.gov/eng/epress05.html. Please feel free to email
us at EmbajadorGarza@state.gov if you are not interested in receiving future
updates. * * * * * |
