Remarks by the Vice President on U.S. - Brazil Relations

May 30, 2013 | 26:04 | Public Domain

The Vice President speaks on the partnership between the U.S. and Brazil at Pier Maua in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

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Remarks by the Vice President on U.S.-Brazil Relations, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Pier Maua
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

12:24 P.M. (Local)

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Mr. President.  Thank you all, very, very much.  And, sir, I may need to borrow you hat before this is over. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m delighted to be here and impressed to see such a large crowd.  Everyone I’ve spoken to so far in Rio keeps apologizing for the weather.  This is wonderful as far as I’m concerned.  (Laughter.) 

It’s a truly -- I need not tell anyone here, this is truly a marvelous, marvelous city.  And it’s not just the welcoming spirit of the Brazilian people or the mix of cultures and ethnicities, it’s the vibrancy, the inclusive democracy; seizing the opportunities that you all can taste and feel and smell that portend for a future that's even brighter than what exists today.

I’ve been traveling across the Americas, and I find something interesting.  I’ve been doing this job a long, long time as you can tell; I’m a very old man.  But I was elected when I was 29 years told to the United States Senate, and my portfolio has been American foreign policy.  So I’ve traveled the hemisphere and the world over the last 40 years.  And it’s astounding to see the transformation that not only Brazil has gone through, but that the hemisphere is going through.

Political conflicts are now most often resolved at the ballot box.  Democratic elections are the norm, not the exception.  There are now 275 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean who are part of the middle class.  If you look at it in perspective of the last three, four decades, it’s truly astounding.  Things are changing.  The economies of the region are growing.  Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, members of the G20.  Brazil is about to become the director general of the WTO. 

There’s a new sense of dynamism across the Americas.  In the 1990s, we began in talking about Europe -- as I traveled Europe in my capacity as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee with a focus on Europe, we talked about after the Wall came down, the promise of a Europe for the first time since the nation state, a Europe that was whole, free and at peace.  Well, today I think we can say with some degree of certainty that we can envision the Americas -- the Americas which are middle class, secure, democratic from the Arctic Circle to the Straits of Magellan.

In the U.S. the discussion is no longer what it was when I was first elected as a young man:  What could we do for the Americas?  That's long since gone.  The issue now is:  What can we do together?  What can we do together? 

And President Obama and I believe that the times present an incredible opportunity for a new era of relations between the United States and the Americas.  We’ve never had so many capable partners.  And American attitudes have changed as well.  But none -- no partner is more significant in this endeavor than Brazil.

The size of these new opportunities, of the middle class, a secure and democratic region requires broader, deeper relationships with this great country and quite frankly all the countries in the hemisphere.  And that's not going to happen without sustained interaction and consultation.

That's why I’m here in Brazil today.  That's why the President has asked me to extend an invitation to your President who I’ll be meeting tomorrow to come to the United States in October for the only state visit that will occur in Washington this year. 

Ladies and gentlemen, that's why the President has visited recently Mexico, Costa Rica.  That's why he’s made six trips to Latin America and the Caribbean, and that's why I’ve traveled within the Americas on four separate occasions, why I met yesterday with the CARICOM nations; before that, with President Santos in Bogota.  And the President has asked me to -- future trips in the fall and into the winter.  It’s real simple:  We want to engage more.  We think there’s great opportunity.  We’re optimistic.

Brazil has long since taken its place as one of the world’s great democratic economic powers.  You’re the seventh largest economy in the world -- larger than India; larger than Russia.  The story of your journey is truly remarkable in the last 20 years.  In 20 years in the making, you built upon the most important resource that this great country has -- your human capital.

You broke the back of inflation.  You lifted 40 million people out of poverty to the middle class, which is now 100 million strong.  Your democratic and social innovations; your Zero Hunger Program; your bolsa familia; your homeownership programs -- they’re studied and copied around the world.  They’re studied and copied around the world, from Guatemala to Ghana.

You’re tapping your enormous natural resources, but also getting a greater share of your energy from clean and renewable energy sources than any other country in the world.  The rest of the world looks at you with envy, at the progress you’ve made. The hemisphere has much to learn from your experience.

But I believe the most important lesson is not any of the specific economic formulas that you’ve employed to raise the living standard of all your people or any social program that is being replicated.  You taught something to the rest of the world, and this hemisphere in particular, that the United States has strongly believed from our inception.  You demonstrated that there is no need for a nation to choose between democracy and development.  You have demonstrated there is no need to choose between market-based economies and smart social policy.  That is a debate raging in other parts of the world.  But you, Brazil, have demonstrated that it is not the false choices that are being offered in other countries in this hemisphere and other countries around the world.  And the world has begun to recognize your contribution.

