to sort out the organizational malaise that nottingham police has become? >> the home secretary told his majesty -- her majesty is looking into nottingham police at the moment, but i have to say that the whole purpose of neighborhood policing which we have developed over the last two years is to get more police on the street. so that you need to invest in policing and you need the concept that placer of the neighborhood, and that is exactly what we are doing. >> mr. holloway? >> thank you, mr. speaker here to does the prime minister agree with ben bernanke, his decision to strip the bank of england civilizing role led to i quote a destructive run and a major problem of the british economy? >> no, mr. speaker. i think anybody can look at the global recession knows that it

started -- does that start with the problems of the banking system actually an america. that spread right across the world. and our system is the right way to deal with these problems. because it brings the bank of england the financial services authority and the treasury together to deal with these issues. i noticed that the leader of the opposition change the policy of the shadow chancellor about the future of the banking system only yesterday that i noticed he was also talking yesterday about flatter taxes that he was going to introduce. flatter taxes mean less tax paid by the very wealthy but i think for the conservatives come to give his lectures on economic policy, they should go back to the drawing board at. >> will my right honorable friend give the public a guarantee that he will never let the ban on hunting dog? >> mr. speaker, i'm surprised that one political party wants to fight the next election on withdrawing the ban on fox hunting. .com is the only job creation

>> each week the house is in sessions, we air prime minister's questions wednesday at 7 a.m. and sunday at 9:00 p.m. eastern. you can find a video archive of past questions and links to the house of commons and prime ministers websites. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> up next, a state department discussion on u.s. latin- american relations with secretary of state hillary clinton. that will be followed by a senate hearing on transportation safety, and then a senate committee years of efforts to

protect diplomats around the world. -- here's of efforts to protect diplomats around the world. as congress considers reauthorization of the elementary and secondary school act, educators, activist, and government officials discuss ways to eliminate the so-called achievement gap. live coverage begins tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span 3. next, secretary of state hillary clinton discusses u.s. relations with latin america. we will also hear from the state department undersecretary for democracy and global affairs and the assistant secretary for western hemisphere affairs. this is the first conference in the state department's diplomacy briefing series. >> a woman who truly needs no introduction, the 67 secretary of state and our global rock star.

>> do not ask me to sing. that is all i asked. it is a very great pleasure to be here today to welcome you to the first in a series of diplomacy briefings that we will be hosting at the state department korean -- state department. i want to thank all of you for being part of this because it is in keeping with our efforts to reach out, to have a dialogue about what we are doing and how we are doing it and to seek your ideas as well. i want to go thank p. j. crowley. later you will hear from the assistant secretary, and you will be hearing from our

undersecretary from what are called the g family, which has to do with human rights, democracy, when the rice, oceans, environment -- women's rights, oceans, environment. it is a large agenda, and i walked in with a long time friend of mine -- ambassador romero. thank you 4 coming verio we have our newly confirmed ambassador -- thank you for coming. we have our newly confirmed ambassador. thank you for being here, and i had better stop because i have so many friends and familiar faces in this audience. i want to share a few words with you this morning about our approach to our neighbors, friends, partners in the western hemisphere. the purpose of this event goes far beyond the important relationships we have here in the americas, because we want all of our citizens to be part of a broader foreign policy

discussion. here at the state department, we want to listen -- not just talk, and you will have a chance to talk to us as the day goes on, but also to hear your views and ideas. later this morning you will have the opportunity to engage with some of our state department leadership on the way forward in afghanistan and pursuant of the president's policy. you will be able to discuss ways that the united states intends to expand global economic opportunity and ensure a citizens' safety. we also have some community activists and students listening from new york city, san antonio, texas, and miami, florida, so we are also using technology to bring us together. the western hemisphere we decided was a fitting place for us to start this effort because of our deep ties, are shared

history, so many familial and cultural connections. we are connected by geography and history, but shared challenges, and a common future that we all have the capacity to help shape. we have the chance to cooperate and communicate. when we leverage all tools at our disposal, through cost cutting -- crosscutting partnerships that are necessary to address and hopefully solve the complex problems we confront. if you look at this hemisphere, particularly latin america, we see a lot of positive trends, from rising wages to higher school enrollment, to better health, but there remains a huge

reservoir of potential that needs to be tapped to continue building on the progress over the years and decades to come. we want to do a better job of a partner with friends and allies in the region region of partnering with friends and allies in the region. we're elevating diplomacy to be on the same level with defense. it is the three d's. it is part of the power approach we're going for. it is engaging both with and beyond governments. we have also a real commitment to making sure that development is always in our conversation and always at the head of our priority list. we have been working in a number of areas, and want briefly to mention some. some have tested our

partnership and approach over the last few months. some are innovative new ways of bringing people together. let's start with honduras. we have worked with a number of other countries on a pragmatic, principled, a multilateral approach. we have engaged in intensive personal diplomacy. since the coup, the united states has been committed both to our democratic principles and to providing help to the hondurans to find a way back to democratic and constitutional order. we condemned president zolaya's explosion. we have taken steps to demonstrate our opposition, but we continue to reach out and work with the verse sectors in honduras, and along with others -- with diverse sectors in honduras, and along with others, to help chart a way forward for a peaceful, negotiated end to

