Text 4180, 173 rader
Skriven 2007-03-05 23:31:24 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0703054) for Mon, 2007 Mar 5
===================================================

===========================================================================
Fact Sheet: Advancing the Cause of Social Justice in the Western Hemisphere
===========================================================================

For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary March 5, 2007

Fact Sheet: Advancing the Cause of Social Justice in the Western Hemisphere

ÿÿWhite House News

ÿÿÿÿÿ President Bush Discusses Western Hemisphere Policy ÿÿÿÿÿ President's
Trip to Latin America ÿÿÿÿÿ In Focus: Global Diplomacy

Today, President Bush Discussed The Administration's Efforts To Advance The
Cause Of Social Justice In The Western Hemisphere. From March 8-14,
President and Mrs. Bush will travel to Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia,
Guatemala, and Mexico. These countries are part of a region that has taken
great strides toward freedom and prosperity raising up new democracies and
bringing stability to their fiscal policies. Yet despite these advances,
tens of millions in the Western Hemisphere remain stuck in poverty. The
working poor of Latin America need change, and the United States is
committed to helping their governments provide it.

The President Is Committed To Helping Democracies In The Western
Hemisphere:
  þ Build government institutions that are fair, effective, and free of
    corruption;
  þ Meet basic needs like education, healthcare, and housing; and
  þ Maintain economies that make it possible for workers to provide for
    their families and rise in society.

New Initiatives For The Western Hemisphere

The President Announced He Will Send The USNS Comfort A Navy Medical Ship
To Latin America And The Caribbean. The Comfort will make port calls in
Belize, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia,
Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname. Its doctors, nurses, and
healthcare professionals expect to treat 85,000 patients and conduct up to
1,500 surgeries. The Comfort will also partner with the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services on a new initiative to provide oral care to the
region's poor.
  þ At The Same Time, Military Medical Teams Will Operate To Help Bring
    Treatment And Care To Other Communities. This year, the Department of
    Defense and the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps will
    partner to provide medical care through 62 Medical Readiness Training
    Exercises in 14 countries in the Western Hemisphere.
  þ The President Also Announced A Healthcare Professional Training Center
    In Panama That Will Serve All Of Central America. This Center will
    teach students how to be good nurses, technicians, and health care
    workers.

The President Announced A New Partnership For Latin American Youth To Help
Thousands More Young People Improve Their English And Have The Opportunity
To Study In The United States. This three-year, $75 million initiative
includes English language training; home-country and U.S.-based study;
helping students apply for and win scholarships; and skills development to
improve students' ability to gain employment.

The President Directed Secretary Of State Condoleezza Rice And Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson To Develop A New Initiative That Will Help U.S. And
Local Banks Improve Their Ability To Extend Good Loans To Small Businesses.
Increasing access to capital throughout Latin America and the Caribbean
will help its entrepreneurs create new jobs and opportunity for their
fellow citizens.

The United States Is Launching A New Effort To Help Build A Market For
Affordable Housing. Through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation
(OPIC), the U.S. has provided more than $100 million to help underwrite
mortgages to working families in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and the countries
of Central America. The U.S. will now provide an additional $385 million to
expand these programs and help put the dream of home ownership within reach
of thousands more people.

The Administration Will Convene A White House Conference On The Western
Hemisphere. This conference will bring together representatives from the
private sector, non-governmental organizations, faith-based groups, and
volunteer associations to discuss more effective ways to deliver aid and
build the institutions of civic society.

Building Government Institutions That Are Fair, Effective, And Free Of
Corruption

Millennium Challenge Accounts Are Providing Financial Assistance To
Developing Nations That Govern Justly, Invest In Their People, And
Encourage Economic Freedom.
  þ President Bush worked with Congress to create the Millennium Challenge
    Corporation (MCC) in February 2004.
  þ Compact agreements between the MCC and El Salvador, Honduras, and
    Nicaragua plus a threshold agreement in Paraguay amount to almost $900
    million in aid for these countries.
  þ Bolivia is eligible for compact assistance, and Peru and Guyana have
    been invited to participate in the MCC threshold program.
  þ The President's FY08 budget requests $3 billion for the Millennium
    Challenge Corporation to continue reducing poverty around the world.

We Are Working With Our Partners In Latin America And The Caribbean To
Ensure Governments Serve All Citizens Impartially.
  þ In Colombia, American foreign aid is helping train judges, prosecutors,
    and public defenders.
  þ In Villarrica, Paraguay, we funded a project setting up a website to
    make local government transactions public.
  þ In El Salvador, the United States opened an international law
    enforcement academy to help train law enforcement agents to combat drug
    lords, terrorists, criminal gangs, and human traffickers. These efforts
    are supported by private programs run by U.S. law schools, professional
    associations, and volunteer organizations.

Providing Funding For Education And Health Care In Latin America And The
Caribbean

Since 2004, The U.S. Has Provided More Than $150 Million For Education
Programs In Latin America And The Caribbean. U.S.-funded education programs
include:
  þ Centers Of Excellence For Teacher Training (CETT) Initiative: In 2001,
    President Bush announced the CETT initiative to strengthen literacy
    instruction across the region. Since 2002, CETT has trained nearly
    15,000 teachers, and it plans to train 3,330 more in 2007. By 2009,
    CETT will have trained 20,000 teachers in the region, and will have
    improved the literacy skills of 650,000 poor and disadvantaged
    students.
  þ The U.S. Department Of State Hemisphere-Wide English Teaching
    Initiative: Launched in 2006, the initiative provides $500,000 to fund
    micro-scholarships and English teaching programs, supporting English
    studies for nearly 12,000 students.

Since 2001, The U.S. Has Invested Almost $1 Billion To Improve Health
Through USAID Programs In Latin America And The Caribbean.
  þ U.S. Funding For HIV/AIDS Programs In Latin America And The Caribbean
    Has Grown From $22 Million In 2001 To A Planned Level Of Over $143
    Million In 2007. Haiti and Guyana are focus countries in the
    President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). We are also
    supporting programs in Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador,
    Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, and a regional
    program in the Caribbean.

Helping Build Economies That Allow Workers To Provide For Their Families
And Rise In Society

The United States Government Led The G-8 Debt Reduction Initiative To
Provide $4.8 Billion In Multilateral Debt Relief To Some Of The Poorest
Countries In The Americas.

The Administration Is Implementing An Agenda To Promote Job Creation And
Equal Opportunity For All Residents Of The Western Hemisphere.
  þ The Administration has negotiated trade agreements with 10 countries in
    Latin America and the Caribbean, with three Peru, Colombia, and Panama
    pending Congressional approval.
  þ In 2006, CAFTA-DR entered into force for Nicaragua, El Salvador,
    Guatemala, and Honduras. And on March 1, 2007, CAFTA-DR entered into
    force for the Dominican Republic.
  þ Countries with U.S. trade agreements in the Western Hemisphere comprise
    two-thirds of the region's overall GDP.
  þ The Administration is now working for a strong agreement in the Doha
    round of global trade talks that will help level the playing field for
    farmers, workers, and small businesses throughout the Western
    hemisphere.

U.S. Assistance To Latin America And The Caribbean Extends Far Beyond
Government Initiatives.
  þ USAID has registered more than 300 U.S.-based non-governmental
    organizations working in Latin America.
  þ In 2005, U.S. companies invested $353 billion in Latin America and the
    Caribbean. Foreign affiliates of U.S. companies have employed 1.6
    million people in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.

# # #

===========================================================================
Return to this article at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/03/20070305-4.html

 * Origin: (1:3634/12)