The bad news for you all is the world has recognized your contribution.  You can no longer claim, we are a developing nation.  You have developed.  And I can tell you from experience, the bad news with that is, what goes with that is worldwide responsibility to speak, to speak out.

But the world has also recognized -- we were talking with the President -- the World Cup in 2014, the Olympics in 2016, as they say in the southern part of my country, y’all are doing something right.  (Laughter.)  It’s pretty remarkable.  The millions of visitors who come to Brazil, many through this very port, marvel at all these cranes and construction and all that’s going on, all the activity.  You immediately get a sense when you debark and/or land in Brazil that your country has incredible dynamism.  You can feel it.  You can taste it. 

But what I suspect many don’t understand is that that dynamism, although happening more here than anywhere else, is also happening outside of Brazil.  It’s happening up and down this hemisphere.  It’s happening from Colombia to Peru to Chile.  It hasn’t reached the level that you have, but it’s happening.  It’s happening. 

And for those of you who may have read the accounts of the demise of America, the United States, as I said to then-President Hu in the Great Hall of the People in China when he was empathizing with telling me that he was sure we’d come back, I would point out -- it’s never been a good bet to bet against the United States of America.  Never.

And what’s happening in my country, which is coming back from the deepest recession it’s had since the Great Depression -- we’ve added back $16 trillion in wealth, much of which had been lost to our population as a consequence of the crisis.  We’ve had -- from the time we’ve taken office, the fifth month in -- every month, consecutive months of job growth.  Not as strong some months as we wanted, but consecutive.

The foundations of our economy are stronger than ever.  As you observe, you have great natural resources.  We will be energy independent.  We have not only tapped and found, but learned how to extract 100 years of shale gas, natural gas that can meet our needs totally if we chose to do that over time. 

The best research and universities are still located in our hemisphere and in our country.  And the most vibrant startups and venture capital markets still exist for all the problems we have had.  We -- like Brazilians, we are optimistic about our future, and we are certain of our capacity, as you are. 

The United States and Brazil represent two of the largest, most innovative, dynamic economies in the world today.  It is true both of us can continue to prosper whether or not we deepen our economic relations.  But imagine, just imagine what these two dynamic economies could do with greater trade and investment for our people, for the hemisphere, for the world. 

Look, I know many in Brazil -- for many in Brazil, the United States doesn’t start with a clean slate.  There’s some good reason for that skepticism.  That skepticism still exists and it’s understandable.  But the world has changed.  We're moving past old alignments, leaving behind old suspicions and building new relationships.  I don't ask you to judge us by my words or the words of the President; judge us by our deeds. 

The United States and Brazil have made a good start in the Obama-Biden administration over the past four years.  Our Presidents, our Secretaries of Defense -- as the military can tell you -- our Secretaries of State, our Special Trade Representatives -- and all 10 of our Cabinet members have visited this country since we took office.  That is not by accident, it’s by design.  And it’s unprecedented.  And it’s a reflection of the value we place on Brazil and the effort to deepen relations.

During that time, we've signed energy and space cooperation and defense agreements.  But I think the leaders of both our countries recognize there still is a gigantic gap between where we are and what we're capable of.  We have an opportunity to set out an ambitious agenda on things that matter most to our people -- to mark in 2013 the start of a new era of U.S.-Brazilian relations. 

I like to talk about what I consider the four issues that will help us get to where we have the potential to arrive.  First is our economic relationship.  It has already realized benefits for both our nations.  American companies are competing for opportunities to do business in Brazil.  Two-thirds of Brazil’s exports to the United States are high-end, value-added goods.  We're making things together.  We both know there’s a future in biofuels and aviation.  Embraer and Boeing are jointly researching and testing the development of biofuels and the capability to use it as jet fuel.  If they’re successful, the market is limitless.

Trade between the two of us now exceeds $100 billion a year.  But I suspect any of you economists in the audience, and business leaders in the audience, know there’s no reason why that cannot be $400 billion to $500 billion a year.  Imagine all the good-paying jobs that will be created in Brazil and the United States that flow from more open trade, especially at a time when both our countries have to work harder to create jobs and stimulate growth in a slow global economy.  Ladies and gentlemen, to get there, though, we both have to do a lot more work to expand that trade.