the crisis. the culmination for what was a yearlong alike coral process occurred on october 29, when the honduran people express their feelings and commitment to democratic future. they turned out in large numbers and throughout in the fed the party of both president -- and they threw out in the defect the party of both the president and congress. they have launched a national dialogue, called for a national government and truth commission as set forth among the requirements in the accord. that is an agreement the hondurans themselves reach. we help facilitate it, but the hondurans decided they wanted local resolution. in the days and weeks ahead, we want to be on the side of the honduran people. we want to work closely with

others in the region -- particularly central america -- so what is the real problem can be resolved by everyone coming together. as important as these diplomatic efforts are, we know government cannot solve these problems alone, and no one nation can. i have said from the beginning of my tenure as secretary of state that the united states cannot solve all the problems in our hemisphere or any hemisphere alone, but the problems cannot be solved unless the united states involved -- is involved, support of our challenge is to get others to work with us. we are listing and a number of different voices of some of the best minds in the public and private sector to work on regional and global challenges like climate change. the energy and climate partnership of the americas announced by president obama in trinidad and tobago earlier this

year will help the heart of our collective ability to promote renewable energy and reduce emissions. we are also trying to reach deep into society to promote public diplomacy. the alliance of viewyouth movemt launched in mexico city is helping young leaders drive positive change in their own society, started with little more than a cellphone and an idea. we are working with our partners in latin america to ensure economic growth that does not just to benefit the upper echelons of society. anyone who spends more than five minutes looking at the challenges in latin america knows the income disparity is one of the biggest we have to overcome, so how do we drive economic growth downward? many of you are aware of the pathways to prosperity initiative which i hope we launch in june -- relaunched in

june. our focus is to empower women as drivers of economic and social progress. we hosted a meeting of promising female entrepreneurs, and bringing them together with more experienced businesswomen who could serve as models and mentors. there are new ways of doing business, founded on mutual respect and common vision, but also one shared responsibility. the united states has contributed to some of the problems we see in the region, but we're determined and the obama administration to be part of the solution. we are committed to partnerships -- not just in words, but in deeds, and we want to forge stronger revenues of cooperation and collaboration. we want to do it on many levels simultaneously. seldom in this region has there been such an agreement on basic principles of freedom and democracy. now's the time to go forward with these principles of our

foundation and our guide. that means making sure we not plainly written we not only hold elections but the democracy -- making sure we not only hold elections, but that we follow the results. you actually have them on a periodic basis according to precedent. it needs a free pass. it means protection of minorities. it means independent judiciary. it means all the institutional requirements to make democracy sustainable. we also have to make sure when it comes to development we are not of providing aid but we are in powering people to a themselves, and we have seen a lot of good examples of that, but we have never taken any of them to scale in the way they need to be. there will continue to be challenges, but we feel we are

entering into a new relationship. it is one we care deeply about and that we intend to foster, so to end with three brief examples. we are working to support the mexican government in their brave fight against drug traffickers and the criminal cartels. i really commend not only the mexican government's but so many mexican citizens who have withstood the onslaught of horrific violence, but it is not only that we are providing more military economic or training. we are looking for ways we can twa operates on bolstering -- we can cooperate on bolstering institutional support for peace and justice, for human rights and democracy, and it is a long- term commitment. when i went to mexico earlier in my term, i said -- and it was

somewhat controversial -- that we bore some of the responsibility for what was happening in mexico today, that it was our demand, that it was a lot of our policies that unfortunately helped fuel this assault on the government and the people of mexico, but we also have this youth alliance, and we send some of our young entrepreneurial techno files down to mexico. you will meet some of them later today -- to develop with young mexican activists and a network where anonymous reports of criminal activity could be reported. we were able to put this together with the help of the government, with the help of some of the biggest business leaders in mexico, to use

technology to leapfrog some of the challenges people who want to stand up against both crime and corruption face today, and finally, we had an event at the united nations general assembly where we shown a bright spotlight on some of the policies that are home grown in latin america, that are being adopted in the united states and elsewhere in the world -- programs that are real pioneers in mexico, in brazil, in chile, to encourage families to keep children in school, to bring children to their health exams by an powering families with cash payments to be able to afford to do what will be in the long term interest of their children and their children's future. it not only helps individual children, but it creates a

demand for those services from the community level of, so we're optimistic with new tools, new techniques, new ideas, we are going to be able to revolutionize some of what has been the most intractable problems we face in the caribbean, new mexico, central america, and south america, so with that, let me welcome you to the state department. i think we're going to take a couple of questions, and i am very pleased that you will later hear from my friend, the first hispanic undersecretary and the state department of history, which i was shocked to learn -- in the state department's history, which were shocked to learn, and arturo venezuela, a true latin-americanist, who i lowered from academia to work 18 hours a day.

