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+ - DOES THE U.S. HAVE A POLICY TOWARD LATIN AMERICA? ASSESSING THE IMPACT TO U.S. INTERESTS AND ALLIES
+
+[House Hearing, 112 Congress]
+[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
+
+
+
+ DOES THE U.S. HAVE A POLICY TOWARD LATIN
+ AMERICA? ASSESSING THE IMPACT TO U.S.
+ INTERESTS AND ALLIES
+
+=======================================================================
+
+ Minus 20 pts for each extra line of title deg.HEARING
+
+ BEFORE THE
+
+ SUBCOMMITTEE ON
+ THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
+
+ OF THE
+
+ COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
+ HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
+
+ ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
+
+ FIRST SESSION
+
+ __________
+
+ FEBRUARY 15, 2011
+
+ __________
+
+ Serial No. 112-23
+
+ __________
+
+ Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
+
+
+ Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/
+
+ ______
+
+
+
+ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
+64-549 WASHINGTON : 2011
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
+http://bookstore.gpo.gov. For more information, contact the GPO Customer Contact Center, U.S. Government Printing Office. Phone 202�09512�091800, or 866�09512�091800 (toll-free). E-mail, [email protected].
+
+
+ COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
+
+ ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida, Chairman
+CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
+DAN BURTON, Indiana GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
+ELTON GALLEGLY, California ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American
+DANA ROHRABACHER, California Samoa
+DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
+EDWARD R. ROYCE, California BRAD SHERMAN, California
+STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
+RON PAUL, Texas GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
+MIKE PENCE, Indiana RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri
+JOE WILSON, South Carolina ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
+CONNIE MACK, Florida GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
+JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
+MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas DENNIS CARDOZA, California
+TED POE, Texas BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky
+GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
+JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio ALLYSON SCHWARTZ, Pennsylvania
+BILL JOHNSON, Ohio CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut
+DAVID RIVERA, Florida FREDERICA WILSON, Florida
+MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania KAREN BASS, California
+TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
+TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
+JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina
+ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York
+RENEE ELLMERS, North Carolina
+VACANT
+ Yleem D.S. Poblete, Staff Director
+ Richard J. Kessler, Democratic Staff Director
+ ------
+
+ Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
+
+ CONNIE MACK, Florida, Chairman
+MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
+JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
+DAVID RIVERA, Florida ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American
+CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey Samoa
+ELTON GALLEGLY, California DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
+
+
+ C O N T E N T S
+
+ ----------
+ Page
+
+ WITNESS
+
+The Honorable Arturo Valenzuela, Assistant Secretary of State,
+ Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Department of State. 11
+
+ LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
+
+The Honorable Arturo Valenzuela: Prepared statement.............. 14
+
+ APPENDIX
+
+Hearing notice................................................... 50
+Hearing minutes.................................................. 51
+The Honorable Connie Mack, a Representative in Congress from the
+ State of Florida, and chairman, Subcommittee on the Western
+ Hemisphere:
+ Prepared statement............................................. 53
+ Questions for the record submitted to the Honorable Arturo
+ Valenzuela................................................... 55
+
+
+DOES THE U.S. HAVE A POLICY TOWARD LATIN AMERICA? ASSESSING THE IMPACT
+ TO U.S. INTERESTS AND ALLIES
+
+ ----------
+
+
+ TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2011
+
+ House of Representatives,
+ Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere,
+ Committee on Foreign Affairs,
+ Washington, DC.
+ The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:24 p.m., in
+room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Connie Mack
+(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
+ Mr. Mack. The subcommittee will come to order. I first want
+to thank everyone, especially our witness, Assistant Secretary
+Valenzuela, for joining us for the first of many hearings from
+the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee. After recognizing myself
+and the ranking member, Mr. Engel, for 7 minutes each for our
+opening statement, I will recognize the members of the
+subcommittee for 5 minutes each for their opening statements.
+We will then proceed directly to hearing testimony from our
+distinguished witness. The full text of the written testimony
+will be inserted into the record, without objection, members
+may have 5 days to submit statements and questions for the
+record.
+ After we hear from our witness, individual members will be
+recognized for 5 minutes each to question our witness. First,
+if I could take a moment, I want to thank all of you for being
+here today and especially thank my good friend, Mr. Engel, who
+I look forward to working with in a bipartisan way as much as
+we can. We share a lot of the same goals and interests in the
+Western Hemisphere. We may disagree occasionally on how we get
+there, but we have a great working relationship and I look
+forward to that continuing and I look forward to working with
+you.
+ I now recognize myself for 7 minutes. President Santos of
+Colombia, a long-time ally of the United States, recently
+referred to a quote by Henry Kissinger, saying, ``To be an
+enemy of the United States is bad, but to be a friend is
+fatal.'' Given that there is neither a strategic nor reliable
+policy coming from the administration toward the region, I can
+understand the frustration of President Santos and our allies
+in the region. It is my goal to show the entire Western
+Hemisphere that it is better to be a friend of the United
+States than to be an enemy. We will focus on various countries,
+key threats, and opportunities from within our hemisphere
+throughout my tenure as chair. Many of which will be addressed
+at future hearings.
+ Today, however, I want to get to the bottom of key issues,
+where U.S. policies have failed both U.S. citizens and
+important U.S. allies in the region. Regarding the Free Trade
+Agreements, the administration's lack of action is killing U.S.
+jobs. The failure to move forward on our promises is hurting
+important allies in the region. I want to know the exact
+benchmarks for the Panama and Colombia Free Trade Agreements
+and when the President will send them for a vote.
+ Colombia was signed on November 22, 2006 and then
+renegotiated to include more stringent environmental and labor
+standards. It was signed again on May 10, 2007. Panama was
+signed on June 28, 2007, and South Korea on June 30, 2007, with
+a renegotiated version signed last December. I want to warn the
+administration that they should send these agreements up in the
+order that they were signed to ensure the swift passage of each
+of the agreements.
+ Regarding Honduras, the Assistant Secretary and the
+Secretary, for that matter, are very familiar with my position.
+Honduras has been a great ally of the United States. The
+Hondurans managed to escape the target placed on their country
+by Chavez when the Honduran Supreme Court and Congress legally
+removed Zelaya from power. And the U.S. administration has been
+punishing them ever since. I want to know when the visas that
+were revoked over the past 1\1/2\ years will be approved for
+reapplication and at which board meeting this year the MCC will
+provide Hondurans with their next compact.
+ The fact that Nicaragua, a nation ruled by a corrupt
+dictator that invaded Costa Rica is still receiving MCC funds
+while Honduras was cut off is a disgrace. Current U.S. policies
+are weakening Honduran governance and democracy, negatively
+impacting the Central America region and harming U.S.
+interests.
+ Regarding Venezuela, Hugo Chavez is in violation of U.S.
+sanctions on Iran, actively supporting terrorist organizations,
+working directly counter to democracy and freedom in Venezuela
+and the region, and aggressively opposing U.S. interests. We
+need to stand with the Venezuelan people who are fighting daily
+for their freedom and make it clear to Chavez that like other
+dictators around the world, that he does not get a free ride.
+One place to start is the Keystone XL pipeline. Exports of
+Venezuelan heavy crude to the United States are Chavez's main
+source of income. Without them, he may have to learn to be more
+responsive to the needs of Venezuelans. The State Department
+must approve the Presidential Permit for the pipeline as soon
+as possible to cut our reliance on Venezuela oil. Regarding
+Cuba, it is in the U.S. interest to maintain a hard line
+against dictators who are committed to violating human rights.
+ Last month, the administration further loosened travel and
+remittance restrictions on Cuba allowing more money to flow to
+that country. Shortly thereafter, Cuban officials announced
+they are seeking a 20-year sentence for a USAID contractor,
+Alan Gross. Case in point, rewarding dictators only hurts U.S.
+interests. Additionally, by sending the wrong message on Cuba,
+we could soon see a relationship between Venezuela and Iran
+that is starkly similar to one pursued by Russia and Cuba.
+ I believe we are much closer to this reality than the
+administration is willing to admit. Before providing the
+Castros with any reward, we need to see real democratic reform.
+These include free and fair elections, the release of all
+political prisoners and a free and independent press that is
+allowed to operate without fear of oppression or violence.
+Additionally, regarding Mexico, while the administration has
+made trips to Mexico and we have funded the Merida Initiative
+over the past 3 years, it isn't enough. I will be concentrating
+the time and energy of this subcommittee on determining where a
+proactive approach from the U.S. can be most effective in
+fighting the deadly path of the drug trade. To start, we need
+to double border patrol agents from 20,000 to 40,000 while
+fully funding needed border protection equipment. This should
+include additional unmanned aerial vehicles and the completion
+of the security fence in urban hard-to-enforce areas of the
+border.
+ We also need to utilize the full resources of the U.S.
+intelligence community aligned to the mission, while
+coordinating closely with Mexico to ensure swift justice on
+both sides of the border. A central piece of the strategy
+includes a focus on governance reform, economic development,
+community stabilization, and ensuring access to essential
+services. We must stop the drug trafficking organizations and
+illegal armed groups that threaten the security of Mexico, the
+United States, and beyond.
+ In conclusion, policies of shaking hands with our enemies
+while ignoring our friends is making us neither a force to be
+reckoned with nor a friend of value. You can rely on me to
+engage the administration on a very regular basis to ensure we
+develop a strategic relationship toward Latin America. This is
+the only way to ensure freedom, security and prosperity for the
+United States and our allies. I now would like to recognize the
+ranking member, Mr. Engel for his opening statement.
+ Mr. Engel. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, it is going
+to take some getting used to because for the last 2 years, our
+roles were reversed with myself as chairman and Mr. Mack as
+ranking member. But during those 2 years, we worked very
+closely together and I believe share a very similar vision of
+what needs to be done in the Western Hemisphere. And I look
+forward to working with Mr. Mack in his role as chairman and I
+am glad that we are working together again.
+ Mr. Mack cares deeply about the Western Hemisphere and I
+wish him well as he assumes the gavel and I was particularly
+impressed that he gave himself 7 minutes and there are only
+about 9 seconds left over when you finished your remarks. So
+that was pretty good, Connie. As the leaders of our country
+look around the world and analyze the challenges our Nation
+faces, they often point to the never ending array of crises in
+the Middle East, Asia, or elsewhere. While those areas receive
+the most attention from the world's media, they are certainly
+no more important to the United States' national interest than
+what happens in Latin America. This is the Subcommittee on the
+Western Hemisphere. We are in the Western Hemisphere and
+obviously the Latin American and Caribbean countries are also
+in the Western Hemisphere, so the United States is
+geographically close to Latin America and the Caribbean,
+millions of recent immigrants are from this region, most of our
+imported energy is from Canada and other countries in the
+hemisphere. In fact, from illicit narcotics to cultural
+influences, to so many other areas, the Western Hemisphere
+remains crucial to the United States.
+ That is why I am glad that next month President Obama will
+travel to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador. These visits will help
+demonstrate that the administration sees our region as vitally
+important to the United States. His very first stop, Brazil,
+is, in so many ways, like the United States. It is a very
+large, very diverse democracy. I have long been of the belief
+that U.S. and Brazilian interests converge on a wide array of
+issues. And frankly, I was disappointed with some of the
+choices of the Lula government which led to a cooling of our
+relations.
+ However, there are already signs that under the new
+government of Dilma Rousseff, U.S.-Brazilian relations are on
+the mend. I hope that continues. It is very encouraging. Chile
+will be the second stop on President Obama's regional
+excursion. 2010 was quite a year for Chile. They experienced a
+terrible earthquake from which Chile is still rebuilding and
+lived through a mine cave-in from which the miners emerged
+almost miraculously after more than 2 months under ground. Our
+relationship with Chile is already quite close and mature and
+the President's visit can only further solidify these strong
+bonds.
+ Finally, President Obama will stop in El Salvador, a key
+country in Central America. In the 1980s, El Salvador was the
+site of a terrible civil war, but today that fight has long
+ended and the Salvadoran people live in a democracy. However,
+significant challenges still face El Salvador. Drug
+trafficking, criminal gangs, high unemployment and a soaring
+murder rate make life in El Salvador difficult. President Funes
+is charting a center left course and in the face of pressure,
+wants to continue historically close ties with the United
+States. I was at his inauguration and I am glad the President,
+our President, will be there to support him.