We appreciate the leadership role Brazil is playing in the World Trade Organization.  We believe this is the foundation upon which we can both build our countries’ values at the WTO.  And as a G20 member, Brazil has a critical role in making sure everyone is doing their part and playing by the rules, promoting strong, balanced, and sustainable growth, and to resist the urge in difficult economic times for protectionism.

But in this increasingly interdependent world, it’s amazing how rapidly it continues to be globalized.  Just when you think it’s about as far as it could go, it’s stunning, and to many, it’s frightening.  But it’s stunning.  We believe in this new world there’s additional complementary steps we can take beyond the G20 and the WTO to expand trading relationship worldwide that will benefit us all.  And we’re attempting to do just that.

That’s why in the United States, the President is working to finish this year a vast new Trans-Pacific Partnership, an economic partnership.  That’s why we’re pursuing an ambitious new economic agreement with the European Union, where we already have $1 trillion in two-way trade in goods and services, and $4 trillion in investment.

But we know -- we know there can be so much more.  And we’re going for it, collectively.  That’s why we’re negotiating global agreements to open services and expand the spread of information technology.  In all of these, the ingredients are the same:  greater market access, greater intellectual property protection, fewer regulatory barriers, higher standards, new disciplines to make sure that everyone plays by the same rules.  But in both our countries we have vested interests who are not excited about this expansion.

And the door is wide open for Brazil to be not only part of this but a leader in this incredible expansion.  I would argue there’s no period in modern history when there’s been as much activity to expand trade around the world.

But to state the obvious, it’s up to Brazil to decide whether to pursue this path or whether to seize the possibilities and accept the responsibilities that go with it.

What’s true for trade is also true for foreign direct investment.  Collectively we have reduced the obstacles to investment, and the key is providing greater predictability and confidence for those countries willing to invest in each of our countries.  But that requires transparent dispute resolution mechanisms, fair and equitable treatment of all investors. 

We welcome -- I want to make this clear -- we welcome, we seek greater Brazilian investment in the United States.  We welcome it.  We need it.  We want you invested.  We’re seeking to expand investment across the board.  I’ve had hours of discussions in his capacity as Vice President and mine as Vice President with now President Xi about how do we expand more foreign direct investment in both countries.

That's why we’re also pursuing new bilateral investment treaties with China, as well as India.  Again, for those who are accustomed to the world before it changed, some of this is frightening.  Some of this is threatening, but all of it’s necessary.  It’s necessary. 

Second, there’s much more we can do together on energy, as I look out on this port.  We have different strengths -- Brazil and the United States -- and combined, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. 

You’ve been a world leader in biofuels and renewable energy, and we’re learning from you.  We’re learning from you, and we’re adjusting to what we thought had to be greater protection.  We have certain expertise ourselves.  You possess it as well.  But I would argue we have as much expertise in deepwater extraction and unconventional fuels and petrochemicals as any nation in the world.  And we stand ready to be your partner.

We have found cooperation with other countries in these areas has benefited not only them, but it’s benefited us as well; and in no way threatened anyone’s sovereignty, but expanded opportunity in both countries.

Again, it’s for Brazil to decide whether it makes sense for you to put in place the rules that allow Brazil to take advantage of this expertise.  Your decision.

Third, let me talk about the work we can do together in the region and around the world.  Because as I said earlier, no longer can Brazil talk about being an emerging power:  You have emerged and everybody has noticed.  You’ve emerged and you’ve engaged on food security, nonproliferation, peacekeeping, conflict prevention, anti-corruption efforts.  You’ve emerged and you’ve engaged and you’ve had a positive impact on the world.

Brazil is not just a donor nation, but a leader in global development -- from your country’s $900 million write-down of African debt, to our joint projects to fight hunger and poverty in Honduras, Ghana, Mozambique.  But there’s so much more we can do together.

As I said for all your accomplishments the most significant among them in my view is that you’ve shown that countries do not have to engage in the false choice between development and democracy.  Great democracies like yours and mine should be promoting democratic values around the world.  And as the leader of the global south, there are situations where you have considerably more credibility and different opportunities to do that than we do or any other country whether it’s in your own neighborhood or far away.  The transitions in North Africa, you can play a positive role.

That's why we look to you to recognize the difference between undue interference in other nations’ affairs and deepening democracy and human rights when they’re under attack.

On all these great issues between us -- from trade and investment to energy to human rights -- we’ll have our disagreements.  All countries do no matter how close they are.  But I want you to know, whether we disagree, we start from a position of respect. 