you will hear from lucy, who we also recruited, to lead our effort on human trafficking, and so many others who are part of leadership team here at the same department, so let's get to your questions. >> the first one we are going to take is from the high school in new york city. >> hello, new york city. can they hear a salmo us? >> been morning. -- good morning. next i can hear you. >> one will have been with

china -- what will happen with china? [unintelligible] >> i think that we should be positive about the growth in the chinese economy. the chinese are lifting millions of people out of poverty, which is a very important goal. we know that there are many problems the chinese economy pose, not lead to the united states but to mexico and others -- the chinese economy poses, not only to the united states but to mexico and the others. here we are in the midst of an economic crisis, and we need all the growth we can get, because that will help every country be able to overcome this recession

because we are so interdependent. i think it is also important to say that i think the north american markets of which mexico is such a central part under nafta, is going to remain strong. the fact that food can be manufactured and assembled in mexico, cutting down on transportation costs, cutting down on the carbon footprint, which will be an even more important consideration in years ahead -- means that we are going to continue to import and export to and from mexico. i think we also can do more working with our mexican partners to increase the capacity of the mexican economy so that they can export even a greater range of groups, because the best answer for mexico and the best review for drug traffickers is to increase -- the best rebuke for drug

traffickers is to increase the economic prosperity of mexicans. mexico will remain a critical order to lessen trade and economic well-being for many years to crown -- a critical ally with trade and economic well-being for many years to come. >> i live in washington, d.c., but i am originally from kenya. i want to thank you, madame secretary, for the wonderful work you're doing for violence against women and a towering one and -- and empowering women. thank you so much. the only thing i want to emphasize is to put more emphasis on financial methods of

empowering women. when you empower women, you in power the world. i just want to be in your presence, and thank you so much for this wonderful the event. this is the most important thing about collaborating with society, and you know the problems affecting the world. thank you so much. >> thank you so much. you could not talk about an issue i was more passionate about then in powering when and -- then empowering women and providing more opportunities. i mentioned all kinds of micro financing programs, skills programs -- are really at the forefront of our approach, because we agree that when you empower women, you give the entire family of better economic future, and that is what we are committed to doing.

thank you. >> the next question will take from the university of central florida. >> in morning. i am from the university of central florida. my question is, is democratic progress in danger of social unrest and the rights of the left minh latin america? -- in latin america? >> great question. i think the university of central florida may be in orlando and not miami. is that right? [laughter] we have to coordinate our facts here. that is an important question. i feel so strongly that we have to support the rights of all people to voice their opinions,

and we want to further economic the quality -- not just prosperity, because for too many years prosperity has increase in latin america without being equally distributed. we want to know build a strong base of democratic support of fundamental principles of all people, and governments need to be accountable and responsive to the needs of their citizens, and i said earlier in my remarks that you really have to be supporting the entire constitutional foundation for democracy, and we do worry about leaders who get elected and get elected fairly and freely and legitimately, but then upon being elected, begin to undermine the constitutional and democratic order, the

private sector, the rights of people to be free from harassment, depression, to be able to participate fully in their society, so i worry about how we get back on track where we recognize that democracy is not about individual leaders. it is about strong institutions. good leaders come and go. obviously, we have had our own experience in this country with that, so we need to make it absolutely an article of faith that any leader elected must not just further his own position and power base, but respect the rights of the people who elected him and bill of the democracies so that democratic -- and build up the democracies of the

democratic and economic development can go hand in hand. we will continue to express our concerns about venezuela and honduras, because it is important that we sound a strong call to people and leaders to really stay on the path of democracy. i thank you for your question, and we all hope in the not too distant future to see a democratic cuba, something that would be extraordinarily positive for our hemisphere. [applause] but the next question over here? >> yes, sir? >> [unintelligible]

another question also -- i do not think you mentioned bolivia. you should also mention it. >> a thank you for raising this. we are concerned, too. speaking to a number of central american countries, they have reported to us large numbers of people being traffic into their countries -- particularly chinese but not exclusively chinese, and we do need to

redouble our efforts to try to help our friends in central america deal with this. i was told in one country there is a large detention center, which has hundreds and hundreds of people who are there illegally from china, so this is a problem affecting a number of our friends, and we are working with them to try to provide more resources and support to help them deal with it, and as you point out, we have no problem with any country such as china engaging in economic activity -- business, commerce, with any country anywhere, but we do want government to drive hard bargains. we do not want to see corruption's that benefit the

fortunes of a few leaders and undermine the sustainability of the economy and the environment and the natural resources of any country. we also are well aware of iran's interested in promoting itself with a number of other countries -- of venezuela and bolivia, as you mentioned, and we can only say that is a bad idea for the countries involved, and we hope that will be a recognition that this is the major supporter, promoter, an exporter of terrorism in the world today. .

[applause] >> the secretary is running short of time. our last question for her will come from trinity there in san antonio. the head. >> hi, trinity. i have been there. i love your campus. >> secretary of state clinton, i along with millions of others who call this country home am a child of immigrant parents. many of us have, if not experienced a migratory event, have lived the experience through our family members. for us, this experience is very real. what are your efforts, any, to humanize the relationship between washington and mexico

and to steer the rhetoric that is used to discuss the difficult issues facing undocumented workers and a more positive direction? -- in a more positive direction? [applause] >> as i am sure you know, but president obama and i are very committed to comprehensive immigration reform, and the president has said that we will be able to deal with this very important issue next year. and i think it is absolutely imperative that we do. i have had a number of comprehensive, in-depth meetings and discussions with my mexican counterparts, and it is, of course, a great concern to mexico, to central america, and even parts of south america. we have to have a rational,

compassionate, pragmatic, humane immigration policy. and we have all look at the ideas about how to do that. -- we have a lot of good ideas about how to do that. if we just have to make the case that our relationship with mexico in particular, but with other countries as well, has to operate on multiple levels at once. and we just cause a lot of difficulties, it costs a lot of money, it is often very damaging to hardworking people here in this country to have the kind of immigration laws and their enforcement that we currently have. now you have to enforce laws and you have to protect your borders, and we just heard is not just hardworking people from mexico or guatemala who want to come for a better life. people are being smuggled into those countries to be smuggled into the united states for all

