On March 5,
2007, President Bush Discussed The Administration's Efforts
To Advance The Cause Of Social Justice In The Western Hemisphere.
From March 8-14, President and Mrs. Bush will travel to
Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico. These
countries are part of a region that has taken great strides
toward freedom and prosperity raising up new democracies
and bringing stability to their fiscal policies. Yet despite
these advances, tens of millions in the Western Hemisphere
remain stuck in poverty. The working poor of Latin America
need change, and the United States is committed to helping
their governments provide it.
The President Is Committed To Helping
Democracies In The Western Hemisphere:
• Build government institutions that are fair,
effective, and free of corruption;
• Meet basic needs like education, healthcare, and housing;
and
• Maintain economies that make it possible for workers to
provide for their families and rise in society.
New Initiatives For The Western
Hemisphere
The President Announced He Will
Send The USNS Comfort A Navy Medical Ship To Latin America
And The Caribbean. The Comfort will make port calls
in Belize, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Peru,
Ecuador, Colombia, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and
Suriname. Its doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals
expect to treat 85,000 patients and conduct up to 1,500
surgeries. The Comfort will also partner with the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services on a new initiative to provide
oral care to the region's poor.
• At The Same Time,
Military Medical Teams Will Operate To Help Bring Treatment
And Care To Other Communities. This year, the
Department of Defense and the U.S. Public Health Service
Commissioned Corps will partner to provide medical care
through 62 Medical Readiness Training Exercises in 14
countries in the Western Hemisphere.
• The President Also
Announced A Healthcare Professional Training Center In
Panama That Will Serve All Of Central America.
This Center will teach students how to be good nurses,
technicians, and health care workers.
The President Announced A New
Partnership For Latin American Youth To Help Thousands More
Young People Improve Their English And Have The Opportunity
To Study In The United States. This three-year, $75
million initiative includes English language training; home-country
and U.S.-based study; helping students apply for and win scholarships;
and skills development to improve students' ability to gain
employment.
The President Directed Secretary
Of State Condoleezza Rice And Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson
To Develop A New Initiative That Will Help U.S. And Local
Banks Improve Their Ability To Extend Good Loans To Small
Businesses. Increasing access to capital throughout
Latin America and the Caribbean will help its entrepreneurs
create new jobs and opportunity for their fellow citizens.
The United States Is Launching A
New Effort To Help Build A Market For Affordable Housing.
Through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC),
the U.S. has provided more than $100 million to help underwrite
mortgages to working families in Mexico, Brazil, Chile,
and the countries of Central America. The U.S. will now
provide an additional $385 million to expand these programs
and help put the dream of home ownership within reach of
thousands more people.
The Administration Will Convene
A White House Conference On The Western Hemisphere.
This conference will bring together representatives from
the private sector, non-governmental organizations, faith-based
groups, and volunteer associations to discuss more effective
ways to deliver aid and build the institutions of civic
society.
Building Government Institutions
That Are Fair, Effective, And Free Of Corruption
Millennium Challenge Accounts Are
Providing Financial Assistance To Developing Nations That
Govern Justly, Invest In Their People, And Encourage Economic
Freedom.
• President Bush worked with Congress to create
the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) in February 2004.
• Compact agreements between the MCC and El Salvador, Honduras,
and Nicaragua plus a threshold agreement in Paraguay amount
to almost $900 million in aid for these countries.
• Bolivia is eligible for compact assistance, and Peru and
Guyana have been invited to participate in the MCC threshold
program.
• The President's FY08 budget requests $3 billion for the
Millennium Challenge Corporation to continue reducing poverty
around the world.
We Are Working With Our Partners
In Latin America And The Caribbean To Ensure Governments Serve
All Citizens Impartially.
• In Colombia, American foreign aid is helping
train judges, prosecutors, and public defenders.
• In Villarrica, Paraguay, we funded a project setting up
a website to make local government transactions public.
• In El Salvador, the United States opened an international
law enforcement academy to help train law enforcement agents
to combat drug lords, terrorists, criminal gangs, and human
traffickers. These efforts are supported by private programs
run by U.S. law schools, professional associations, and
volunteer organizations.
Providing Funding For Education
And Health Care In Latin America And The Caribbean
Since 2004, The U.S. Has Provided
More Than $150 Million For Education Programs In Latin America
And The Caribbean. U.S.-funded education programs include:
• Centers Of Excellence
For Teacher Training (CETT) Initiative: In 2001,
President Bush announced the CETT initiative to strengthen
literacy instruction across the region. Since 2002, CETT
has trained nearly 15,000 teachers, and it plans to train
3,330 more in 2007. By 2009, CETT will have trained 20,000
teachers in the region, and will have improved the literacy
skills of 650,000 poor and disadvantaged students.
• The U.S. Department
Of State Hemisphere-Wide English Teaching Initiative:
Launched in 2006, the initiative provides $500,000 to
fund micro-scholarships and English teaching programs,
supporting English studies for nearly 12,000 students.
Since 2001, The U.S. Has Invested
Almost $1 Billion To Improve Health Through USAID Programs
In Latin America And The Caribbean.
• U.S. Funding For
HIV/AIDS Programs In Latin America And The Caribbean Has
Grown From $22 Million In 2001 To A Planned Level Of Over
$143 Million In 2007. Haiti and Guyana are focus
countries in the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
(PEPFAR). We are also supporting programs in Bolivia,
the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,
Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, and a regional program
in the Caribbean.
Helping Build Economies That
Allow Workers To Provide For Their Families And Rise In Society
The United States Government Led
The G-8 Debt Reduction Initiative To Provide $4.8 Billion
In Multilateral Debt Relief To Some Of The Poorest Countries
In The Americas.
The Administration Is Implementing
An Agenda To Promote Job Creation And Equal Opportunity
For All Residents Of The Western Hemisphere.
• The Administration has negotiated trade
agreements with 10 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean,
with three Peru, Colombia, and Panama pending Congressional
approval.
• In 2006, CAFTA-DR entered into force for Nicaragua, El Salvador,
Guatemala, and Honduras. And on March 1, 2007, CAFTA-DR
entered into force for the Dominican Republic.
• Countries with U.S. trade agreements in the Western Hemisphere
comprise two-thirds of the region's overall GDP.
• The Administration is now working for a strong agreement
in the Doha round of global trade talks that will help level
the playing field for farmers, workers, and small businesses
throughout the Western hemisphere.
U.S. Assistance To Latin America
And The Caribbean Extends Far Beyond Government Initiatives.
• USAID has registered more than 300 U.S.-based
non-governmental organizations working in Latin America.
• In 2005, U.S. companies invested $353 billion in Latin America
and the Caribbean. Foreign affiliates of U.S. companies
have employed 1.6 million people in Mexico, the Caribbean,
and Central and South America.
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