Latin America

 

Governor Romney on Central America's Independence Days

Saturday, Sep 15, 2007

 

Boston, MA – Governor Mitt Romney issued the following statement today regarding the Independence Days of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua:

 

"Today, we express our best wishes to the people of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua on their Independence Day. We also celebrate the many contributions these communities make in the United States each day by upholding our mutual values and enriching our culture.

 

"During my business career, I had the privilege of working with several talented partners of Latin American descent, including Ricardo Poma and Miguel Dueñas. I learned from these friends about their own families' suffering and the agonizing pain of tyranny throughout Central America.

 

"In recent years, we have seen dramatic progress in this region which was torn apart by civil wars and strife in the 1980s. As democracy and free markets have taken root, their people have been empowered to build more stable societies. Central Americans are right to expect their leaders to continue governing democratically and to reject the populist solutions that have failed them in the past. The United States must continue to support these countries' efforts to generate economic opportunities for their people, and we must work to ensure the Central American Free Trade Agreement is fully implemented. We must also cooperate to boost security in the region at a time when international gang violence and drug trafficking are threatening the gains that have been made.

 

"On this day, we also acknowledge these nations and their people for continued cooperation in the global fight against terrorists and radical jihad, including El Salvador's commitment to bring greater peace to the Iraqi people. We need to continue to build stronger alliances with our neighbors to together confront these and other threats."

 

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• Sep 15, 2007; Governor Romney on Central America's Independence Days

 

Also See:

• Jul 27, 2007; Governor Mitt Romney On Peru's Independence Day
• Jul 20, 2007; Governor Mitt Romney On Colombia's Independence Day
• Jul 05, 2007; Governor Mitt Romney On Venezuela's Independence Day
• May 18, 2007; Governor Mitt Romney On Cuban Independence Day

 

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Strengthening Latin American Allies and Confronting Tyrants

• We should try to strengthen human rights in South America.
• We should try to strengthen freedom in South America.
• We should weaken the threat of the Castro regime.
• We should weaken the threat of the Chavez regime.
• We should use foreign aid and investments on those who stand alongside us.
• We should act to inform public opinion in Latin America.
• We should improve our economic ties with Latin America.
• We must rebuild relationships of respect, trust, and friendship with Latin America.
• We must secure our border.
• We must reaffirm our appreciation of legal immigration.
• We must never ignore Latin America.

 

It is time for the United States to adopt a Latin American strategy that will strengthen human rights and freedom, stand by our friends and allies, advance our own interests, and weaken the threat of the Castro regime, Chavez, and any other dictator with the intent of taking away the freedom of people.

 

CHALLENGE: In two years, we will note a sobering occasion – a half century will have passed since darkness descended 90 miles to our south, and a despotic reign fell over the proud people of Cuba.

 

The Castros have a new tyrant to work with and he has great wealth, from oil. We must stand just as firm against tyrants like Hugo Chavez, tutored by Fidel Castro. His methodical assault on democratic institutions and his people's freedom is an insult to democracy itself. We should all be particularly troubled by the government’s hostility towards a free press and actions to take Radio Caracas Television off the air. In addition, developments in Bolivia and elsewhere show the potential of Chavez's malignant form of tyranny to spread to other countries.

 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "There are two spheres of influence in the Western Hemisphere. One is dark, bellicose and spreads misery by denying people basic freedoms; the other shines like a powerful light, is peaceful and wants only for its people to live in liberty and prosper." (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks At The Miami-Dade Lincoln Day Dinner, 3/9/2007)

 

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The Romney Plan: It is time for the United States to adopt a Latin American strategy that will strengthen human rights and freedom, that will stand by our friends and allies, that will advance our own interests, and that will weaken the threat of the Castro regime, Chavez, and any other dictator with the intent of taking away the freedom of people.

 

Continue To Isolate Castro With Economic And Diplomatic Sanctions. America will never back down to the Castro brothers. There will be no accommodation, no appeasement. There will be no end to our insistence that political prisoners are set free, and that Cubans themselves are finally given the privileges that today are enjoyed only by Castro’s cronies, and by foreign tourists. After 50 years, with so much suffering, so much sacrifice, we will not relent until the day when the Castro brothers meet their ignominious end and their history is written among the world’s most reviled despots, tyrants and frauds.

 

Help Our Friends. Foreign aid and foreign investments must be focused on those who stand alongside us. In spite of great progress over the last few decades, tens of millions in the Western Hemisphere still live in poverty. United States aid and investment programs promote transparency and the economic and political reforms needed to spur development.

 

Act To Inform Public Opinion In Latin America. We should use our world renowned media and communications savvy to spread the truth about American freedom, and Castro tyranny. New strong-men ('caudillos') must not reverse the Hemisphere's hard fought economic and political freedoms. The United States and our partners in the region must continue to reject the policies of leaders such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez that move to consolidate power, limit dissent and revert to failed socialist policies.

 

Improve Our Economic Ties. The President has negotiated vital free trade agreements with Latin American neighbors like Peru, Colombia and Panama, but some Democrats in Congress are so beholden to their labor bosses, that they have refused to pass them. It is time to put the interests of humanity and of the nation first.

 

Rebuild Relationships Of Respect And Trust And Friendship. Our Latin American friends must always feel welcome in the White House.

 

Solve The Problem Of Illegal Immigration By Securing The Border And Reaffirm Our Appreciation Of Legal Immigration. We are a nation of immigrants, and they have contributed a great deal to our culture of hard work, entrepreneurship, faith in God, love of family, and respect for human life.

 

Never Ignore Latin America. It is a great deal easier to prevent a crisis than to solve one. Since the end of the Cold War and since the terror of 9/11, America has become so preoccupied with other regions that we have forgotten our friends in our own Hemisphere. We need robust cooperation to expand opportunities in the Hemisphere and address common threats such as drug trafficking and terrorism.

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GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "Through the Internet, TV, Radio Marti and other Miami radio stations that broadcast into Cuba we know that word of news and events here in the U.S. gets back to Cuba. To this daily flow of truth I would like to add my message to your own. America will never back down to the Castro brothers. There will be no accommodation, no appeasement. There will be no end to our insistence that political prisoners are set free, and that Cubans themselves are finally given the privileges that today are enjoyed only by Castro's cronies, and by foreign tourists." (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks At The Miami-Dade Lincoln Day Dinner, 3/9/2007)

 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "These are troubling times in Venezuela, as Hugo Chavez continues his methodical assault on democratic institutions and his people’s freedom. I am particularly troubled by the government's hostility towards a free press and recent actions to take Radio Caracas Television off the air. There should be no doubt that the United States stands with those men and women of good will who step up to secure their God-given liberty – in Venezuela and throughout the Americas. The future of freedom and democracy in our Hemisphere also requires the friends of freedom in Latin America to speak clearly and forcefully to defend liberty, democracy and human rights." (Governor Mitt Romney, Statement On Venezuela's Independence Day, 7/05/2007)

 

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "It is time for the United States to adopt a Latin American strategy that will strengthen human rights and freedom, that will advance our own interests, and that will weaken the threat of the Castros and Chavez." (Governor Mitt Romney, Statement On Venezuela's Independence Day, 7/05/2007)