kinds of purposes. so we do have to have laws, but we have to have the kind of comprehensive immigration reform that president obama championed, that i have advocated, that we think could help us not only resolve the problem going forward, but send a clear message to the people here that if they meet certain conditions, they will be able to be on a path to citizenship. there is a lot to do but it remains one of our highest priorities, and it is an issue that i hope we will turn to in 2010. thank you all very much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> there were many of you that wanted to ask questions of the

secretary bird there is only one of per. when she was on the road for 23 days, she probably felt that there were more for them well. fortunately -- more of heard er as well. she has put together a great team and we will be here throughout this morning to continue this dialogue and answer your questions. a central star on our team is your neck speaker, the undersecretary for democracy and global affairs. we talk about a span of wide range of issues that she has to deal with, from environment and oceanside's, population, refugees, trafficking persons,

and in her spare time, avian and pandemic influenza. but thank you again, and please help welcome my friend and colleague, maria otero. [applause] >> it is a pleasure to be with you and presence and also through the technology. i think the technology got caught off. when i first met secretary clinton, she was first lady and we traveled together to bolivia, a country where i was born and raised. and when i worked with the microfinance organization, this was in 1996, and it was even then that secretary clinton was working tirelessly on some of the issues that she mentioned today, including empowering

women. i have watched her do this work for many years. i cannot tell you what a distinct and unique honor is to be part of her leadership team and to be representing latinos also in this department and throughout the work that we do. as undersecretary of state for democracy and global affairs, we organize several bureaus. we have three bureaus -- one dedicated to issues related to democracy, human rights, and labor. i second is focused on population, refugees, and migration three of the third one emphasizes a oceans, environment, and science. and we have an office on trafficking in persons. clearly a problem that we know is enormous. so you can see that on any given day, i am really moving from talking about safeguarding the

environment to looking at global pandemics, which we have been dealing with a lot, with h1n1, to promoting human rights, to providing humanitarian aid, to working with the skirts of trafficking in person, which is really the slavery of the century. one of the things that all of these areas have in common, they are about protecting an uplifting the world's bond will populations and the environment. -- bottle -- vulnerable populations and the environment. this is connected to the national security and well-being than we certainly have given them credit for all four. these global concerns for too long, and the empowerment of women, human rights, and the environment -- they had been relegated to the sidelines of

u.s. foreign policy. they have always been important but they have never been prioritized. and while they have been in the shadows, what they have done is really dug deeper into the trenches of society. they have reenforce the cycle of poverty that attacks the lives of so many and increase the vulnerability of the discontent of so many people around the world. so when our own neglect to connect these things, we have seen how our inability to connect development and diplomacy to defense has paid its toll. but this clearly no longer the case, as we heard the secretary say. under the leadership of president obama and secretary clinton, we see these three munis -- mutually reinforcing each other. they are being implemented

together, and our foreign policy is not as comprehensive in addressing these things, but is far more effective. and with their leadership, we -- and i mean everyone in this room -- has enormous opportunity to elevate and integrate the very pressing issues into the highest levels of farm policy discourse. whether you want to talk about refugees, about political oppression, about climate change -- the time is now. and in some ways it is an exciting time. i just returned late last night from copenhagen. we kicked off the first week of the climate change negotiations. i wish i could paint a picture for you of what this really spectacular gathering of people is like. imagine 35,000 people from around the globe gathered in what the danish have billed as a

prefab recyclable small town. the energy inside these walls were just pulsating. what is even more interesting to me was that the u.s. center is right in the middle of everything that is happening. it is comprised of two larger rooms, where we use technology and fascinating -- and fascinating ways to connect to people. we enabled the four members of president obama's cabinet that will attend copenhagen to be able to speak to hundreds of people. several people remarked to me, boy, last year the united states had a poster. and now you have this presents. clearly that was one of the symbols of the fact that the united states in copenhagen is there to take a leadership role. i was honored to be one of the

first speakers in the u.s. center speaking about a variety of issues. we had standing room only as people reconnected, we engage with what this country is doing to solve the most intractable problems that we face. let me say a couple of words about the climate change issues, because clearly, we are trying to address climate change but through mitigation an adaptation. mitigation, meaning everything that we would try to do in this country, which president obama has already announced, to reduce carbon emissions, to build up renewable energy, to change the efficiency -- the fuel efficiency in our vehicles or our appliances -- the way that we live. but additionally we are trying to work and adaptation, how is that we help developing countries, many of them clearly

and the western hemisphere and in africa and asia, to not only add that to what is going on with climate change right now but to also reduce the future risk of what climate change will do to their environment. so for me, it is clearly important to be able to have the opportunity to work with this in such an active way, with such importance direction from this administration. one issue that i have taken on to be one that we really need to emphasize in the context of environment is the role the water is playing around the world. water from food security to economic growth to sanitation to peace and security, for millions of people around the world. access to drinking water is not possible. think about that. climate change will only make