+ I wanted to also comment on Honduras, which Mr. Mack
+commented on. I feel very strongly, as he does, that Honduras
+and the United States need to work closely together. And I feel
+very strongly that the OAS owe it to stop putting Honduras on a
+list where it doesn't accord it correct recognition while at
+the same time other governments in the region which are much
+more questionable are welcome to the OAS as full fledged
+members.
+ So not only am I ranking member of this subcommittee, but I
+also represent large populations of people whose heritage is in
+Latin America and the Caribbean in my New York congressional
+district. Spring Valley in Rockland County is home to many
+Haitians and Haitian Americans. They were and are profoundly
+affected by the cataclysmic earthquake which struck Haiti. I
+have been proud to support them as they seek to support their
+loved ones. It is critical that our subcommittee stays focused
+on rebuilding Haiti in the weeks and months ahead.
+ We also need to follow the issues in Cuba. I have long been
+critical of the Castro regime and the fact that they do not
+have--permit political pluralism whatsoever in Cuba. I think
+that we need to continue the pressure on Cuba to make sure it
+democratizes and that the democracy which we have seen the
+Egyptian people clamor for can also happen to the Cuban people.
+Every day, stories fill our newspapers and TV about the horrors
+which drug criminals are inflicting upon Mexico and Central
+America. While every circumstance stands on its own, we have
+seen this before and we know that a country which stands up to
+the traffickers can emerge even stronger.
+ After more than a decade of murders, kidnappings and war,
+our ally, Colombia, finally has gotten the upper hand against
+the FARC, while the acreage under cocoa cultivation has dropped
+substantially. President Santos, we attended his inauguration
+as well. And we were proud to work with him as well as former
+President Uribe. President Santos is working today to help
+Colombia's dispossessed, its Afro-Colombian population and
+others facing challenges. And he and Colombia deserve the
+strong support of the United States.
+ I must say, however, how disappointed I am that the
+majority allowed the Andean Trade Preferences to expire on
+Saturday. ATPDEA is critical to our friends in Colombia and we
+shouldn't delay it any further. We should extend it. As we work
+with Colombia, we must work with Mexico and the countries of
+Central America to strengthen security forces and enhance
+justice systems. These countries are facing a difficult
+challenge and they deserve our backing.
+ At the same time, there is more we can do here at home to
+help our neighbors fight narco crime. We should tighten up at
+the borders, slow gun trafficking and do more to reduce demand
+for illegal drugs. Four years ago when I just started as
+chairman of this subcommittee, one thing quickly became clear
+to me, we had multiple programs to help fight narco trafficking
+but they were not integrated. When I raised this with the State
+Department, it was never clear who was in charge or how the
+efforts were integrated. I inserted language and the House
+passed Merida legislation to create a security coordinator to
+oversee and make sure our efforts meshed.
+ One year ago, Chairman Mack and I met with Secretary of
+State Clinton and urged her to create the security coordinator
+for the Western Hemisphere which I had proposed. I am looking
+forward to Secretary Valenzuela's testimony today and hope that
+he might discuss this important issue. Again, I would like to
+wish my good friend, Connie Mack, the best of luck as he begins
+his term as chairman. I offer him all of my support and I look
+forward to continuing our close collaboration in this
+subcommittee. Thank you. And, Mr. Chairman, you did a better
+job than me because I am 28 seconds over.
+ Mr. Mack. As we all know, that is pretty good for you. Just
+kidding. Thank you. Now, I would like to recognize the vice
+chair of the subcommittee, the member from Texas, Mr. McCaul
+for 5 minutes.
+ Mr. McCaul. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I am honored to
+serve as a vice chair of this subcommittee. I guess you can say
+I am your right-hand man on this issue. Secretary, thank you
+for being here today. And being from Texas, Mexico and Latin
+America are very important to my constituents and to me. And
+the issues I think have been covered very well by the chair and
+ranking member. It is clearly the Free Trade Agreements that I
+think I am interested in hearing the administration's position
+in terms of pushing that forward, the threat, the concern of
+Venezuela and Hugo Chavez, their connection to Iran continues
+to be of grave concern. I think the chair mentioned Cuba. We
+have an American who has been in prison, I think, for over a
+year--well over a year, Alan Gross. And I know the charges were
+just recently brought and I would be very interested in what
+the administration is doing to address that, what I consider to
+be a human rights violation. And then finally, the border is,
+certainly anyone from a border state, it is one of the biggest
+issues back home. Over 30,000 people have died at the hands of
+the drug cartels since President Calderon's war began and we
+overlook that fact. We talk a lot about Iraq and Afghanistan,
+but more people have died than Americans in those 2 wars. So
+the Merida Initiative is very important. The ranking member
+when he was chairman I think did an outstanding job pushing
+that very important initiative through. I met with President
+Calderon many years ago and he was pushing us to adopt the
+Merida Initiative as a showing of support, as solidarity with
+him. And I am pleased that we got that through. However, the
+funding has been bottlenecked at the State Department. I think
+$1.3 billion was appropriated and yet a very small amount of
+that has actually made it through to Mexico. So these are all
+very, very important issues that I look forward to hearing the
+testimony here today. And with that, I yield back.
+ Mr. Mack. Thank you. Now I would like to recognize Mr. F. I
+can say that because my last name is McGillicutty and it is not
+always easy to pronounce.
+ Mr. Faleomavaega. That is alright, Mr. Chairman. If I can
+pronounce Valenzuela, I should also be able to pronounce
+Faleomavaega.
+ Mr. Mack. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
+ Mr. Faleomavaega. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do want to
+thank you not only for obtaining the chairmanship for this very
+important subcommittee, but also thanking our ranking member,
+Mr. Engel, who has previously served as chairman of the
+subcommittee. I do want to associate myself with the statements
+made by you, Mr. Chairman, our ranking member, expressing some
+very serious concerns as to the issues confronting the Western
+Hemisphere. I want to thank Secretary Valenzuela for coming
+before our subcommittee. And having a chance to review his
+statement, I thought it was very comprehensive and certainly an
+indication also of the commitment of the Obama administration
+toward this important region of the world.
+ The only thing I want to share with Secretary Valenzuela in
+reviewing your statement, sir, there is not one thing
+mentioning about the millions, or shall I say, the plight, the
+sufferings of the millions and millions of indigenous people
+who live throughout Latin America, including Canada. The
+indigenous of Canada and the people living in this important
+region, there is not one mention of your statement concerning
+the needs, economic, social, you call it whatever. But the
+indigenous people living in these regions.
+ Mr. Secretary, I say we definitely need to pay more
+attention. I sincerely hope the Obama administration will focus
+on the needs of these people. One particular area that I do
+want to bring to the attention of Secretary Valenzuela, is
+Chile. Now, I know that the world has given rise in not only
+recognizing but also in congratulating the leaders of the
+people of Chile, what happened with the 33 miners who suffered
+tremendously and their being able to be saved from this
+catastrophe that occurred last month I believe as it was in
+Chile.
+ But, Mr. Secretary, I wanted to share with you--I sent a
+letter to your office about the plight of the people of Easter
+Island. There is a crisis brewing there on Easter Island, or as
+the native people call it, Rapa Nui. There is presence of the
+military of Chile there forcing the people away from their
+ancestral land rights, to their lands and tremendous,
+tremendous problems. I have sent a letter even to the
+Ambassador of Chile, Mr. Arturo. I have not had even the
+courtesy of a call or a response from the Chilean Embassy. I
+hope somebody from the Chilean Embassy is here in this hearing.
+Not even a courtesy call to just say, hey, we got your note,
+let us talk about it. Not even a message from the Ambassador of
+Chile to the United States concerning the problems that we are
+faced with on Easter Island.
+ Senator Akaka and I have also written to President Pinera
+expressing our serious concerns about the presence of the
+military of Chile on this little island, 2,300 miles away from
+Chile. Seventeen million Chileans, as opposed to 2,500 Rapa
+Nuis or Easter Islanders, living on this isolated island. And I
+must say, Mr. Secretary, they are not treated very decently as
+far as I am concerned as some sense of decency on how these
+people should be treated.
+ And I sincerely hope your office will get back to me on
+this so that we can follow up on this. And I will elaborate on
+it a little later during the course of the hearing. But I will
+want to say that I am putting out a little olive branch to the
+leaders of Chile to let us work together in taking care of
+addressing the serious needs of the people of Easter Island. I
+know it is not as important as Egypt or all these other regions
+of the world, but I think the world has caught the attention of
+these people being able to build these statutes, stone statues,
+weighing millions of thousands of tons and their culture. And I
+am disappointed in the way the Chilean Government has treated
+these people. And I am going to be asking the Secretary some
+more questions on this. Mr. Chairman, thank you. My time is
+about to be up and thank you for the time.
+ Mr. Mack. I thank the gentleman. Next is Congresswoman Jean
+Schmidt from Ohio, who is new to the committee. And we welcome
+you to the committee and I know you have done a lot of
+travelling and are passionate about the Western Hemisphere. So
+we appreciate you being here and you are recognized for 5
+minutes.
+ Mrs. Schmidt. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you
+Ranking Member Engel for holding this very important and timely
+meeting. And I do want to express my thanks because before I
+became a member of this committee, you afforded me an
+opportunity to travel into the area and back home in
+Cincinnati. In the second district, we have a lot of economic
+interests in the Western Hemisphere. I would also like to thank
+the Assistant Secretary for being here to address our
+subcommittee today. Many key issues will be addressed, but I
+really want to focus on one and that is Colombia. Colombia has
+been a strategic ally in Latin America for well over a decade.
+Since the establishment of Plan Colombia in 1999, the United
+States and Colombia worked closely to combat drug trafficking
+and terrorism in the region. Efforts by successive Colombian
+governments have resulted in a dramatically improved economy
+and security situation. Under President Uribe, rates in
+Colombia for murder, inflation, unemployment and poverty fell
+dramatically, while economic growth, exports and investments
+flourished. President Juan Manuel Santos, who I was afforded
+the opportunity to see sworn in, has built upon the success of
+President Uribe and the economic and security situation in
+Colombia continues to improve.
+ In addition to the improved economic and security
+situation, President Santos has vigorously pursued dramatic and
+social reforms. Under his administration, the Victims and Lands
+Restitution Act was passed. This Act assists victims of
+guerilla and paramilitary violence and coercion and provides an
+indemnity to victims of state security forces. President Santos
+is also working to address and protect labor rights and
+activists. He has pledged to review homicide cases against
+labor activists. He is in the process of establishing an
+independent labor ministry and he is committed to additional
+government resources to protect journalists, labor leaders and
+human rights defenders. Despite these efforts, opponents of the
+Colombian Free Trade Agreement argue that labor unionists in
+Colombia continue to face violence and intimidation and that
+the Colombian Government has failed to adequately protect the
+rights of workers to unionize and collectively bargain. And the
+Obama administration unfortunately appears to be bowing to this
+pressure and has thus far refused to send the Colombian Trade
+Agreement to Congress.
+ In my view, this is a slap in the face to the Colombian
+people. The Obama administration claims it wants to double
+export efforts within 5 year, yet it refuses to seriously
+consider a Free Trade Agreement with arguably our strongest
+ally in the region. I believe this policy undermines our
+credibility in the region and it will ultimately result in a
+diminished ability of the United States to exert influence in
+our own hemisphere. And I would like to add that the economic
+interests in my district and Colombia are very, very strong.
+ Three of my major corporations have very, very strong ties
+with Colombia. So this Trade Agreement is important to the
+United States, as well as to the citizens of Colombia. I would
+sincerely appreciate if the Assistant Secretary addressed these
+concerns in your testimony, sir, and I yield back the balance
+of my time.
+ Mr. Mack. Thank you very much. Mr. Payne is recognized for
+5 minutes for an opening statement.