The things that brings me to the fourth point -- ultimately, all the deepest and strongest international ties, relationships, rest upon a foundation of trust, on seeing each other for who we are:  the good and the bad.  Warts and all.  And the most consequential way to establish that trust is not just a relationship between leaders increasing, but to deepen people-to-people ties.  That’s how we each build constituencies in one another’s countries for this partnership.  And that’s what sustains us when disagreements between our governments exist -- and they will. 

And so we need to keep tapping our people’s shared passion for innovation and education and democracy.  Both our societies have recognized that the future will go to the most innovative, best-educated populations in the world.

My wife, who’s with me, is a full-time educator as Second Lady.  She teaches 15 credits a semester at one of our community colleges.  She has an expression; she says, “Any country that out-educates us will out-compete us.”  That’s why President Obama has proposed the 100,000 Strong Initiative to welcome 100,000 students from the Americas to the United States to study at U.S. universities and send an equal number throughout the region. 

That’s why your President has launched Brazil’s “Science Without Borders” initiative.  Five thousand of your talented young students today, Brazilian students, are studying science, technology, engineering, and math at U.S. universities in 46 of our states.  And we look forward to receiving thousands more.

And, of course, the lifeblood of people-to-people ties is access to one another’s shores for tourists, businessmen, students, families.  That’s why we’ve launched the “consular surge” to help Brazilians get tourist visas faster than ever before, cutting wait times for tourist visas, as we have done, from 14 weeks to two days.  That’s why we’ve opened two new consulates in your country. 

History has delivered as both to a moment where the possibilities are immense.  And as every student of history knows, these moments have occurred before in human history, but they don’t last very long.  We either take advantage of them or they pass us by. 

I am absolutely confident together we can seize this moment and take some of the tough decisions on the economy, energy, global affairs.  It will be worth it, because words alone don’t bring about a new era in our relationship; we have to work at it.  And we have a lot of work to do.

So I’m here today to say, we’re ready.  I believe the wind is at both our backs.  The best days of this partnership are on the rise and they’re ahead of us.  Both our countries are countries of possibilities.  So let’s go find them together.  Let’s go explore them. 

May God bless you all.  May God bless the Brazilian people and may God protect our troops.  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)

END
12:50 P.M. (Local)

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Vice President Biden Visits Trinidad and Tobago

Megan Slack
Megan Slack
May 29, 2013
11:40 AM EST

Watch this video on YouTube

After stopping in Colombia on his three-country trip to reinforce partnerships in the Americas, Vice President Biden traveled to Trinidad and Tobago, where he met with President Carmona and Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar and participated in a meeting and working lunch with a number of other Caribbean leaders.

In that series of meetings, leaders discussed regional efforts to promote economic growth, citizen security and energy, among other issues.

“I'm here because President Obama wanted me to have an opportunity to dialogue with all of you and because our country is deeply invested and wants to become more deeply invested in a partnership with all the nations of the Caribbean,” the Vice President explained.

Our search for growth, jobs and affordable supplies of energy, our fight against transnational crime, and the protection of our climate and our environment -- all of these issues, all of these issues have no respect for borders and they affect all of our borders. They directly affect the people of my country and each and every one of yours.

Related Topics: Trade and Exports, Global Economy, Western Hemisphere

A 60 Second Recap: The Vice President and Dr. Biden in Trinidad

May 29, 2013 | 1:01 | Public Domain

Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden visit Trinidad & Tobago to meet with Caribbean leaders during their trip to South America.

Download mp4 (21MB)

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
May 28, 2013

Remarks to the Press by Vice President Joe Biden in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

REMARKS BY VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN,
IN STATEMENT TO THE PRESS

Diplomatic Center
Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

 

3:47 P.M. AST

VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Thank you very much.  Good afternoon, everyone.  Mr. President, Madam Prime Minister, distinguished leaders of Caribbean countries, I want to thank you all -- and I mean all of you -- for what for me was a very fruitful and good meeting.  I learned a great deal, and I've also learned we have a lot more work to do together.

And I want to thank all the leaders who traveled here.  Madam Prime Minister, you hosted this.  We contacted you on a relatively short notice -- all of you -- to see if you’d be willing -- President Obama asked me if I had an opportunity whether I'd have a chance to meet with each of you, and I thank you for your hospitality and doing it on such short notice.

