Secretary Clinton on Latin America at the House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing on April 22, 2009 to discuss the foreign policy priorities of the Obama administration (watch the webcast here). Falling only three days after the Summit of Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, Latin America was a focus of many of the committee members’ comments, questions and concerns. These included:
- President Obama’s handshake with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez at the Summit of the Americas
- The Colombian and Panamanian Free Trade Agreements
- Relations with Cuba
- U.S. policy toward Mexico and the flow of arms from the U.S. to Mexico
Below are Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s, the witness of the hearing, responses, both paraphrased and directly quoted, to the above topics of discussion on Latin America and some of the key comments made by the members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs that prompted Secretary Clinton’s remarks. President Chávez The current Chávez relationship is a result of 8 years of isolated Chávez, and I don’t think it has worked very well. We have isolated them, so he has gone elsewhere [to Russia and Iran]. He is a very sociable guy; he is going to look for friends where he can find them, so he is finding friends where we would prefer he would not find friends. “So, 8 years of isolation has resulted in the kind of outreach that both you and I find troubling.” If it hasn’t worked, why continue it? At the Summit, we have agreed to exchange ambassadors, which is something positive, and we can see what else we can do and how we can work together. Representative Mike Pence (R-IN) noted: “In testimony earlier, that the issue of President being photographed with the virulent, anti-American, socialist, dictator of Venezuela came up. And I know that according to the testimony that was handed to me you indicated that you found it quote rather amusing, but let me say with the deepest respect, Madame Secretary, I am not amused.” Chávez is a “Castro wannabe”. Secretary Clinton responded with, your strong feelings for Hugo Chávez are understandable. But, so were the Soviet leaders who we have eventually normalized relations. Free Trade Agreements The Colombia Free Trade Agreement was a subject of intense conversation at the Summit. The administration is trying to figure out what the Colombians are willing to do to push forward the FTA. The Obama administration thinks that it is in the best interest of both nations to pass the FTA. “The steps that have been taken by Uribe and his government to not only deal with the insurgency and terrorists, but to clean house with a lot of the abuses that were unfortunately present among the military and other instruments of the government have been impressive, there still needs to be more work.” Relations with Cuba We have opened up telecommunications and travel for Cuban-Americans. We are taking a hard look at the current policy and are available to engage with the Cuban government if they are willing to - we are not really sure if they are. As the President has said, “we are open”. Mexico The threat to Mexico by the cartels needs to be responded to, and that is what we are doing through the Mérida Initiative. We would like to continue these efforts and make them more effective. The Mexican government is very focused on this and knows what they have to do and is seeking our help, and in the long run it will strengthen our relationship. There is no doubt that the drug cartels are shopping in international bazaars, but are still getting a large amount of arms from the U.S. We are going to take every step possible to curb this and are open to everyone’s ideas.