+ Mr. Payne. Thank you. Thank you very much. And let me say
+that it is a pleasure to be a member of this subcommittee again
+and I look forward to working with you in your new leadership
+position. I know that you have the interests and the will, and
+so we look forward to having a good working relationship. Let
+me just say that I think that Latin America, as I have said for
+20-some years I have been in Congress, it seems that we have
+lacked what I think is a very aggressive policy.
+ During the 1960s, under the Kennedy administration probably
+is where the most attention was given to Latin America and we
+had programs that really kind of tied us together. Since then,
+we have seen a lack of affirmative programming in my opinion,
+and as a result, I think we have seen that many countries have
+elected leaders that have different opinions than what we have.
+I think that it is primarily because we have lacked the
+attention that we should have given to our neighbors to the
+south.
+ Having said that, of course, we do have important interests
+in Latin America. I think that our State Department could also
+do a better job, as my friend mentioned, about the indigenous
+people and people of African descent where there are many,
+many, in Latin America. For example, 2011 will mark the
+international year for people of African descent, and I wonder
+whether it would be a wise thing for our Embassies and
+countries in Latin America to have an evening of the
+international year of people of African descent.
+ I think that would show many people who are depressed in
+their country that the U.S. have an interest in them as well as
+our relationships with the leadership of the country. I
+understand that funding for State Department's race, ethnicity
+and social inclusion unit, which administers the Brazil and
+Colombian joint action plans on racial equality and other
+initiatives that strengthen minority inclusion in democracies
+throughout the region, the funding is going to dry up.
+ And once again, I think that it would be an opportunity for
+us to show that we do have an interest where we have seen
+changes and many of the countries, Brazil in particular,
+Colombia has made some steps in the right direction as it
+relates to minorities. But we still have the problem of whether
+Colombia, as we say, they are a great ally. However, 2,800
+union leaders have been killed in Colombia over the past 20
+years or so. Very few of the cases have been solved. So
+although we embrace the government, we still have to be
+concerned about workers' rights and the rights of indigenous
+people. As a matter of fact, Colombia has the largest number of
+displaced people, second largest number in the world because of
+the various activities.
+ So although I hear our pleas for the Colombia Free Trade
+Agreement and I do think Colombia has made some steps in the
+right direction, I think that more can be done and hopefully
+the new administration and Colombia will make strides to
+improve the relationships. I think that Brazil is doing an
+outstanding job. They have shown how they have become
+independent of foreign oil. I wish we could study what they
+have done and perhaps we could be less dependent on the lease
+oil, which could kind of stop the transfer of our finances, but
+secondly, not have us dependent on despots and dictators in the
+Middle East as we see it is a fragile area, what happened in
+Egypt and Tunisia and Algeria starting to perk up, we need to
+be concerned that we don't allow the same things to happen in
+our neighbors to the south. It is very important to us, and I
+certainly look forward to working with the administration in
+the future. Thank you very much. I yield back my last second.
+ Mr. Mack. Thank you, Mr. Payne. And it is great to have you
+on the committee, and I look forward to working with you as
+well. Mr. Rivera from Miami, new to the committee, new Member
+in Congress. Welcome. And you are recognized for 5 minutes.
+ Mr. Rivera. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Secretary,
+for attending today's hearing. I am deeply concerned with our
+current administration's policy and attitude toward Latin
+America over the past few years. It seems that our foreign
+policy in the region has been aimed at improving relations with
+our enemies instead of supporting our friends and allies in
+Latin America. For example, the recent decision by the Obama
+administration to make changes to regulations relating to
+travel to Cuba is nothing short of a unilateral concession to a
+dictatorship that continues to oppress its people. I know the
+administration believes these actions are an important step in
+reaching the widely shared goal of a Cuba that respects the
+basic rights of all its citizens, but I couldn't disagree more.
+This loosening of regulations is a concession that does nothing
+to solve the fundamental problems on the island.
+ Instead of seeking change from the Cuban dictatorship with
+regard to human rights and free and open democratic elections,
+before entering into any kind of compromise, this policy sends
+a message that the Cuban dictatorship does not have to reform
+before being rewarded by the United States. This policy will
+not lead to a better quality of life for the Cuban people or
+help grant them the freedoms that they so desperately need and
+want. It only serves to enrich the Cuban dictatorship. In
+addition, there have been reports from Cuban state-controlled
+media that Cuban prosecutors are seeking a 20-year jail term
+for American contractor Alan Gross.
+ Gross, an American citizen, has been imprisoned by the
+Castro dictatorship without access to legal representation or a
+proper trial since December 2009 when he was on the island
+providing humanitarian assistance to Jewish groups. While this
+administration continues to ease sanctions on Cuba, the Castro
+dictatorship responds by seeking unjustifiably harsh penalties
+against an American citizen. The situation with Alan Gross
+demonstrates the futility of making unilateral concessions to
+the Castro dictatorship and shows that the Castro regime has no
+respect for civil liberties, human rights or due process of
+law.
+ I believe the administration needs to immediately rescind
+its recent decision lifting sanctions on the Castro
+dictatorship in response to this unwarranted action against an
+American citizen. Furthermore, our best ally in Latin America
+has been Colombia. Colombia's efforts in fighting the drug
+trade and terrorist organizations should be an example to the
+world. Colombia also has the potential of being one of
+America's best economic engines. In his 2011 State of the Union
+speech, President Obama cited the need for deals that keep
+faith with American workers and promote American jobs. The
+Colombia Free Trade Agreement would help him reach these goals.
+The agreement would slash Colombian tariffs for U.S. goods,
+increase American exports to Colombia by approximately $1.1
+billion and increase U.S. GDP by $2.5 billion.
+ As many have stated, delaying the Colombia Free Trade
+Agreement is destroying jobs in America. This agreement has
+received strong bipartisan support from leaders in both
+parties. We must come together, pass this agreement and show
+our neighbors in the region that democracy leads to prosperity.
+Finally, Venezuela is another example of this administration
+ignoring major threats in the region. Iran continues to have a
+close relationship with Hugo Chavez. Iran is an official
+Sponsor of State Terrorism as designated by our own Government.
+Should this not be a concern for the administration? In our own
+backyard, we have two of our prime enemies working together on
+ways to cause harm to our Nation and our allies such as perhaps
+a terror attack in this hemisphere.
+ Already, two have been stopped: One of the U.S. Embassy in
+Santiago. And another to the President of Panama. The U.S.
+Embassy in Caracas was also closed this month due to a threat
+from Al Qaeda. Cuba works with Chavez and Chavez works closely
+with Iran. I look forward to hearing your testimony on how the
+administration plans on tackling these growing issues of
+concern to our national security. I yield back the balance of
+my time, Mr. Chairman.
+ Mr. Mack. Thank you, Mr. Rivera. And thank you, Mr.
+Valenzuela, for sitting through and letting us tell you some of
+the issues that we have. We look forward to your testimony. I
+think my staff prepared a nice introduction, but I think we all
+know who you are and your background. We are pleased that you
+are here today. We look forward to your testimony and your
+answer to questions. But most importantly, the committee looks
+forward to working with you and the administration on finding
+common ground and where we have disagreements we look forward
+to having a dialogue about those disagreements with seeing if
+we can't find some solutions. So with that, you are recognized
+for 5 minutes for your testimony.
+
+ STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE ARTURO VALENZUELA, ASSISTANT
+SECRETARY OF STATE, BUREAU OF WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS, U.S.
+ DEPARTMENT OF STATE
+
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee,
+I wanted to thank you for this opportunity to testify before
+you today and for the level of interest that this committee has
+shown now for some time to the issues of the Western Hemisphere
+and U.S. policy therein. I also want to congratulate you on
+your assignment as chairman of this committee, Mr. Chairman.
+ In addition, I would like to note that I have submitted a
+longer statement to be entered into the Congressional Record. I
+will take this opportunity to highlight the main points of my
+main remarks and then I will be happy to answer your questions.
+ Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to tell you that this
+administration is deeply engaged in the Americas. I note that
+the title of this hearing asks a rather provocative policy
+toward Latin America. Rather than leave the committee in
+suspense, allow me to begin with the answer yes, we do. And
+since our earliest days in office, the Obama administration has
+been working very hard to safeguard democratic values, promote
+economic opportunity, strengthen regional security and advance
+U.S. interests. We strongly believe that the United States has
+important national interests at stake in the Western Hemisphere
+and that the best way to advance these interests is through a
+proactive engagement with all of the countries of the Americas.
+That is why Secretary Clinton has traveled to the region more
+frequently than any other Secretary of State in modern American
+history, and that is why President Obama chose to use the State
+of the Union address to announce his forthcoming trip to
+Brazil, Chile and El Salvador.
+ We believe that the United States has a vital stake in the
+success of Latin America and Central America and the countries
+of the Americas and that a U.S. policy that contributes to that
+success will benefit all the people of the Americas, including
+the citizens of the United States.
+ We also know that Latin America's future depends on the
+consolidation of vibrant democratic institutions that are
+responsive to their citizens and capable of expanding the
+boundaries of freedom, creating greater social prosperity,
+unlocking the economic potential of markets and deepening the
+rule of law. Today we are very optimistic about the state of
+the hemisphere.
+ In my 51 trips to 23 hemispheric countries as Assistant
+Secretary, I have witnessed the convergence of two powerful
+positive trends, the consolidation of successful market
+democracies that are making big strides in meeting their
+people's needs and the growing global integration of Latin
+America. The greatest regional challenges, including
+inequality, the impunity of power, lack of rights, ineffective
+institutions, lack of opportunity are receding in most
+countries in the Americas and nations of the hemisphere are
+realizing their stake in global issues, like food security,
+climate change, transnational crime and economic
+competitiveness. We recognize that achieving our goals will
+require building stronger institutions of democratic
+governance, their respect for human rights.
+ In 2011, several Latin American and Caribbean countries
+will hold Presidential elections. We are always welcoming of
+elections that are credible expressions of the popular will and
+we encourage all countries to facilitate domestic and
+international observation and to establish mechanisms capable
+of mitigating disputes that may arise through the electoral
+process.
+ Given a new spirit of international partnership is
+especially important at a time when we face a constrained
+budget environment. Now more than ever, our budget choices must
+be strategic and we must align limited funding resources to the
+areas where our resources can make a critical difference. The
+President's 2012 foreign assistance request for the Western
+Hemisphere includes funding for critical citizen safety
+programs to support the hemisphere's ability to combat drug
+trafficking and transnational crime. These threats to the rule
+of law in Latin America also threaten U.S. national security
+and strengthening the region's capacity to combat them is in
+our national interest. To achieve these goals, we support full
+funding from Congress for the Merida Initiative, with Mexico
+and Central American Regional Security Initiative and the
+Caribbean Basin and Security Initiative.
+ In Colombia, full funding is key to firmly securing the
+country's democratic and security gains of recent years. We
+appreciate the efforts of Congressman Engel and Congressman
+Mack to help us concentrate our efforts more effectively in the
+security assistance and look forward to ways in which we might
+be able to roll out the idea of having a better coordination of
+this process.
+ Mr. Chairman, I am sure that you have questions about
+specific aspects of our policies, especially as it relates to
+our bilateral relations. During the question period, I will be
+more than happy to address the strong partnership for us with
+respect to Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru and the
+Caribbean, as well as to discuss our bilateral relationships
+that have been more challenging. And you have alluded to some
+of those. In conclusion, let me say that the Obama
+administration's Latin America policy is informed, engaged,
+dynamic and collaborative and optimistic about what the future
+will hold for the countries of the Americas. And I thank you
+for your attention.
+ [The prepared statement of Mr. Valenzuela follows:]
+
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Mr. Mack. Thank you very much. This is the first hearing of
+the subcommittee. And we really want to kind of get at the idea
+of do we have a policy, and as you say in your opening
+statement, yes, then help us understand it because there is a
+lot of contradiction out there, and I think the main problem I
+am having is we appear to be supporting our enemies and kind of
+turning our back on our allies. I don't know how, and maybe you
+can answer this question, how can we deny Honduras a compact
+with the MCC but then allow the money to keep flowing to
+Nicaragua? I don't know--it is a pretty stark difference.