their struggle even worse. it will make extreme events happened. we will have more storms come more floods come more droughts, events will be more frequent and more severe. and when we look at resource- stretched areas, we see the amount of potable water will only heighten the incidence of conflict. water is released at the crossroads, not only improving people's lives, but for security issues as well. as we look at how we can help countries adapt to the central role of water, we see that the challenges are many, but that there are many solutions. and as we are thinking of the way to do it, we take into account everything that secretary clinton said. we have technology that we can use. we have partnerships that we can use. we have a series of different

ways in which we can purify water, decreased deforestation, decrease greenhouse emissions, and we can do all of this without relying on fossil fuels. and we can involve women, who are really at the core of helping us address not only this issue but one that affects so many vulnerable populations. finding and implementing ways to do this is going to require nations to work together. it clearly brings me to the point that in the work that i do at the state department, it is particularly important. the creation of partnerships between the united states and other countries. if we think about the previous administration, this might sound like a novel concept. but this administration -- the obama administration has made partnerships and global

engagement with others a top priority. this is not about patronage. it is not about working only with governments. this is about a meaningful, honest conversation about our shared interest as we are trying to solve them. looking at some of these, i will give you a couple of examples of the work that i have been doing. after all, i have only been on the job for all little over three months. two months ago, i was proud to lead the delegation on the u.s.- bolivia dialogue. it was a very special moment for me to stand before the bolivian foreign minister and to begin three engaging the relationship on a way that is based on mutual trust and dialogue between our nations. it was important for me because

of my bolivian raids. i was born and raised in bolivia. it is also significant because it signals a direction that we are trying to move in. we are really looking to government efforts to forge new paths in addressing foreign- policy of this country, not only in this region but throughout the world. the global engagement is not only about government to government. it also involves the private sector and it involves civil society. and the many complex problems that i certainly have been a portfolio that i am dealing with cannot be done at all unless you work with so many people, many of you here in the room that are engaged in trying to address them as well. the secretary mentioned the alliance for youth movement. i had the pleasure of attending that may make -- that meeting in mexico, an example partnership.

she also mentioned that we brought all of our techno savvy people to the meeting. people with quite a young average age. i think when i walked into the room, i raise the average age by about 20 years, because everyone there was around 25 years old. but what you found -- and this is the future -- you found activists from around the world who were exploring ways to carry out grass-roots movements and to try to bring about social change. they're using technology. they were using mobile tools. they were building virtual nonprofits, by the one seat three's -- 501 (c) 3's.

they have facebook and sweater, and using many other ways to promote democracy. these are the tools of the future, and these are the types of partnerships that the state department can not only promote but can engage in and learn from. you can see that this sort of engagement can be replicated in many ways. it can be replicated here at the state department. at this point, what we do it state department is called this type of engagement 21st century state craft. later you will be all listening to alex ross from our staff, the advisory technology -- the adviser in technology, on why technology is becoming so

increasingly important. many of you here are part of the u.s.-latino community, not all of you but many of you. in fact, when i became the highest-ranking belatina in the state department, i thought i might introduce margaritas into the morning meeting. that might be taking it all little too far. but what we are all interested in, is the u.s. policy in latin america. and the secretary has clearly address some of those. but regardless of what your background is, or regardless of your professional interests, everyone here today can help and have -- enhance the image that the united states by telling your own story, by telling the american story. we must do a much better job in reclaiming america standing in the world by telling our own

stories, both as the opportunity of success and the efforts that we are making to address the problems domestically and internationally. in closing, i would just say that the work of the global affairs efforts in state department is really itself a manifestation of a new kind of diplomacy. one in which we think collectively about common challenges, and one in which the connection between the struggle of others all around the world and our own best interests is very clear. we are empowering women, we're protecting human rights, we are trying to build sustainable ecosystems, and we are also now incorporating these issues into the ongoing negotiations in diplomatic circles that rule the way in which policies are made. this is crucial to 21st century

farm policy. -- for an policy. there are few in the world that are not impacted by these issues. we do not make a difference addressing these issues now, we will be far -- it will be far greater differences if we neglect them that we will only see in years to come. so i invite you to join me and talking about these challenges, and exploring the many solutions that are out our fingertips, and in working to see that the u.s. foreign policy is known as much for its innovation and compassion as for its might. i hope you have an excellent day here at the state department. i thank you for everything that you do. and i think that we can take a couple of questions. thank you. [applause]

>> on the director of social justice for sisters of mercy of the americas. and i thank you in particular for your work on many fronts, but particularly during the honduras crisis, your attention to a human rights. so i thank you. and we applaud the administration's voiced commitment to a new way of engaging internationally. and i want to pick up on that to offer eyes from the outside in terms not only of the sisters, but we have sisters throughout central and latin america. there are eyes on the honduras situation, to feed that into the next, because there is a perception that the u.s. is unequivocal in its message. i was knightly getting e-mails from our sisters in honduras, pictures of cracked skulls and the police brutality.

the concern was the need for a greater u.s. speaking out on the human rights situation. there was not appreciation for the recognition of the election, but beyond that, what the hope this is that the attention to human rights in this next phase, and i was getting e-mails from argentina to panama. the attention to what the u.s. was doing in honduras, but worry -- the worried that a new model of the coup was being tried out. for honduras in particular, the next phase is not just a general reconciliation but a concrete request for a constitutional assembly. and they know they are not on the world stage anymore. the way that the u.s. can show that it is going create the

space and conditions -- this commitment will guarantee that support is going on. as much support time-honored trinidad and voicing support would be grateful. >> i appreciate your question. it is the way that you're presenting. clearly there have been human rights violations in the process that we have seen play itself out in honduras. and we have addressed them. you're pointing out that we should address them even more forcefully and more strongly. i know our ambassador in honduras played an active role in making sure that human rights violations that were taking place were dressed and were stopped -- were addressed and were stopped. he worked with the police and the armed forces in this regard.

