Secretary of State Condi Rice Hails Strong U.S. Relationship with Panama

Secretary deplores repression in Venezuela, Cuba

05 June 2007 -- Washington – The Panama Canal, now being widened to make the waterway even more competitive in the global market, is a prime example “of how friendly states can make potential sources of conflict a source of cooperation,” according to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Article continues below...

In hailing the excellent U.S.-Panama relationship June 4, Rice said the Panama Canal Treaty has been a “great success” for commerce in the Western Hemisphere and around the world. That treaty, signed in September 1977, transferred control of the canal from the United States to Panama in 2000.

Rice told the 37th General Assembly meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Panama City, Panama, that the Central American nation has provided “excellent administration” of the canal since 2000.

In October 2006, Panamanian voters approved the largest modernization project in the canal's 93-year history. The multibillion-dollar expansion will allow the world's largest ships to fit through the passageway, which links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The expansion is scheduled to be completed in 2014.

Speaking prior to her meeting with Panamanian President Martin Torrijos, Rice said she hoped the U.S. Congress would ratify a free-trade pact with Panama that will put the two countries’ bilateral relationship “on an even more sound footing.”

VENEZUELA’S REPRESSION OF MEDIA

Responding to media questions June 4 en route to the OAS meeting, Rice said the entire world is criticizing the Venezuelan government’s shutting down of television stations in that country, in particular the May 27 closing of Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV).

Parliaments across Europe, in Brazil and in the United States, along with the OAS leadership, have all expressed their concern “that closing down television stations because they express opposition” to the Venezuelan government is “a strong move against democracy,” she said.

Those protesting the shutdown on the streets of Venezuela “are doing so because they believe in Venezuelan democracy,” said Rice.

Rice said later at the OAS meeting that the United States is urging the organization’s secretary-general to visit Venezuela to investigate the clampdown on press freedom by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

CUBA

In a June 4 interview with the Spanish-language service of the Cable News Network (CNN en Espanol), Rice said that the “most important thing” about a Cuban transition from a dictatorship to a democracy “is that the people of Cuba know that the future is going to rest in their hands.”

Cuba’s future is “not going to rest in the hands of the United States” or the Western Hemisphere, she said.

But she added, “We must all speak out for the rights for the Cuban people to have democratic elections, a transition to a democratic government. There cannot be a transfer from one dictatorship to another dictatorship.”

U.S. RELATIONSHIPS WITH DEMOCRATIC LEFTIST GOVERNMENTS

Rice told CNN that the United States “does not have a problem” with leftist governments in the hemisphere if they provide democratic governance.

“If a government is from the left or a government is from the right, it doesn't matter to the United States,” she said, pointing to “excellent” U.S. relations with Brazil and Uruguay.

Rice said those two countries have leftist governments, “but they govern democratically, they govern responsibly.” But Venezuela is in a “different category” from Brazil and Uruguay, she added.

“Unfortunately, in Venezuela, there are very strong signals that democratic governance is in trouble,” Rice said, and the United States also is concerned about “democratic issues” in leftist-run Bolivia.

However, the United States seeks good relations with all the region’s governments, no matter where they fall on the political spectrum, she said, citing the Bush administration’s request that the U.S. Congress extend the Andean Trade Preferences Act with the leftist governments of both Bolivia and Ecuador.

THE OAS ROLE

The secretary praised the work of the OAS, which she said has been “particularly lively” during the last couple of years in promoting democracy in the Americas. She pointed especially to the OAS’s “working group” in Haiti, which is charged with strengthening democracy in the Caribbean nation.

From 2004 to 2006, the United States provided more than $600 million in aid to Haiti, making it the largest single-country donor to Haiti.

The 34 countries of the Americas participating in the June 3-5 OAS assembly adopted “The Declaration of Panama,” which stressed the conference’s primary focus on “energy for sustainable development.”

The declaration said democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are “essential elements in advancing the energy and sustainable development goals” of the Americas.

Source: US State Dept.