+Honduras has been an ally and a friend. Nicaragua is invading
+other countries. And so I think there is a disparity there that
+needs some explaining. I would also suggest that again in Cuba,
+we relax travel and remittance restrictions, and then Cuba
+turns around and is talking about a 20-year sentence on a
+USAID, Alan Gross.
+ So it seems like our foreign policy is not headed in the
+right direction in Latin America. If we want to show the people
+of Latin America that we support them and that there is value
+in being a friend to America, then the Free Trade Agreements
+must be sent to the Congress immediately for passage. If we
+want to show that there is value in being a friend to the
+United States and an ally, then the MCC compact with Honduras
+needs to move forward immediately. We cannot continue to have
+this kind of mixed messages to the folks of Latin America. So
+if you would like to respond to any of that.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Sure, Mr. Chairman. Thanks very much for
+that. Look, I think that the fundamental starting premise is
+that it is in our fundamental interest to have successful
+governments and successful societies in the Western Hemisphere.
+And that is what we are striving for. And what we see now is a
+situation as I alluded to in my testimony where we have
+overcome many of the difficulties of the past.
+ It wasn't that long ago that most of the countries in the
+region were under authoritarian regimes. Only three avoided
+those during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, authoritarianism. We
+had civil conflicts in Central America. Today, in fact, as my
+testimony suggested, the countries of the Americas are
+weathering well to financial crisis today. They are growing,
+they are improving their societies.
+ There are some significant challenges and we agree about
+that. And there are some countries that oppose specific
+challenges. I am happy to address that more specifically as we
+move forward with this hearing today. But I just want to let
+you know that when--when you look at things like statistics
+that have come out on public opinion in Latin America with
+regard to the standing of the United States in the region, the
+latest polls by Latinobarometro that just came out suggested
+that two-thirds of the population in Latin America strongly
+supports U.S. policy in the region. The standing of President
+Obama is extremely high in the region. That is an increase of
+10 to 20 points.
+ So in country after country, we are seeing that our
+engagement, and I described it very thoroughly, the Secretary
+going to all of the countries, trying to address fundamental
+issues that are of concern to the peoples of the Americas, such
+as issues of public security, such as issues of
+competitiveness, such as issues of climate change, such as
+issues of how do you strengthen democratic institutions and
+that sort of thing. This engagement is paying off, Mr.
+Chairman.
+ Mr. Mack. Can you maybe respond to the--how we deny
+Honduras the MCC compact and then we allow the one in
+Nicaragua----
+ Mr. Valenzuela. The compact in Nicaragua is a 5-year
+compact that is ending right now. In the case of Honduras, what
+was at issue was whether there was going to be a renewal of the
+compact. And that goes to a board and the board determined that
+Honduras did not meet standards particularly on indicators of
+corruption. We discussed this with President Lobo and with the
+Government of Honduras. We are committed to continue to work
+with Honduras on this. We are going to provide resources. We
+hope that we might be able to move forward toward a new compact
+with Honduras in the future. And I doubt very much whether
+there is going to be any kind of a renewal of a compact with
+Nicaragua.
+ Mr. Mack. And the corruption that you referred to, that
+happened under Zelaya's watch?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. The corruption comes from an earlier
+period. I think that is right. Let me agree with you,
+Congressman, that Honduras ought to be brought back into the
+Organization of the American States. We are very impressed with
+the efforts that this government is making to move forward, to
+reconcile Honduras after the crisis of last year. And he is
+doing a superb job and I visited with him several times. We are
+really committed to working with Honduras and moving forward.
+We think that they have achieved an extraordinary amount of
+success and we are strongly supportive of this--their efforts.
+ Mr. Mack. And the last concern there is in Honduras for the
+time being is that there is a lot of visas that have not been--
+I guess that are still being revoked. Is there a movement in
+State Department to see that those that wish to get a visa that
+have been--those that have been revoked, that they will be
+reauthorized?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Visas are not still being revoked, but we
+are looking into how the visas that were taken away will be
+restored.
+ Mr. Mack. Thank you. Mr. Engel, you are recognized for 5
+minutes.
+ Mr. Engel. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Before I begin, let me
+agree with the chairman. I really was disappointed in Honduras
+that the MCC compact was not renewed and I think it is
+especially egregious because a large reason why it was not
+renewed was because of the corruption that happened in the
+previous regime.
+ So it doesn't seem fair to penalize Pepe Lobo, who I think
+is doing a very good job in terms of trying to get his country
+back to normal. So I want to add my voice to what the chairman
+just said. I mentioned that ATPDEA--I have long been a
+supporter of ATPDEA. I see the Ambassador from Colombia and the
+Ambassador from Ecuador are here. Tell me what is going on with
+that?
+ And I know that we failed to renew it, the majority did. I
+know we are going to renew it. It has been my feeling that
+these things should be renewed for longer periods of time than
+they have in the past. What can you tell us about the renewal
+of ATPDEA?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Well, Congressman, I couldn't agree with
+you more that this is a really significant priority for the
+administration and it is certainly a very critical priority in
+our relationship with both Colombia and Ecuador. And I think it
+is essential to try to find a way for the Congress to move
+forward and to renew these preferences as soon as possible. And
+as you suggested for a longer period of time, it would be
+better because it provides a significant amount of instability.
+Investors, exporters and so on cannot plan if they are subject
+to this kind of suspension along the lines that has been
+occurring recently.
+ Mr. Engel. Thank you. In my opening remarks, I mentioned
+the Western Hemisphere security coordinator and how now
+Chairman Mack and myself met with Secretary Clinton last year.
+I am calling for this. I am wondering if you could tell us what
+the progress has been on it. It didn't make sense to me when I
+called the State Department for whatever, nothing seemed to be
+coordinated as well as it should. And we all agreed, including
+the Secretary, that this would be a step in the right
+direction. So please tell me about the progress.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Yes, thank you for the question and we
+really appreciate--I appreciate--both you and Congressman Mack
+had with the Secretary at the time. And we have been concerned
+that with our efforts in Merida with regard to Mexico as well
+as for the Central American Regional Security Initiatives
+(CARSI) as well as for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative,
+these three critical initiatives on security issues for Mexico
+and Central America and the Caribbean, that we have this
+properly coordinated. And in that sense, what we have done is
+we have identified a coordinator, the deputy Assistant
+Secretary and the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the
+Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs who has probably more
+experience in this sort of thing than maybe anybody else that I
+know of in the State Department.
+ In fact, she was there when I went into the State
+Department as a political appointee in 1994 and has
+extraordinary standing within the State Department. So we are
+working--and we like to work with your committee so we can
+properly announce this and review all of the issues that we are
+doing--all of the matters that we are focusing on with regard
+to security.
+ Mr. Engel. I would like to announce it because one of the
+frustrations that all of us have had on both sides of the
+aisle, regardless of who the administration is, it has been in
+this administration, it has been with President Bush, we have
+seen the frustration that Congress moves in one panel and the
+administration seems to move in another place and this is a
+very good example of the administration listening to both of us
+and wanting to work in conjunction with us.
+ So I look forward to that. And I know I speak for Mr. Mack,
+we would like to have a meeting with the coordinator as soon as
+possible so that we can tell the coordinator what our views are
+and work together on these issues. So I am happy to hear that.
+ Let me ask you one last question. And that is--well, I have
+been very unhappy with many of the South American countries
+recognizing unilaterally the State of Palestine. I think it is
+unhelpful, frankly, in Middle East peace. I think such
+unilateral efforts undermine the Middle East peace process. The
+Middle East peace between Palestinians and Israelis can only
+happen, in my opinion, if both parties sit together in face to
+face negotiations and I think this unilateral recognition of
+Palestine is a disincentive for the Palestinians to come to the
+negotiating table because they feel that if they just sit back
+and do nothing, all this recognition will fall in their lap.
+ So what are we doing in these countries to relay our
+displeasure with these decisions in South America and what are
+we doing to prevent other countries in the hemisphere to do the
+same?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Well, thank you for the question.
+ Mr. Mack. Be quick, because his time is almost up.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Let me just simply say that we agree
+completely with your approach and your analysis on this. This
+is not helpful. It is up to the parties to negotiate this and
+we shouldn't be encouraging anybody to recognize Palestine, and
+we have made that very clear, Congressman, to all the countries
+at the highest levels. We have spoken to Foreign Ministers, we
+have spoken to Presidents, and we have gone across the region.
+So we have made a real effort in that regard.
+ Mr. Mack. Thank you.
+ Mr. McCaul is recognized for 5 minutes.
+ Mr. McCaul. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ Mr. Secretary, thank you for being here today. I appreciate
+your testimony.
+ Five years ago, the Colombia Free Trade Agreement was
+negotiated. Four years ago, the Free Trade Agreement with
+Panama was negotiated. Now we are in 2011. I remember meeting
+with President Uribe, a staunch ally, supporter of the United
+States. President Bush negotiated in good faith with him to get
+the Free Trade Agreement, and it just seems to me continuing to
+hold up this agreement is a real slap in the face to an ally of
+ours.
+ What is the administration's position on these two Free
+Trade Agreements, and when is the President going to submit
+these to the Congress?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Well, look, thank you for the question, Mr.
+Congressman. We agree completely with the fact that we have to
+move forward on both of these.
+ And let me just say in some ways I am in a fairly special
+position, because I was at the White House in 1999 and 2000
+when we started working on Plan Colombia, and it became the
+single most important thing that I was involved in as the
+Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National
+Security Council. It was a long slog, and at first it didn't
+come out. And it turns out, I think, to have been one of the
+most successful policies of the United States in recent time in
+the Western Hemisphere and had the added, and I think extremely
+important, aspect of being a bipartisan foreign policy.
+ And in that sense I would like to go back to Congressman
+Mack's suggestion. The more we can look at trying to do our
+foreign policy in the Americas, it is a bipartisan foreign
+policy, the better our interests are served.
+ With regard to Colombia, I think that the Colombians have
+made extraordinary progress. I think that this current
+administration, the subsequent administration, has moved even
+further with regard to addressing many of the questions that
+had been raised by others.
+ And so I think that we would agree with you that it is time
+to move forward on the Colombia and the Panama Free Trade
+Agreements. I can't tell you exactly how that is going to
+happen today, but that is certainly our commitment.
+ Mr. McCaul. Because, you know, we talk a lot about jobs and
+the economy, and these two Free Trade Agreements, in my
+judgment, will create jobs in the United States. It will be a
+good, positive thing for our economy and good for our relations
+with our allies in this hemisphere. So I hope the
+administration will move quickly on that issue.
+ You mentioned Plan Colombia, and I agree that was a very
+successful operation, and I applaud you for your efforts from
+the very beginning. As we look at Mexico, I have often
+advocated that maybe we need to do something similar in Mexico.
+Whatever we are doing right now, whatever President Calderon is
+doing is not working. The situation seems to be getting worse,
+and I would hate to see our friend just south of our border go
+into a state of collapse. So I was interested in your thoughts
+on that.
+ On the Merida Initiative, why, I mean, it has been years
+now since we appropriated that funding, and yet it has been
+bottlenecked up, and we can't seem to push it through the State
+Department. What is the problem?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Congressman, we are very comfortable with
+the fact that much of the Merida funding is now flowing very
+well. In fact, some of the original funding that focused much
+more on the hard side, on the security side, is now being
+complemented much more by some of the other things that need to
+be done as well, particularly, for example, the standing up of
+effective police institutions and strengthening the judicial
+system particularly at the local level, where a lot of these
+challenges are taking place.
+ So the commitment and the congressional response to it was
+substantial, as you suggested. I think that we are moving
+forward on this, and we are making progress.
+ Mr. McCaul. The number--$1.3 billion appropriated, and the
+number I saw was something like $350 million has actually made
+it out through State to Mexico. Is that accurate?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Yes. I don't have the figures right in
+front of me. I will get them to you, but I think it is
+substantially more than that has been able to flow now.
+ Mr. McCaul. If you could give me that information, I would
+appreciate that.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I will do that.