but clearly it is a very complex issue. it is a difficult one, but certainly one that is now interwoven into the way in which we addressed a foreign-policy. i'll let arturo valenzuela address the issue of honduras a little bit more. he has been central to moving forward our policy there. they keep. -- thank you. >> i'm from the smithsonian institution. congratulations to you to be in the first latina, finally reaching out to the broader dimensions of our democracy. just a couple of quick observations. i would urge that we began to rethink of art -- some of our

terminology. we have not heard the term, the caribbean, here. that is an entire region of the americas that is not easily separated from latin america but it has its own integrity. i think the american people need to become more current and that region, and the many citizens who also have trans-national realities, as do many latin americans and central americans, with families here. secondly, i would ask that we get deeper and conferring what we mean by minorities when we talk about what america. we're talking about indigenous people -- whatever the video logical issues, it is not to be diminished under the turn minority when the majority population is a democratic population. and we can go throughout venezuela and other places. minorities also obscures the fact of african descendants.

brazil could be as much half appro-brazilians -- afro- resilience. it needs to be revealed in sociology that the person -- the people in the hospital appeared there's a connection to cuba there. that is probably why they did that. that is said to write -- a direct hit on the democracy of these people being put under the framework of minority. and the 400,000 displaced people in colombia, we need to speak more directly about that terminology. and let me just out by saying -- bring some darkness to the slight. yes. -- to this white.

yes. -- to this light. yes. they are calling for two basic things from the outside. open travel and normalization of relations says that differences can be taken up in the protocols established by the family of nations, oas, etc.. and i would urge that when we talk about cuba, to talk about the internal debates going on between the cuban citizens and their elected representatives, whether we like them or not, and to see how we complement that and to stop that talk about taking democracy to people, as president barack said last night. we cannot solve all the problems of the world but we can look to the internal negotiations were people are dealing with the issues and figure out how to complement that. we thank you very much. >> thank you.

you have certainly put several issues on the table that are very important ones, to take into consideration. and there is little i can add to what you have said. but i do want to emphasize that there is no question that the focus -- to be able to focus more on the differences of the caribbean is very important. we know that when the summit of the americas took place in trinidad and toboggan, it brought up some of the particular challenges that island nations face, that really are quite different from the other countries around them. it is important for us to integrate that. and finally, i would say that there is no question that when you talk about minorities in latin america, particularly those of african descent, it is an issue that gets lost. it gets lost even in those countries where they are all

small grouping. i live in one area and visited the northern coast many times. they are among the poorest and have the least access to education, to employment, and they have fewer voices to represent them. we do not have to think about the colombian north coast which is so heavily of african descent, or even brazil, but even including bolivia, you find people of african descent that are often voiceless. i appreciate your bringing forward that point. one more question. [inaudible] >> your next, mary.

>> a microphone, please. [inaudible] >> a support group working to promote the movement initiated in bolivia. the first point i would really like to make is that the secretary very carefully worded her description of the vote in honduras by saying, if i am not mistaken, a large number of hondurans showed up. that can be less disputed. there are a fake-based groups and civil society groups in honduras that can substantiate that less than 50% of the people of honduras showed up to vote.

i also congratulate the state department for the movement to re-establishing relations -- diplomatic relations between the united states and bolivia. i am thrilled that you're at the meeting, and i certainly hope to see some meeting on that issue. and miss otero, the fact that you represent the ecological and water issues within the state department, this is going to be a very important issue. we've heard about the elections in honduras. we've heard how the state department is so concerned about the elections, but not about the elections in bolivia and where i

would put myself out on a limb to say that a larger percentage of citizens turned out to vote, and certainly the largest percentage of indigenous citizens of that country turned out. making a possibly the very first democratic election and all of latin america, if you're talking about inclusion. and water is going to be a very big issue in bolivia. it already is, i am sure you are aware, and what has in -- in la paz. water will become an enormous issue in the future. it could unfortunately become a weapon. how is the state department

preparing to deal with the issue of water in those countries where we do not have the friendliest relationships, we do not even have an ambassador, and we would certainly regret it if the representatives of my country and your country were to manipulate the water question as a weapon? can you say something to that? >> just a couple of observations. one is that you would be happy to know that i was with the representative of the bolivian government in copenhagen yesterday. i use that opportunity to contract -- congratulate them on the elections. we have spoken to them directly. and let me just address the water question. clearly water has not been an issue that we have put forth or

elevated to the level at which we had it as part and parcel of the discussions that we have with different governments. it is more of a security issue in some places, and it is more of and access issue and some others. and in some places they come together this way. some countries are particularly susceptible, but very few things have been done to address it. bolivia is one of those -- the mountain on which many of us skied at 17,000 feet above sea level when we were young, it is not only being affected by all the glaciers are being affected. what we're doing is integrating that into efforts that will address and enable us to work closely with governments, to help governments put together policies related to water -- and

