We are now one of the largest Spanish-speaking nations in the world. We're a major source of Latin music, journalism and culture.
Just go to Miami, or San Antonio, Los Angeles, Chicago or West New York, New Jersey ... and close your eyes and listen. You could just as easily be in Santo Domingo or Santiago, or San Miguel de Allende.
For years our nation has debated this change -- some have praised it and others have resented it. By nominating me, my party has made a choice to welcome the new America.
As I speak, we are celebrating the success of democracy in Mexico.This country was right to be concerned about a country like Kosovo -- but there are more refugees of conflict in Colombia.
America is right to be concerned about Kuwait -- but more of our oil comes from Venezuela.
America is right to welcome trade with China -- but we export as much to Brazil.
Our future cannot be separated from the future of Latin America.
Some still look at Latin America through old stereotypes.
But I see a hemisphere of 500 million people, striving with the dream of a better life. A dream of free markets and free people, in a hemisphere free from war and tyranny. That dream has sometimes been frustrated -- but it must never be abandoned.
This hemisphere, united by geography, has often been divided by history. In the 19th century, many strong nations wanted weak neighbors they could dominate. But those days have passed. In the 21st century, strong nations will benefit from healthy, confident, democratic neighbors.
Weak neighbors export problems: environmental trouble, illegal immigration, even crime, drugs and violence. Strong neighbors export their goods, and buy ours -- creating jobs and good will.
We seek, not just good neighbors, but strong partners. We seek, not just progress, but shared prosperity. With persistence and courage, we shaped the last century into an American century. With leadership and commitment, this can be the century of the Americas.
In 1992 -- the 500th anniversary of Spanish contact with America - we seemed well on our way toward that vision. The United States and our friends in the region had overcome the debt crisis. We negotiated the end of cruel and bloody wars. Together, we confronted inflation and checked nuclear proliferation. Democracy was advancing. And the North American Free Trade Agreement promised to be a blueprint for free trade throughout the hemisphere.
But the promise of that moment has been squandered. The Clinton/Gore administration has had no strategy. We have seen summits without substance, and reaction instead of action. We were promised fast-track trade authority -- as every American president has had for 25 years. And yet this administration failed to get it. We were promised a Free Trade Area of the Americas.
Yet it never happened. Chile was promised partnership in NAFTA. And it was "delayed."
And in spite of real, even dramatic progress in some parts of Latin America, problems have grown into crises. Narcotic traffickers seek to gain control of a government. Many free nations still struggle to show economic results for all their citizens. And we can never forget the vast urban slums where young children scramble for survival.
Should I become president, I will look South, not as an afterthought, but as a fundamental commitment of my presidency. Just as we ended the great divide between East and West, so today we can overcome the North-South divide.
This begins with a renewed commitment to democracy and freedom in this hemisphere -- because human freedom, in the long run, is our best weapon against poverty, disease and tyranny.
George Bush from a campaign speech in Miami, August 2000. |