+ Mr. McCaul. Lastly, I think, something that was very well,
+eloquently stated by Congressman Rivera. You know, we have an
+American in jail in Cuba since 2009, and this is one of the
+biggest human rights violations going on, in my judgment, and
+yet we do--we tend to give this dictator more and more
+concessions.
+ What is this administration doing to secure Alan Gross'
+freedom?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Well, we would agree with you, Congressman.
+It is an outrage that they kept him for a year without charging
+him. Now they have turned around and charged him, and the
+charges are going to be 20 years, and we are continuing to
+demand his immediate release.
+ Mr. McCaul. Well, I think we need to do everything in our
+power to free him, but thank you very much for your testimony.
+ Mr. Mack. Next, Mr. Faleomavaega--how did I do--is
+recognized for 5 minutes.
+ Mr. Faleomavaega. You did excellent, Mr. Chairman. I thank
+you very much.
+ Mr. Secretary, I know I haven't traveled throughout Latin
+America as often as you have, and I am curious, does the State
+Department currently have statistics or data or information
+concerning the political, educational and social problems
+addressing the problems of the indigenous peoples of these
+countries living in Central and South America?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Congressman, I am very pleased that you
+have raised this issue, because, in fact, this is one of the
+most important efforts that we have been focused on more
+recently is to try to address some of the--in partnership with
+countries in the Americas--some of the lingering social issues
+that are so important.
+ And what we are doing is we are working together with
+countries to try to improve their own treatment of their own
+populations to get better protections.
+ Mr. Faleomavaega. Well, let us address this specifically,
+indigenous peoples in their own populations. I mean, I am
+addressing this issue directly.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Yes.
+ Mr. Faleomavaega. Indigenous Indians living in these
+countries in Latin America. Does the State Department have
+relevant information and data?
+ You know, it is like taking a census. If you are not
+counted, you don't exist, and it seems that over the years, in
+the times that I have traveled throughout Latin America, I have
+seen the scourge and the sufferings of the indigenous peoples.
+And I think there seems to be a little sense of just pretending
+like the problem doesn't exist.
+ I visited the Indians of the Amazons, I have visited the
+people of the Incas. Yes, they participated in some extent. But
+correct me if I am wrong. Are they not the worst economically,
+educationally and socially throughout Latin America?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Well, absolutely, you are correct on that.
+The indigenous populations are the ones that are at the bottom
+of the rung, that have suffered historically with human rights
+abuses, and they have gotten trapped in civil conflicts and
+that kind of thing.
+ There are large indigenous populations in some countries,
+as you well know, Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala. The administration
+is committed to working with these countries to try to come up
+with more effective programs to provide for not only support,
+but greater respect and respect for the rights of indigenous
+peoples. And, yes, it is an important emphasis.
+ You know what? We are also looking at issues of Afro-
+descendants in this Year of the Afro-descendants.
+ Mr. Faleomavaega. Yes, Mr. Payne has addressed that. You
+know what is ironic about this--and I don't know if the
+chairman and our ranking member are aware of this--the George
+Washington of Mexico was a pure Indian from the Yucatan
+Peninsula. His name is Benito Juarez. And the irony of all of
+this, and, interestingly enough, people don't realize, but he
+was a pure Indian. He was the one that provided and set the
+independence of Mexico from its rulers. I guess the fellow's
+name was Napoleon or something. Anyway, it was during that
+period of time.
+ I notice also with interest that the first elected Inca
+Indian, indigenous Indian, was Alejandro Toledo of Peru. The
+first elected native indigenous leader elected as leader of
+Bolivia is Evo Morales.
+ Now, despite this development politically, I am still
+interested in wanting to find out if we have seriously
+addressed the issues affecting the needs and the blight of
+these native peoples, and I wanted to know if the Obama
+administration is committed in this effort?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Yes, we are committed to this effort. And
+as you suggest, the fact that in many of these countries you
+now have indigenous leaders that are being elected President,
+it shows also how much has, in fact, been overcome. The
+democracy is not just for a few.
+ Mr. Faleomavaega. I apologize. I only have 50 seconds left.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Sure.
+ Mr. Faleomavaega. I would like to give you copies of the
+letters that I sent to your office, to Secretary Clinton, to
+President Pinera, concerning the plight of the Easter
+Islanders. There are only 2,500 of them, and I would like to
+appeal to the good people of Chile, 17 million good Chilean
+people, sending a military against these natives who live on
+Easter Island, it just blows my mind how it would be a national
+security problem for the Government of Chile just to address
+seriously the needs of these native people.
+ The reason why I am really concerned about this, Mr.
+Secretary, is that there are only 2,500 of them. It is not
+against the 17 million Chileans that I am talking about. And I
+am sure there are good people of Chile, but please pay
+attention to the problems that I am describing.
+ Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. We will answer your letters.
+ Mr. Mack. Thank you.
+ The gentleman from Florida Mr. Rivera is recognized for 5
+minutes.
+ Mr. Rivera. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ Mr. Secretary, my questions will start off with respect to
+the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act, otherwise
+known as Helms-Burton, suspension of Title III of Helms-Burton
+allowing U.S. citizens the ability to seek legal redress of
+grievances and access to U.S. courts to remedy claims against
+the Castro dictatorship in particular. The justification for
+suspending that provision for U.S. citizens is the promotion of
+democracy as determined by this government.
+ How has the suspension of Title III of the Cuban Liberty
+and Democratic Solidarity Act by this administration promoted
+democracy in Cuba?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. On that, the specifics of Title III, I will
+have to get back to you, Congressman. I can't answer that
+question right now.
+ Mr. Rivera. You are familiar with the Helms-Burton Act.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I am familiar with Helms-Burton and what
+Title IV and Title III are, but I am not sure--if your question
+is what is the ramifications of that, I would not be able to
+fully answer that right now.
+ Mr. Rivera. No, no, no. I don't want to know the
+ramifications. The administration has to claim the
+justification for suspending Helms-Burton as the promotion of
+democracy. How has suspending Title III promoted democracy in
+Cuba?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. As I said, I will have to get back to you
+on that.
+ Mr. Rivera. Alright. Let us go on to lifting of some other
+sanctions, and let us talk about the recent lifting of the
+recent sanctions.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Sure.
+ Mr. Rivera. Can you provide any other example where
+unilateral concessions, unilateral concessions, have been met
+with democratic reforms by a totalitarian dictatorship?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Look, let me explain to you, and we
+probably have a fundamental difference of opinion, these are
+not concessions to the Cuban Government. These people-to-people
+programs are programs that we believe are important in
+advancing our fundamental interests with regard to Cuba, and
+that is to promote a climate in Cuba that will allow the Cuban
+people, in fact, to make their own----
+ Mr. Rivera. Let me rephrase the question. Can you cite any
+concession by the dictatorship for democratic reform that has
+ever been made in the 52 years of its existence?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. As far as I know, there have not been
+similar kinds of legislation regarding other countries. But I
+can tell you this----
+ Mr. Rivera. I am only talking about Cuba right now. Let me
+make sure the question is clear. Can you cite any concession
+toward democratic reform that has ever been made by the Castro
+dictatorship in the----
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Can I cite whether there is concession?
+ Mr. Rivera. One more time. Can you cite any concession for
+democratic reform that has ever been made by the Castro
+dictatorship?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I can't think of any, no.
+ Mr. Rivera. Okay. Then let us go to the specifics of what
+happens with these concessions.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Alright.
+ Mr. Rivera. Travel and trade. In terms of the final
+disposition of trade and travel-related finances, meaning the
+money that is generated from this activity, where do these
+funds end up?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Well, I think that where you are going,
+Congressman, is that some of the money may, I suspect, in your
+view, support the regime, but it is our view that the
+overwhelming interest----
+ Mr. Rivera. I am not judging. I just want to know where the
+money ends up. I want to see if it supports the regime or
+doesn't support the regime. Where does the money end up?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. In the hands of the people that are going
+to be benefiting from this, the Cuban people.
+ Mr. Rivera. And when they spend it, where does it end up?
+When they spend it in a diplomatic store, when they spend the
+money in Cuba, where does it end up, when it leaves their
+hands?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. It goes into buying goods. They buy goods
+in state commissaries. In that sense it does go into the state
+commissaries. But as we see right now, Congressman, there is an
+enormous opportunity with the increasing trend toward
+privatization in Cuba.
+ Mr. Rivera. Let me ask you about that, because you say
+state commissaries. Are there any private banks where this
+money goes into? Is there a private-sector entity to make
+investments, or does money, when it is spent in Cuba, end up
+anywhere else but in the hands of the state in its final
+disposition?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. The objective of the reforms is for the
+money to essentially benefit the Cuban people. If there is an
+ancillary support for government institutions, that is minimal
+compared with what our objective is in trying to empower the
+Cuban people through an increase in----
+ Mr. Rivera. Money ending up in the hands of the Cuban
+Government is minimal, okay.
+ Do you believe Alan Gross is a hostage?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I think that he was unduly detained,
+incorrectly detained. He was held for a year, as I said
+earlier, and that was unconscionable. And now he has been
+changed with 20 years, and we demand his immediate release.
+ Mr. Rivera. Can you tell me if you believe he is a hostage?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I don't think he is a hostage, no.
+ Mr. Rivera. Thank you.
+ Mr. Mack. The gentleman's time is expired.
+ Mr. Sires is recognized for 5 minutes for questions.
+ Mr. Sires. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Mr.
+Valenzuela, for being here today.
+ I just want to associate myself with some of the comments
+that were made by the chairman, the ranking member and my
+friend from Florida.
+ You might not call them concessions, but this is how we see
+it. You know, I was born in Cuba. I came here when I was 11
+years old. I was probably the only Member of Congress that
+lived there for 11 years, and I know what it is. So you may not
+call it concessions, but we do.
+ You know, we work very hard here to set some of the
+policies that we have here, and then it goes to the State
+Department, and concessions are made. So I am not going to
+belabor the point, but I think Mr. Rivera did a good job on
+what he did.
+ But I want to talk a little bit about Colombia. Who set the
+trip to Colombia? I assume the State Department, right? Excuse
+me, the trip to South America by the President.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. No, it is determined by the White House.
+ Mr. Sires. Is there a reason why he is not stopping in
+Colombia? I mean, I have been in this Congress now 4 years, and
+I keep hearing what a great supporter Colombia is, what a
+friend it is, what a great job they are doing. Yet the
+President is willing to fly right over Colombia and land
+someplace else. I mean, to me, I would have gone to Colombia
+before I go to Brazil.
+ And the other thing that bothered me was that when the
+President of Colombia was sworn in, I was there. I was there
+with a couple of other Congresspeople. I didn't see too many
+high-ranking Department members there from the Department of
+State, I have to tell you. It was a little embarrassing that
+this--for 4 years I keep hearing what a great ally Colombia is,
+and yet when you look around, if it wasn't for the delegation
+that went, there would have been very little support, it seems.
+ So, you know, I don't know why the President just seems to
+fly over Colombia. Can you----
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Look, let me say this. We are extremely
+pleased that the President is going to the region. It is an
+indication of the commitment that the administration has to the
+Americas. Obviously there are quite a few countries. Some have
+to be chosen. It made sense to go to Brazil, the largest
+country in the region, in South America, and it made sense to
+go to a country in South America, and it made sense then to go
+to a country in Central America.
+ Now, there are a whole host, Congressman, of criteria that
+I am sure were used by the White House as they looked at this.
+One example for concern was, you know, are there elections
+taking place, and would the President going to a particular
+country, for example, get involved in the internal elections?
+And so that probably excluded some countries.
+ And in the case of Colombia, the President will be
+attending the Summit of the Americas, you know--that is the
+expectation at least--that is going to take place in Colombia
+next year. So there is travel by the President that we would
+hope will take place next year.
+ I can't speak for the White House.
+ Mr. Sires. You hope that it goes to Colombia next year.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I hope it goes to Colombia next year.
+ Mr. Sires. Yes, so do we. So you might want to relate to
+the President that, you know, we would hope that he would
+consider stopping in Colombia. After all, they are our best
+friend, our best supporter. We always sing their praises, and
+yet we ignore them.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. The Ambassador of Colombia is right here.