many will governments have already advanced in this direction. coming back from the climate change conference, the interconnectedness between water and climate change is so clear -- the creation of water protocols that can help us address that is something where we envision the united states being part of an taking a leadership role in, and not operating along 3 many other countries are already working on this. but we have to get into that dialogue. part of our work in water -- as it is in some areas like climate change -- it is one of reinstatement and of helping advance -- real engagement end up helping advance policies in partnership with other countries and other organizations. we're just getting started on that. that is the direction that we see that moving forward. one more question, and then i

think -- yes, sir. >> thank you very much. thank all of you that are here this morning to hear this presentation. we're very grateful to you and to you who organized this reception. first of all, you're dealing with south american now. when you going to do with the african continent. the issue is economics. we're not integrated economic activities with our political affairs. it is very dangerous. second, minorities. we are over using that word, minorities. very, very soon, our majority will be down to a minority. we have decided -- we africans

has won have decided that all african descendants are a disaster brought -- kasparov diasp -- all african descendants are a diaspora. it is very important for us to consider and not let america fail. because if we let america fail, we're back to the fourth century. so we have decided africa is a function of the united states.

we're going to create opportunity for all americans to get a job. for us, what we wanted to is to work with you at any level, at any capacity you wanted, so that your success as a function of our success. our victory becomes a source of victory for all the spirit south america, east america, north america, central america -- it does not make any difference. it is very important. the clock that is ticking for the peaceful unification of this region. i cannot like the idea about south america. what about central america? i am talking to you like this

because i want to write to tomorrow. [laughter] and i will point this out to you. you may know for a fact i don't just fall. i act. >> good. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. i think you are making a very important observation. i want to remind you that in the first year of this administration, president obama went to guyana and he made statements about the importance of africa -- went to ghana and made statements about the importance of africa to this administration. secretary clinton spent 11 days in africa covering six countries. probably more than the previous administration had spent in the duration. and she went to talk to the women in the refugee camps, and she met with different groups,

and and she addressed some of the relief intractable problems that africa faces, most of which are mired in poverty. and from that perspective, if we look it two initiatives that this administration is putting ford -- they are very much linked with trying to address issues globally, but primarily in africa. the first is a food security. this is one of the biggest problems that you see occurring in africa. just enabling people to have access to food, to be able to grow their food. this initiative, a very expensive one, one that has some considerable resources behind it, is one way of making sure that we are addressing some of the problems that africans are facing. the second one is the global health initiative that this administration is putting forth. and most of this work will be done clearly through aid and

nonprofits and others that ec -- to receive u.s. support. but both of these areas have to be addressed if we're going to help empower people economically. so they can improve the way of their lives. and finally, in africa, i have spent quite a time -- quite a bit of time in africa. one of the things that is very clear is that there are so many people in africa that are part of the solution, that organize themselves. the women's organizations we have -- we had a woman here from kenya. when they were doing their work with organizations, you can go in the area and see the traditional birth attendance. you see if the women as farmers. you see all kinds of work being done and our efforts have to support people at the ground level and be able to make

resources available for them, to be able to use technology and innovation in a way that reaches people. and to be able to really address some problems the country has, not coming like this and imposing things, but really helping people lift themselves out of poverty. that is really the intention in the work that we're doing. and i await your letter. thank you. [applause] thank you. >> maria, thank you very much. next, we have dr. arturo valenzuela and the newly confirmed and installed assistant secretary for western hemisphere affairs. arturo has only been on the job since november 10.

he is probably already exhausted. but you're saying as we were listening to maria that he spent all evening with other leaders in the region trying to solve the challenge of honduras. not only to work through the transition but to provide a means to begin to heal the divide or empower hondurans to heal the political and social divide that exist in that country. without further ado, arturo. [applause] >> thanks very much. i have a prepared text that i was going to read. but i think in the spirit of having a closer dialogue, what i should do is give you a few overall winners and then we can open it up to more questions that we might have otherwise.

and it won a prepared speech, i can send it to you. -- and if you want a prepared speech, i can send it to you. i'm very grateful to the secretary clinton and president obama. it is a challenging moment in our relationship with the hemisphere. i was privileged to work in the klan administration in a couple of capacities, but my lifelong endeavors have been in academia. -- in the clinton administration and a couple of capacities. but my lifelong endeavors have been in academia. by the way, ambassador romero, it is great to see you in so many other friends. i am very proud to be here. the first latino and a democratic administration in

this position, and the first political appointee in the bureau of western hemispheric affairs and a democratic government since 1958. where do we stand? let me give you a little background. i want to say that first that i see the situation in latin america as the glass half full rather than half empty. and maybe that is a bed of the historian in me. -- a bit of the historian and me. if you look back not that far ago, we had a situation where between the 1960's and 1980's, you had authoritarian governments in every country except for three. with a terrific experiences like

argentina, where 30,000 disappeared, -- with the horrific experiences like in argentina, where 30,000 people disappeared, and in the 1980's, there open complex in a series of concert -- of countries and central america. the economic situation through the 1980's was devastating for the region in particular. the famous debt crisis. in fact, latin america at invented stagflation. significant inflation levels but with very low -- very low growth levels. in fact, as i was going to remind -- looking for some currency exchange, because i am traveling this week to brazil, i grab some old bill. i made the mistake of picking up this one.

