Opening Remarks
Chairman Eliot L. Engel
House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
Polling Data on Latin American Opinion of United States
Policies, Values and People
Thursday, March 8, 2007
3:00 p.m.
Good afternoon. I am pleased to join Mr. Delahunt, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight, in convening this joint hearing on Latin American opinions of U.S. policies, values and people.
Sometimes perception is everything and policymakers need to understand how our actions around the world can translate into positive or negative views of the United States.
Unfortunately, in recent times, our policies have generated rather negative views of our country, even in our own region. A 2006 Gallup poll conducted in 18 countries in Latin America gave President Bush a 27% approval rating. Not so ironically, this is only 3 points away from Bush's 30% approval rating here in the United States, according to the latest survey taken by our witness, Mr. Zogby.
While our failure to fully engage our friends in the region has surely contributed greatly to the poor feelings about the President, U.S. neglect of the Americas cannot fully explain the increased anti-U.S. sentiments. The broader U.S. movement away from multilateralism has not gone unnoticed in Latin America.
Today's hearing comes as President Bush embarks upon a five-country tour of the region. Last week, Ranking Member Burton and I along with all members of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, sent a letter to President Bush applauding his trip to the region and encouraging him to more intensively focus on the region in the remaining two years of his presidency.
But simple engagement with the hemisphere will not be enough. In order to curb anti-Americanism and have a real impact in reducing poverty and inequality, we must take concrete actions. Reducing development assistance to Latin America by $70 million and child health and survival programs by $34 million sends the wrong sign to our neighbors. As I said at last week's hearing, I know that budgets are not easy to write and I know that we all wish we could spend more money than we practically are able to spend. But budgets do show priorities and making significant reductions in assistance to Latin America says to the world that this region is not a priority. I hope that we can find ways to increase U.S. assistance to Latin America during this year's appropriations cycle to demonstrate to our friends to the south that the United States sees them as important partners.
Unfortunately, certain populist leaders are intentionally exacerbating the growing anti-Americanism and seeking to capitalize on those negative feelings. But, rather than pick fights with the demagogues, I think we should deal directly with the poverty and inequality which creates the conditions for the populists to emerge.
Like it or not, people all around the world look to America to stand up for the little guy. We have always been a country where those with the least in our society can rise to the top. But, this American dream is really a dream of all people. The desire to succeed does not end at the water's edge, and we can no longer be seen in our hemisphere as simply working to make the rich richer and the elites even more untouchable.
Therefore, as we pursue assistance policies, we should seek to increase those which help the impoverished masses. As we pursue trade policies, we should incorporate social responsibility into agreements we reach so that big business treats their employees and the environment with respect. And, as we deal with our neighbors to the south, we should treat all nations with the dignity they deserve. I believe that these are the best ways to undercut the populists and make a serious impact in reducing anti-Americanism in the region.
In a speech earlier this week President Bush declared that "the working poor of Latin America need change, and the United States of America is committed to that change." I commend the President for making this commitment to our neighbors. Now I hope that we can work closely with the Administration to back up these words with tangible actions. If real commitments can be followed with sustained engagement and higher levels of assistance - especially regarding poverty and inequality - I believe that we will be able to at least begin to reduce anti-Americanism in the region.
Thank you. I look forward to hearing Mr. Zogby's testimony.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