+ Mr. Sires. He knows me because I have been to Colombia many
+times, and he knows exactly what I am talking about.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Right.
+ Mr. Sires. In terms of Venezuela and the situation in
+Venezuela with Iran, I met a group of people at a dinner, and
+they told me that Iran has the largest, in terms of personnel,
+Embassy in Venezuela in the world. Is that accurate in terms of
+the amount of people working at this Iranian Embassy?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I could not say. I don't know whether that
+is accurate. I could find out for you.
+ Mr. Sires. But there are flights twice a week, is it, into
+Venezuela from Iran, back and forth? And from what I gather,
+the people have come to my office, it just seems that Iranians
+are bringing boxes, bringing all sorts of merchandise, never
+really checked, and it just goes right through.
+ So I can't--I mean, I am assuming the worst. Obviously this
+guy Chavez is a nut, you know, in so many words. And so I was
+just wondering if you have heard anything differently in terms
+of the amount of people that are working at this Embassy,
+because obviously that adds a great mischief.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I don't know what the size of their Embassy
+is in Caracas, and I could try to find out and get back to you
+on that.
+ Obviously, Congressman, we are concerned about the
+relationship between Venezuela and Iran. Iran is, you know--has
+been designated as an exporter of terror. They are in violation
+of U.N. Security Council resolutions on issues of
+nonproliferation. And so we have let both the Venezuelan
+Government and PDVSA know that they are probably in violation
+of CISADA commitments that don't permit entities to
+commercialize with Iran.
+ Mr. Sires. Thank you very much.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. You are welcome.
+ Mr. Sires. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ Mr. Mack. Thank you.
+ Mr. Payne, you are recognized for 5 minutes for questions.
+ Mr. Payne. Thank you very much.
+ There is an international agreement that--and this kind of
+has a question about human rights--I am sure that you are aware
+that El Salvador, the smallest country in South America, is
+being sued by two corporations via the Central American Free
+Trade Agreement, you know, CAFTA. Citizens, communities leaders
+and churches have uniformly said ``no'' to corporations that
+will jeopardize their water supply, ecosystems and environment.
+One of these companies, Pacific Rim Mining, is actually a
+Canadian-based company, went on to register itself in Nevada,
+was denied, sued in Canada. Now they are suing as a U.S.
+affiliate.
+ Is the State Department aware of issues like this, and do
+we tend to try--of course, we can't dictate what a country
+should do internally, but do we side, take an advocacy position
+to the government, at least, suggesting that they should take
+the will of the people in consideration?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Yes. Thanks, Congressman, for the question.
+And the answer is yes, that we often work with corporations,
+and we work with governments, particularly when it comes to
+extractive industries, to make sure that the practices that
+extractive industries use are not only respectful of human
+rights and environmental issues, but also the rights of
+indigenous populations that might be affected significantly by
+this kind of activity.
+ So it is something that we do take very seriously and that
+we try to work with companies. Many are now much more committed
+than in the past to corporate social responsibility understood
+in a broad sense.
+ Mr. Payne. There is a particular issue in Peru, just the
+reverse. This was a company, U.S.-based company, Doe Run Peru,
+called DRP, which is in New York, so I know about the company.
+And they had--the government said they had to clean up in an
+environmental issue. They have invested $315 million in their
+clean-up. The government was supposed to do the other half. The
+government has refused to do it.
+ So this company cannot operate, and I wonder if you could
+have your--and I will give you some direct information. We have
+already sent a note to the Secretary, but I would appreciate it
+if you could follow up on it, because it appears that we have
+to have these countries know that we are serious about American
+companies getting a fair shake.
+ Secondly, we have got to let American companies know that
+they don't have a right to pollute and make it difficult for
+people in those countries, because in many instances, as you
+know, they are vulnerable people. So I will get that to you
+before you leave.
+ And as you know, as I mentioned before, labor unions have
+had a very difficult time in Colombia; 2,800 union activists
+have been killed since 1986. Now we hear about the fact that we
+ought to have this Free Trade Agreement, and I think we should,
+but has the State Department raised the issue? And the problem
+is that there is no prosecution. You know, the murders go
+unsolved. Have we had any concern with that?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Yes, absolutely we have had concern, and I
+am pleased to say that we are moving ahead in a very
+constructive fashion with the Colombian Government to address
+these issues. I, myself, took part directly in the high-level
+dialogue that we have established with the Santos
+administration on a whole range of issues.
+ When we deal with Colombia, what is encouraging now is that
+we are not just talking about security concerns, we are talking
+about broader issues that have to do with other elements,
+whether they are social issues and things like that, or how we
+can work together in Central America and other parts of the
+hemisphere. So we have a very broad dialogue, and I chaired,
+myself, co-chaired with the Vice President of Colombia, I
+chaired our side in this dialogue on human rights and labor
+rights. And, as you know, the Vice President is a former labor
+leader and has taken this very, very seriously.
+ So I think that we have seen tremendous progress in this
+regard, even though there are some issues that are out there.
+ Mr. Payne. Thank you. My time has expired, but I wonder if
+you could look into the funding on the State's Race, Ethnicity,
+and Social Inclusion Unit, which expires, and administers to
+Brazil and Colombia joint action plans on racial equality. If
+you could get back to us on whether the State Department will
+continue that very noble program.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Let me just say that we value that program
+enormously, and we thought it to be extraordinarily important,
+and what we want to try to do is expand it. In fact, we have a
+discussion with the Colombians on Afro-Colombian issues and
+looking at Central America to maybe look at the Atlantic coast.
+ Mr. Payne. Thank you very much.
+ Mr. Mack. Thank you, Mr. Payne.
+ Now I am very pleased to recognize the ranking member of
+the full committee Mr. Berman for 5 minutes.
+ Mr. Berman. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I won't take
+that long. I wanted to thank you for yielding me this time.
+ Secretary Valenzuela, I want to thank you for all the good
+you have been doing in your position.
+ The President announced in the State of the Union that he
+is going to travel to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador in the
+second half of March, and I want to just particularly express
+my appreciation that El Salvador is included in the President's
+upcoming trip.
+ It seems strange to say it, I mean, El Salvador has been
+through incredibly difficult times, but it truly--I guess it
+says something about the region, but it has actually emerged as
+an anchor of stability in Central America. And I think
+President Funes deserves our support and the recognition for
+the role that he is playing by the trip there.
+ And I was wondering if you could just use this opportunity
+to explain a little bit. I mean, people could understand Brazil
+and Chile, obviously, but why El Salvador?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Well, thanks very much for the question,
+and thanks very much for coming to this hearing and for your
+interest in Latin America.
+ I was in El Salvador just last week for 2 days, and there
+is a lot of excitement in El Salvador about the President's
+visit.
+ And as you say, we are particularly delighted to be engaged
+with a country that has come so far from the tremendous
+difficulties that we saw in the past.
+ It is the Central America wars, and today it is a country
+that strikes me has democratic processes, where there is a
+greater dialogue across the political divide in the past. There
+is still a degree of polarization, but there are elements on
+both sides that are making an effort to try to overcome that
+and also to try to get the country moving ahead.
+ They have great challenges, and the problem with public
+security and citizen security continues to be a really
+significant problem. But they are kind of an anchor, as you
+suggest, in the northern tier there in Central America, and
+thereby they are also absolutely critical for our Central
+America strategy on security issues and, more broadly, on
+engagement with Central America.
+ So the choice of El Salvador, I think, was a very
+solicitous one, I think, on the part of the White House in that
+regard. And we agree with you that President Funes is doing a
+very good job of trying to work through a situation to build a
+consensus to make sure that the country can move forward.
+ I might end my comment by saying that I was down there in
+particular because we have also started a program with four
+countries in the world, the Philippines, Ghana, Tanzania, and
+the White House also picked El Salvador on what is called the
+Partnership for Growth, and that--what we are working with El
+Salvador is to seek how we can work more effectively to
+identify constraints to growth. And this is very much on the
+economic side, because, you know, the proof of the pudding as
+we move forward is the ability of these societies to generate
+viable economic systems that produce jobs and that make for
+better lives for their people.
+ Mr. Berman. Thank you.
+ Mr. Mack. Thank you very much.
+ If you don't mind, I think have another round of questions
+for you.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I would be happy.
+ Mr. Mack. Wonderful.
+ As stated in section 7 of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996,
+the Secretary of State may issue an advisory opinion explaining
+whether an action is in violation of the sanctions. Recent
+reports show that Venezuela is sending shipments of gasoline to
+Iran that are in clear violation of sanctions against Iran.
+ So my question to you very specifically, is Venezuela
+violating the sanctions against Iran?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Let me say that we are looking at that
+issue; that we have raised this with both, as I said earlier in
+my testimony, with the state oil firm, with PDVSA, as well as
+the Venezuelan Government, because we are trying to determine
+whether or not there is, in fact, a violation of those
+sanctions.
+ Mr. Mack. Then I would follow up with that, should we
+anticipate an advisory opinion regarding Venezuela's
+violations? Is that something that the committee should expect?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I can't tell you right now, but we are
+certainly looking into this.
+ Mr. Mack. I want to go back. There are a lot of questions
+about the Free Trade Agreements and the trade preferences. And
+all along we have been hearing that there are--you know, there
+are certain benchmarks, or they are--almost like we are holding
+out, the United States is holding out for something.
+ Can you tell me exactly what it is that we are waiting for
+that the administration is waiting for to send those agreements
+to the Congress?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I can't tell you exactly. What we are doing
+is we are continuing to have a dialogue with the Colombians, as
+I suggested to you earlier, which includes addressing many of
+the lingering issues that some folks do have of concern and
+that we still have a concern on some of these matters. But let
+me make absolutely clear that our position is that we really
+need to move forward with the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.
+ Mr. Mack. And the frustration is we keep hearing that, but
+nobody knows what it is that you are waiting for. In other
+words, when you say that there are things that you are talking
+about, what are those things? You should put those out on the
+table.
+ Could you tell us exactly what it is--it is hard to have
+dialogue about an issue if you are unable to articulate the
+problems that you are trying to address. So can you tell us
+what the problems are with those Trade Agreements that are
+keeping them from coming to the Congress?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. As I say, you know, we are committed to
+moving these forward. And in the dialogue that we have had with
+the Colombians, we continue to explore some of the areas that
+are of concern to some Members and to others in this country
+specifically on issues of labor rights and the issue of the
+killing of labor leaders. But let me----
+ Mr. Mack. Let me--real quick.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I don't have a specific metric,
+Congressman. So that is about----
+ Mr. Mack. Now, some of those were questions that came up
+early on that have been addressed. And it just feels like, you
+know, that we are jerking them around a little bit because no
+one is able to really answer the question what are the other
+benchmarks. And may I suggest that if there are one or two
+Members of Congress that continue to put up these--or stopping
+the State Department or the President from sending these Trade
+Agreementqs, then they should put those out on the table
+publicly. But the majority of the Members--it is my
+understanding that the majority of Members are ready, willing
+and able to pass these Trade Agreements.
+ The harm that is being done in Latin America is huge
+because we are not able to move these things. So, you know, if
+you wouldn't mind, if there are some specific issues that the
+State Department has or the administration has, if you would
+bring them forward so we can try to get those answered, because
+it just feels like we are waiting them out.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Okay. I will get back to you on that, but
+let me reiterate that we feel the same way that you do, that we
+have to move forward on it.
+ Mr. Mack. Well, I have heard the President say that he
+supports it. I have heard the Secretary of State say that she
+supports it. I have talked to my colleagues; they support it.
+So it is frustrating when everyone you talk to says, we are for
+them. And then when we ask, well, what is held up, we don't
+seem to get any real answers. So it just seems to me that,
+again, I think that goes to the whole purpose of this hearing,
+do we have a foreign policy, because it appears that if we do,
+it contradicts itself. And this is one way that we can show our
+friends and allies that we support them.
+ So I would encourage you to get those questions answered,
+and let us move forward with those Free Trade Agreements.
+ Mr. Engel is recognized for 5 minutes.
+ Mr. Engel. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ First of all, Mr. Secretary, let me personally thank you
+for the wonderful job that you have done. You and I have talked
+a great deal, and I do appreciate everything you are doing for
+our country.