this was worth about a dollar at that time of the high inflation in brazil. there were real champion on this. they had 250,000 percent inflation at 1.3 and in the price of the mill would go up. -- at one point. and the price of milk would go up. we're at the end of the cold war with a shift toward democratic institutions. today every country in latin america, save cuba and at this particular point honduras, it is governed by an elected leader. many presidents did not finish their terms so there is

instability in democratic governments in latin america. the economic situation did improve fairly significantly. by comparison with even the early 1990's, we saw a boom in this last decade, driven by exports but also by the fact that fiscal management and economic reforms did take root in many countries in latin america. and we see in some ways, one of the interesting aspects of the international financial crisis today is that latin america has been somewhat more insulated from the international crisis because of some of the reforms undertaken before. but the glass is only half full. let me make that very clear. democratic institutions are fragile in the region. the economic recovery is still very much of a work and prosper

latin america as a whole is still falling behind as opposed to asia, for example. the gdp of mexico was comparable to south korea. now south korea is way ahead. where are we in terms of engagement? let me preface it by saying we have we want and whole new tone. that is the most important thing that i can tell you today. we want to read engage with the atmosphere on the basis of mutual respect, on working together to solve common problems, with the united states being a partner. we want to be able to listen to the secretary has already traveled to the region for the president has traveled to the region. the vice president has traveled to the region. there have been and number of high-level meetings where this has been conveyed. we want to work together with mutual respect in order to solve our common problems. now that i had been on the job since november 10, i have been to mexico, canada, and i am

leaving on sunday to visit brazil, argentina, or a quiet, compared wide. -- are required -- uraguay an d paraguay. we need to engage two -- three very broad things. i have like eight things in my formal speech. but let's reduce it to three things. the key underlying problems with latin america, despite some of the advances in the economic policy, is lingering, unspeakable poverty throughout the hemisphere. as the secretary said in her remarks, the western hemisphere

is the content with the greatest degree of inequality of any continent in the world. significant efforts have to be made in order to address that. we are working already with a whole series of kinds of programs in different countries. the secretary referred to the partnership for partners -- for prosperity, but we have a whole series of programs. we used to say that it is trade not aid. today we have to say, trade is important, but trade is not enough. trade is not enough. what is needed, really, in terms of the economic and social basket? fundamentally, improving the competitiveness of the country's of the region. and competitiveness can only be improved if there is significant

investment in two things -- infrastructure and in people. that means safety nets for the people who are the poorest levels of the economic ladder, but at the same time programs like education. education is absolutely a critical element. in my speech at a had a series of different examples of ways in which we're working with different countries in areas of education. scientific technology. the continent will not make progress unless he gets significantly into improvement in science and technology in this highly globalized world. this is a very important basket. we want to work more effectively in partnership with others. and here we're looking at private as well as public partnerships and all of these efforts that we are engaged in. let me mention a second

challenge that the latin american countries -- and the caribbean countries -- are facing. that is public insecurity. if you take surveys throughout the region, and u.s. people, and every country, even with low levels of common crime, there really is an incredible concern, rightfully so, over public insecurity. this is because of the encroachment of organized crime as well as petty crime in so many countries. it is related to situations of poverty and equality. in some cases, the challenges are dramatic. but as the secretary also said, we have a co-responsibility with some of these problems. particularly the knock the trafficking which fuels much of this. -- an arco -- narco-trafficking

which deals much of this. we're working to expand a program in mexico to the rest of central america. it is very important also the caribbean security initiative, because all these things are interrelated. when you look at that challenge, not just a phenomenon of one country but a trans-national fred and needs to be dealt with in a trans-national way. -- a trans-national threats. it cannot be addressed in a hard hand or to restructure way or -- or three strikes, you're out. you need to address the social problems but also address the

issues of state capacity, the rule of law, and that kind of thing. this is a very important part. ultimately the question of criminal and public insecurity is related to weak institutions, particularly at the state and local level. and that leads me to a reflection of institutions, democratic governments in latin america. three critical points -- social inequality, public insecurity, and now i would like to address the issue of democratic governance. i said earlier, we used to say trade is what we need, not eight. i am saying that we need as well to focus on competitiveness and particularly investment in people and infrastructure. but a very, very important and missing link in that kind of thing is success in economic and social terms, based on the

quality of institutions. the institutions of democratic governance. in country after country, you see that there's a lack of capacity of governing institution produce seed is particularly at the local level. mexico is focusing much more -- is started out as the federal project. now, i was just in mexico on monday and tuesday. reviewing all of this with our ambassador in mexico, who is absolutely terrific. i love working with him. we met with all sectors of mexican society, as we look at how we are supporting mexico. and when we work on mexico and we have to deal with mexico, not just on the narcotics side order criminal violence side, although that is important. we have such a broad range of relationships with mexico, across the board. many of them are wonderful,

goods stores. but this particular issue of the criminal violence in mexico is something that we need to take very seriously. as i was saying, the first approach to this was to look at the federal. now auric -- we're concerned about local level as well. this is an issue of building state capacity and law enforcement capacity and judicial systems at the local level as well. that is very important three new institutions to matter. they are absolutely critical. we have to be sure, not only because it is right, because of our values, but we need to ensure that democratic institutions are not disrupted. one of the tragedies of latin america -- and here i put on my latin american historian hat -- is that forever and ever, the problems of democracy