Secretary Rice at the 38th Annual Council of the Americas May 7.

Washington -- Democracy has transformed the Western Hemisphere over the past decade, forming a strong foundation for far-reaching partnerships across the region, says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

“Our different countries represent many different traditions and many different cultures, but we are defining a common future,” Rice said May 7 at the 38th Annual Conference of the Americas. “A common future grounded in common values: freedom and equality, human dignity and social justice.”

Since 2001, Rice said, the United States has sought to become an even better partner in the region by promoting social justice through doubling foreign aid, supporting debt forgiveness and promoting trade and development in support of democratically elected leaders who seek to alleviate poverty and inequality.

“We’ve witnessed nothing less than a social revolution,” Rice said. “Democracy has been opening up old, elite-dominated politics to millions who had been at the margins of their societies, the poor and the disadvantaged and indigenous peoples and minorities. These men and women have at last become active democratic citizens, and they are demanding that their governments work for them.”

In forging new partnerships, Rice said, the United States recognizes that the path to greater opportunity and justice is different for each country. But partners in the region share the common principles of democracy and the rule of law, responsible governance and open economies, and investment in the health and education of citizens.

These shared principles are reflected in the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Security and Prosperity Partnership; the Merida Initiative to confront transnational crime; reinvigorated U.S.-Brazil ties; and 10 new free-trade agreements that are transforming the hemisphere, creating jobs and helping the region compete in the global economy.

The United States has worked to encourage the trend by designing aid programs that complement trade agreements and by helping farmers to benefit from better harvests and get their crops into local, regional and global markets faster. The United States is opening up new educational opportunities, training teachers, health care workers and other professionals to enable them to make a difference in their communities, she said.

The United States also has joined governments across the Americas in helping the people of Colombia reclaim their country from drug traffickers and terrorists, and continues a joint effort to help Haiti marry security and peacekeeping to reconstruction and development.

“Taken together, our many common endeavors with our democratic neighbors represent partnerships that will meet our present and future challenges,” Rice said.

But while a shared commitment to democracy and social justice is helping the Americas move forward together, Rice said, others, such as Cuba, still face the threat of being left behind.

“We believe unequivocally that Cuba deserves no less than any other nation in the Americas to choose its own future freely without outside interference,” Rice said. “The regime must and should remove the fear factor from Cuba’s political life.”

"We are eager to support Cuba and its talented people in transforming its society. We want to engage with Cuba. We want to engage its people as free citizens."

Full text of Rice’s remarks.