+ I want to touch on a bunch of points in the 5 minutes I
+have. Many members here have mentioned Venezuela. I am very
+concerned as well, as you know, with their relations with Iran,
+Iran being the greatest exporter of terrorism. We constantly,
+or periodically, get reports of Iranian or Hezbollah agents
+traveling through Venezuela. Have you heard any of those
+reports lately? Is there any validity to that?
+ And also, Venezuela, just a couple of months ago, formally
+rejected distinguished career diplomat Larry Palmer to be the
+next U.S. Ambassador. What is the current status of efforts to
+exchange ambassadors with Venezuela? I happen to think that
+they have some nerve rejecting him, quite frankly, and so I
+want to know about the status of that.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Well, thank you for your kind words, Mr.
+Chairman--see, I am used to calling you Mr. Chairman.
+ Mr. Engel. You can keep doing it.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I can keep doing that with your permission?
+ Mr. Mack. That is fine.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. With regard to Venezuela, yes, as I said
+earlier in my testimony, we are concerned about the links with
+Iran precisely because of Iran's violations of so many of these
+international dispositions, particularly the U.N. Security
+Council resolutions, and it is something that we continue to
+monitor very closely. And I suspect that we are going to look
+at some other additional determinations on this.
+ With regard to the naming of the Ambassador, yes, we
+strongly supported a superb career ambassador, and we were
+disappointed, very disappointed, that the Venezuelan Government
+withdrew the agreement for his designation as Ambassador to
+Caracas.
+ Mr. Engel. Talk to me about the Government of Haiti. The
+government of Preval has finally accepted the OAS
+recommendations of the top two candidates, and we now have Baby
+Doc Duvalier coming there and possibly Aristide coming there.
+Tell he me how confident we are that there will be a peaceful
+transition of power. And in terms of the relief effort, where
+does it stand? It seems to be still a lot of people homeless
+and sleeping in, you know, makeshift tents. And what is the
+status of our help to the Haitian people?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Well, look, we were pleased that the CEP
+finally came out with a determination of the first round of the
+election that tracked the observer mission of the Organization
+of American States, and we look forward to the second round of
+the election that is coming up on March 23, I believe. And I
+think this moves the process forward.
+ I think it is important for this electoral process to take
+place. The legitimacy of institutions is very important in
+Haiti, and so the legitimate electoral process is critical. And
+I think we are moving in that direction, so that is, I think,
+helpful. We continue, we must continue, to support them.
+ Secondly, with regard to the aid and relief effort. If I
+might take advantage of just one of your minutes to simply
+compliment the work that MINUSTAH does, the United Nations
+effort, and particularly some of the countries from the Western
+Hemisphere that have worked so much with regard to MINUSTAH.
+And I think that they provide security there.
+ As you know, this is a mission that is headed up by a
+Guatemalan diplomat, but with strong support on the security
+side from Brazil, countries like Uruguay, Chile and others. And
+this is a notable example, I think, of hemispheric solidarity.
+ And then thirdly, with regard to the specifics, I think we
+are moving ahead. It was frustrating at the beginning to get
+the relief. The immensity of the catastrophe is something that
+is really beyond words, and so the task of having to sort of--
+you know, that the international community faced with Haiti was
+also enormous. But I think that we are seeing now more rubble
+removed, more progress in terms of trying to be able to rebuild
+the society.
+ Mr. Engel. I am going to ask the chairman's indulgence
+because I want to ask you--and perhaps we can talk about it
+later if you don't have time to answer--what the heck is
+happening with Argentina with all the stuff happening? I know
+that they are unhappy that the President is not visiting there.
+I wonder if you can comment on that.
+ But my question is really this: Brazil has recent interest
+in the U.S. offer to sell fighter aircraft, the F-18, the Super
+Hornet, as a part of a Foreign Ministry sales transaction
+between our two countries. I am glad that they are seriously
+considering it. There are ongoing concerns, however, about the
+level of U.S. commitment to support the terms of this sale in
+the area of technology transfer. These are concerns that are
+raised.
+ So to what extent do you believe that such a sale promotes
+the cooperation in interoperability and shared security
+interests with the U.S.? And what is the administration doing
+to assure Brazil of our commitment to the terms of this sale
+and the sharing of associated technologies? And will this be
+raised by Secretary Clinton in her upcoming consultation with
+her counterpart Mr. Patriota?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Yes. Well, look, let me make clear that we
+have made clear through various different entreaties with the
+Brazilians that we do support the Super Hornet, and that we
+think it is a far superior aircraft. And we are pleased that,
+you know, the new President has given some wiggle room to the
+competition and try to see whether there is a possibility that
+we might engage.
+ For further details, I would refer you to our friends at
+DOD and others on that, but it is something that we are
+definitely pushing.
+ Mr. Engel. Thank you.
+ Mr. Mack. Thank you.
+ The gentleman from Florida is recognized for 5 minutes.
+ Mr. Rivera. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ Mr. Chairman, I want to go back to the case of Alan Gross,
+because I think it goes to the larger issue of treatment of
+American citizens generally in Cuba and our Government's
+response to it.
+ Are you familiar with the upcoming date of February 24 and
+its significance in U.S.-Cuba relations?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Remind me.
+ Mr. Rivera. February 24, 1996, to be specific?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Oh, yes. Are you referring to the--right.
+ Mr. Rivera. I am referring to the date in which four
+Americans----
+ Mr. Valenzuela. The shoot-down.
+ Mr. Rivera [continuing]. Were murdered over international
+waters by the Cuban dictatorship, four Americans murdered on
+February 24, 15th anniversary coming up. I suspect your
+Department will be issuing a statement, or the White House will
+be issuing a statement, once again condemning that inhumane and
+brutal act.
+ With respect to Alan Gross, I am wondering, you don't
+consider him to be a hostage. Do you consider his incarceration
+lawful?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I think it is unlawful.
+ Mr. Rivera. So how would you describe him, as a detainee,
+unlawful combatant, prisoner? How would you describe Alan
+Gross?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I haven't thought about it semantically. He
+is a detainee, I guess.
+ Mr. Rivera. Has the Castro dictatorship made any effort--I
+know they have discussed publicly links between Alan Gross and
+other issues such as the Cuban Five. Have they privately, or in
+any discussions, any negotiations, made any effort to link the
+Alan Gross case with any other issue whatsoever?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. No, they have not, not to my knowledge.
+ Mr. Rivera. Every discussion that has come up regarding
+Alan Gross has never made reference to any other issue related
+to U.S.-Cuba relations?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Well, we have had our conversations with
+them on things like the migration talks, and we have raised the
+issue of Alan Gross. They have complained about--they have a
+long litany of complaints against the United States, but there
+has never been, on our part or any part, any specific linkage.
+ Mr. Rivera. Such as, in that litany?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Such as?
+ Mr. Rivera. Has the Cuban Five ever been raised?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. No, not that I am aware of. I haven't been
+in all conversations with the Cubans.
+ Mr. Rivera. Have any sanctions against the government been
+raised?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. No, we have not discussed sanctions with
+the Government of Cuba.
+ Mr. Rivera. So when you say they have raised a litany of
+issues, what was an example of the litany?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Concerns over the embargo.
+ Mr. Rivera. Sanctions.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Embargo is sanctions.
+ Mr. Rivera. Okay. So they have discussed the lifting of
+sanctions in connection with discussions about Alan Gross.
+Recently I know Alan Gross' wife was able to visit Mr. Gross.
+At the same time, I believe, one of the wives of the Cuban Five
+spies was able to visit. Was that a coincidence?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. There were two wives were able to visit, or
+one--I can't remember--and this was--that particular discussion
+with them was not coincidental. You are right, Congressman.
+ Mr. Rivera. It was not coincidental.
+ And in that case, let me refer you to Webster's dictionary
+and the definition of ``hostage'': A person held by one party
+as a pledge pending the fulfillment of an agreement, or a
+person taken by force to secure the taker's demand.
+ Now, you have told me that there was no coincidence in the
+visitation. You have told me they have raised the issue of
+sanctions in discussion with Alan Gross. So I will ask you
+again, based on this definition of ``hostage,'' do you believe
+Alan Gross is a hostage?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Actually I am going to backtrack on my
+comment, Congressman. There was an effort made earlier to have
+those visitations, and that did not go through. So the timing
+on that was not directly linked to Gross because we had made--
+there was an effort earlier to try to look at the visitations.
+ And if you want to call it ``hostage,'' I am happy to agree
+with you if you want to call it a ``hostage.'' I think he is a
+detainee.
+ Mr. Rivera. Well, if you agree with me that he is a
+hostage, perhaps a detainee, you said earlier in response to my
+colleague's questions on efforts to release this hostage that
+we continue to insist he be released.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Exactly.
+ Mr. Rivera. Is that the extent of the administration's
+efforts to release an American hostage named Alan Gross in
+Cuba?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. We continue to insist that they release
+him. That is right.
+ Mr. Rivera. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ Mr. Mack. Thank you.
+ And the gentleman Mr. Faleomavaega is recognized for 5
+minutes.
+ Mr. Faleomavaega. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I deeply
+appreciate your patience and wanting to give me another
+opportunity again to ask Secretary Valenzuela a couple of
+questions.
+ Mr. Secretary, I realize in fairness to you, because it is
+difficult for me to raise these questions with you concerning
+Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, because apparently you may have
+never received my letter, and maybe the paper shuffling that
+goes on with the bureaucracy, so you are not aware of the
+concerns and the problems that I have raised concerning this
+problem.
+ I appreciate the definition by my good friend Mr. Rivera
+what a hostage is, because this is exactly what is happening in
+Easter Island with the presence of some 100 police, military
+police, members of the Chilean military forces now in prisons
+there.
+ Again, this little island, Mr. Secretary, is well renowned,
+and pretty much despite its small size, it is known throughout
+the world for these native people who built these statues
+called aku-aku, or moai, human statues weighing tens of tons
+culturally. And I say this because there is a kinship and
+relationship between the people of Easter Island and me.
+ Now, whether it be the needs of Mr. Gross or the 2,500
+people, they are human beings, and in the advent of the recent
+military dictatorship of Mr. Pinochet and Chile, I will say
+that Chile has come a long way not only in obtaining democratic
+reforms, but the elections that have taken place. And I know
+that I am also aware that Chile is one of our outstanding
+trading partners. And I have to give credit to the leaders and
+the good people of Chile that they have become one of the
+shining stars of Latin America economically and even
+politically.
+ But I will say, Mr. Secretary, that I just am at a loss,
+maybe because these people are so small. They are members of
+the Province of Valparaiso that makes up Chile. They bear no
+economic difference politically--I mean, militarily and
+economically. These are just people that just want to lay
+claims to their ancestral homeland or their lands.
+ And I must say that the Chilean Government has been very
+unfair, and I say measures of brutality, because people have
+been wounded seriously by these rubber bullets, have been shot
+at, in the course of the past couple of weeks. And I don't know
+if your office has been aware or our Embassy in Chile has been
+made aware of the problems arising out of Easter Island, but I
+will deeply appreciate your assistance in seeing that these
+issues are addressed.
+ I wanted to ask you, on the question of the historical
+relationship between Chile and these people, seriously question
+how they came about taking control of this island that is
+apparently 2,300 miles away from Chile, no cultural
+relationship whatsoever between the people of Easter Island and
+those of Chile.
+ I know we have talked about economic exclusive zones, and
+this is really nice, and talking about fishing rights and all
+of this, but no questions, despite the appeals made by the
+Easter Island Parliament, the leaders, in trying to provide
+some kind of consultations with the Chilean Government. It has
+been just really don't care. I don't appreciate that, and I
+wanted to know if your office will look into this.
+ And before I finish, I just wanted to request from the
+State Department whatever information or data that the
+administration has or the State Department has concerning the
+economic, social and educational standings of the indigenous
+Indians or indigenous peoples living in these countries
+throughout Latin America. And I say in the millions, the number
+of people, but I am just hazarding a guess here, and I would
+deeply appreciate if you could submit that and be made part of
+the record. If it is alright, Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous
+consent that this be done.
+ Mr. Mack. Without objection.
+ Mr. Faleomavaega. And send it also to my office. I would
+deeply appreciate it.
+ Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My time is up.
+ Mr. Mack. Thank you very much.
+ A few more questions, if you don't mind.
+ I want to talk a little bit about--go back to Hugo Chavez a
+little bit and Venezuela. Isn't it a fact that Hugo Chavez
+supports terrorists in Venezuela?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. There has been some concern, Congressman,
+of the support that Hugo Chavez has given to elements of the
+FARC.
+ Mr. Mack. Some concern, or is this----
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Well, no, real concern. This is one of the
+reasons why he was, you know, put on a--it is short of being on
+the terrorist list, which is why I know that you are concerned
+about, but it was designated in such a way because they are
+not--they are not complying, and they are not cooperating on
+issues having to do with terrorism. So it is a yes.
+ Mr. Mack. So, yes, he is supporting terrorists?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Although if I might--if I might add a
+point, that we see a declining support for the FARC
+specifically in the last few months, particularly since
+President Santos in Colombia has reached out to Venezuela.
+ Let me say that, you know, I am not sure that that is going
+to work out. You know, I am skeptical about that. But there has
+been a definite reduction in support for the FARC.
+ Mr. Mack. Which is a terrorist organization.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. It is a terrorist organization, yes.
+ Mr. Mack. Okay. Isn't it a fact that Chavez supports other
+rogue regimes by selling gasoline to Iran and engaging with
+Syria and Libya?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Yes. I mentioned to you that we brought
+this to their attention to see whether, in fact, they are
+violating our own legislation in that regard.
+ Mr. Mack. But the evidence is there. He is supporting, he
+is selling gasoline to Iran?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. He is violating the international
+sanctions, it appears.
+ Mr. Mack. And isn't it a fact that Hugo Chavez disavows
+freedom, undermining the press and discrediting political
+opposition figures in his country?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. We have expressed our concerns over the way
+he has gone after the press and the way he has harassed
+opposition figures. And as I said recently publicly, we were
+concerned about the way in which the National Assembly
+delegated executive authority to the President, contravening, I
+think, the sovereignty of the new National Assembly that was
+elected later.
+ Mr. Mack. So it is also a fact, then, that Chavez
+manipulates legislative and judicial institutions in Venezuela,
+giving himself decree powers, threatening judges?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Exactly. And that is of concern.
+ Mr. Mack. And when you say ``concern,'' you are not saying
+concern like concerned whether or not it is happening. It is
+happening----
+ Mr. Valenzuela. It is happening. Yeah, it is happening.
+When I say about concern, I mean we are concerned about it.
+Yeah.
+ Mr. Mack. It brings me to two things. Well, we would agree
+that in the case of the OAS, that Venezuela is considered to be
+a member in good standing?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. It is a member in good standing, yes.
+ Mr. Mack. So why do we continue to fund the OAS?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Well, I think we will need to work with
+other countries to more effectively, Congressman, raise within
+the OAS and other for a situations where there may be a
+violation of democratic institutions and democratic rights.
+ Mr. Mack. But if we know all of these things are facts
+about Hugo Chavez, why do we continue to support an
+organization that is in violation of its own charter?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I think it is in our interest, Congressman,
+to continue to work with the OAS, to try to make sure that the
+OAS, in fact, meets the obligations that it needs to do. For us
+to simply walk away from the OAS thinking that because they are
+not doing this would be to abdicate our own responsibilities
+and leadership.
+ Mr. Mack. But wouldn't it show more leadership that if we
+showed our friends like Panama and Colombia that we support
+them and that we are going to move the Free Trade Agreements
+than it is to continue to fund an organization that is in
+violation of its own charter?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I don't think they are mutually exclusive,
+Congressman, with all due respect. I think that we need to work
+to support Colombia free trade, Panama free trade, and at the
+same time to strengthen our Organization of American States, to
+make it a more effective institution.
+ Mr. Mack. Just so you know, I am planning on introducing
+legislation to withhold funds from the OAS until at such time
+the OAS can ensure that it actually is fighting for freedom and
+democracy in Latin America instead of supporting states like
+Venezuela and Hugo Chavez, who we agree supports terrorists,
+supports rogue regimes, disavows freedoms, manipulates
+legislative and judicial institutions, and has torn apart the
+domestic fiber of Venezuela. At the same time, I think it is--
+--
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Could I interrupt you?
+ Mr. Mack. Let me just real quick. You are going to also see
+that I plan on continuing to push that the State Department put
+Venezuela, put Hugo Chavez on the State Sponsor of Terrorism
+list. And this gets to the crux of the entire hearing today.
+The question is, do we have a foreign policy? And it appears
+that our foreign policy, instead of standing up for America's
+interests and what is good for America and our allies, we seem
+to continue to engage in organizations and with countries that
+are in direct conflict to what it is that America's interests
+are.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Let me respond by first underscoring the
+fact that despite some frustration over the inability of the
+OAS to move forward to strengthen the democratic charter--
+remember, this is an organization of member states, so there
+has to be some kind of consensus to do this. This is something
+that is not just done out of the Secretariat of the OAS.
+ Mr. Mack. Doesn't it have to be a unanimous vote?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. It depends on what for. But, no.
+ It doesn't have to be a unanimous vote if you want to raise
+concerns about that.
+ But let me make a point that the Inter-American Human
+Rights Commission, which is part of the OAS, has a strong
+history of defense of democratic values, and they have come out
+with some very clear statements that are critical of Venezuela
+recently, and very bold statements. And they have done so by
+also criticizing press freedoms in Venezuela. And the Secretary
+General of the OAS also recently made some clear comments about
+his concerns over the delegation of authority that we talked
+about earlier. So the picture is not quite as black and white
+as you suggest, in my view.
+ Mr. Mack. Well, we have a difference of opinion because I
+think it is pretty crystal clear.
+ The gentleman from Florida is recognized for 5 minutes.
+ Mr. Rivera. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ Just continuing on the issue of the treatment of American
+citizens and how the U.S. Government responds to that treatment
+by the Cuban dictatorship, are you familiar with the case
+relating to the 1996 rescue, shoot-down of a Cuban spy who had
+infiltrated the Brothers to the Rescue Organization and, right
+before those four Americans were murdered, had returned to
+Cuba? Are you familiar with that case?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I am not familiar with the case.
+ Mr. Rivera. So you are not familiar with the case of the
+spy who had infiltrated this organization and also married an
+American citizen named Ana Margarita Martinez?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I am not familiar with that case.
+ Mr. Rivera. Well, I know Ana Margarita Martinez was a U.S.
+citizen who a Cuban spy married who was part of the Brothers to
+the Rescue shoot-down plot, who also received a judgment by a
+U.S. court against the Cuban Government for that action against
+her, and recently has tried to collect on that judgment and has
+been blocked by this administration collecting on that
+judgment. Why is the U.S. Government trying to block a U.S.
+citizen from collecting a judgment against a foreign
+government?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Well, I will have to look into that since I
+don't know this particular case.
+ Mr. Rivera. If I send you some written questions, would you
+indulge me and respond to those questions?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I will respond to your questions.
+ Mr. Rivera. Thank you very much.
+ Going back to one of your previous comments regarding the
+impact of convertible currency going to the regime, you
+describe it as minimal compared to what the administration is
+trying to achieve. We have seen estimates of billions of
+dollars, U.S. dollars, going to Cuba in terms of travel,
+particularly travel; business between the United States and
+Cuba; money that funds the military, military enterprises;
+money that funds the instruments of repression in Cuba, as you
+would recognize, I am sure. There are no labor rights or no
+collective bargaining rights in Cuba. There is no private
+sector. There is no entrepreneurial class. There is no economic
+activity that could be considered within normal circumstances,
+by normal standards, by any other country in the world.
+ Based on that and the purposes of that money, do you stand
+by the statement that that money going to the regime really has
+a minimal impact?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I agree with your analysis that it is a
+totalitarian state, that the state controls everything, that
+the people don't have independent economic lives. And that is
+precisely why the policy needs--we need to find a policy that
+is effective in reaching out to the Cuban people, because the
+Cuban people are desirous and want to be able to engage with
+people elsewhere.
+ Mr. Rivera. Let me follow up with that. The problem is I
+have got 2 minutes left on my time, and I really want to follow
+up on that statement.
+ For decades now, people have been traveling to Cuba,
+families have been traveling to Cuba. We have been trading with
+Cuba. We are one of Cuba's largest trading partners since 2000,
+when the restrictions were lifted on trading with medical and
+agricultural products in particular. The entire world trades
+with Cuba. The entire world travels to Cuba. You just said to
+me that that type of policy, that type of engagement, promotes
+democracy. What democracy has been promoted in the decades and
+decades that that policy has been pursued with respect to Cuba?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I think that the kind of engagement you
+might be referring to is people going on tourist vacations and
+just simply using that opportunity. What this policy does, it
+does not----
+ Mr. Rivera. There is no tourism in going to Cuba from the
+United States. I am talking about the policy of the United
+States engaging Cuba, families traveling, trade with Cuba,
+cultural, academic exchanges that have been there for decades.
+What reforms have resulted?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I think that those efforts have been
+minimal and that this is a substantial way to--it takes time to
+work, Congressman. I think it takes a while for that to work.
+ Mr. Rivera. Okay. I appreciate that remark very much,
+particularly having read some of your books in graduate school.
+When I meet privately with you, I am going to remind you of
+that remark of how much it takes for engagement to work.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Let me sign one of them for you.
+ Mr. Rivera. Thank you very much.
+ With regard to the Colombia FTA and the unresolved issues,
+that is also something that I would ask if you could try to get
+us members more specifics on that, and particularly because I
+think there are many members that are working on that issue,
+and they shouldn't be wasting their time, if they are.
+ If there is someone who knows--you said you didn't have the
+specific metrics, and you said you couldn't say exactly what
+those unresolved issues are. I am wondering if there is someone
+else who has the specific metrics or can say exactly what the
+issues are, because I am one of the freshmen out of many that
+has been assigned a task of whipping other freshmen, discussing
+this issue, with the prospect of bringing that Free Trade
+Agreement to fruition. Is there someone else that can give us
+that information?
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Let us continue to talk about it, because I
+really would like to be able to be responsive to you on this.
+ Mr. Rivera. We will do that, and that was my next question.
+If you and I could get together perhaps privately, I would love
+to meet with you. I think it could be the beginning of a
+beautiful friendship, as Humphrey Bogart said.
+ Just one more moment, with your indulgence, Mr. Chairman.
+When I was in graduate school, I really did read several of
+your books. My professor, who I believe you know, Dr. Eduardo--
+--
+ Mr. Valenzuela. I know him very well.
+ Mr. Rivera. You know him very well. He spoke always very
+highly of you. And there are many elements in your writings
+that I would love to engage in a colloquy with you,
+particularly as they are relevant to U.S.-Cuba relations.
+ Mr. Valenzuela. Excellent. Thanks very much.
+ Mr. Mack. Thank you.
+ I thank the gentleman from Florida.
+ I also thank you, Mr. Valenzuela. We appreciate your time
+and your patience and your determination to stay and answer
+questions. And I look forward to continuing the dialogue. As
+you can see on both sides of the aisle, there are a lot of
+concerns about if and what our foreign policy is in Latin
+America. And I think we laid out a lot of questions to you, and
+hopefully we can expect that you would get back to the
+committee on a lot of those answers.
+ And if I could just leave you with this, that I think you
+have a United States Congress who is begging for you, State
+Department and the President to send the Free Trade Agreements
+to the Congress so we can pass them, show our support not only
+for American workers, but also for our friends in last America.
+ And with that, the subcommittee is adjourned.
+ [Whereupon, at 4:29 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
+
+
+
+
+ A P P E N D I X
+
+ ----------
+
+
+ Material Submitted for the Hearing RecordNotice deg.
+
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+
+ Minutes deg.
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+ Mack statement deg.
+ __________
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+ Mack QFRs deg._
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+
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+ __________
+[Note: Responses to the above questions were not received prior to
+printing.]
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+