I'm here because President Obama wanted me to have an opportunity to dialogue with all of you and because our country is deeply invested and wants to become more deeply invested in a partnership with all the nations of the Caribbean.

Our search for growth, jobs and affordable supplies of energy, our fight against transnational crime, and the protection of our climate and our environment -- all of these issues, all of these issues have no respect for borders and they affect all of our borders.  They directly affect the people of my country and each and every one of yours.

Economically, the President and I are aware that island nations face special difficulties.  The cost of doing business can be higher.  Goods are more expensive.  And in a globalized world, everything can become more attenuated.  And so through Caribbean Basin Initiative, we've eliminated tariffs on 85 percent of your goods, and now we're looking for additional ways -- and you’ve discussed some of them with me today -- to help create growth and diversity in the economies within the Caribbean.

Today I will sign, on behalf of my country, a trade and investment framework agreement with the Caribbean community that will give us all a vehicle -- a vehicle to overcome special, specific, practical barriers to trade and investment, and accommodate those changes as rapidly as possible. 

Our goal is not simply growth, but it’s growth that reaches everybody.  And we spoke today about everything from anti-poverty measures, to support for small businesses, to greater opportunities and protections for all citizens, regardless of their gender and regardless of their sexual orientation.  And we'll continue to invest with you on education and innovation. 

We had a significant discussion at lunch with a bunch of us -- it was impromptu but somewhat detailed about the strategies that exist in your countries and mine to improve educational access, include educational excellence and access to higher education.  Because that’s how, as my wife, who is with me -- not here, but here today I believe visited a school -- she’s on this trip with me.  She’s a full-time professor at a community college as the Second Lady.  And she has an expression -- she says, any country that out-educates you will out-compete you.  Any country that out-educates you will out-compete you.  So it’s ultimately about having the best education, best educated populaces we can have.

And we're going to continue to invest in education and innovation.  And I think we discussed again today some novel arenas in which we can do more than we're doing now, because that's how we'll succeed in the 21st century. 

Through the Caribbean Idea Marketplace competition, we're connecting diaspora business leaders in the United States in particular with Caribbean entrepreneurs.  And as we work to meet President Obama’s challenge, we welcome 100,000 -- 100,000 -- students from across the Americas, and we hope to send the same number of American students to the rest of the Americas.  We're working very hard to include more students throughout the Caribbean.

We also spoke today about how to lower costs of energy and increase -- increase -- the share that comes from renewable energy.  There’s probably no group of nations better situated to take advantage of renewable energy possibilities than here in the Caribbean.  And we know that many Caribbean nations pay three times more for energy than we do in the United States of America.  The United States and many other countries are working together on this, looking to invest in connected regional grids to create economies of scale and renewable energy -- economies of scale that are driven by renewable energy.

Last week, we signed an MOU with Trinidad and Tobago to launch a renewable energy research center here in Trinidad and Tobago for the Caribbean writ large.  And we hope to promote clean technologies and energy efficiencies throughout the Caribbean. 

We also discussed citizen security, and I made clear the U.S. approaches this as a shared responsibility.  For the press I would say what my colleagues know, I’ve spent a considerable portion of my public life as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and Foreign Relations Committee in my years in the United States Senate, fashioning the initiative we had in the ‘80s and the ‘90s with regard to Central Command and its engagement in the Caribbean, as well as Plan Colombia that impacts on -- impacted on the Caribbean at the time -- positively, I might add.

And in the process of that, we discussed approaches that need to be taken and the desire -- I’ll say it bluntly -- the desire for more input, more resources from the United States, because the truth is, ladies and gentlemen, we were so successful collectively in the decades of the ‘80s and ‘90s that the preferred route to get to the United States from South America of cocaine and some heroin and other products was no longer through the Caribbean but through the isthmus and up through Central America.

And now, because of the significant initiatives we have with our Central American friends, the concern is legitimately shared by many that they may -- it may move back into the Caribbean in a greater scale than exists now.  And toward that end, we’ve invested more than $30 billion under this administration to reduce drug -- demands for drugs in my country, which would also -- is part of our responsibility and our obligation.

We know that as other nations in the hemisphere make strides against drug trafficking, the threat as I said may increasingly shift back toward the Caribbean.  That’s why in 2009, we launched the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.  And that’s why, even in a time of tight budgets in my country, we’re increasing our investment, which already stands at over $200 million.

And even as we gather today, our law enforcement agencies are taking part in joint Tradewinds security exercises, hosted by St. Lucia, and also engaged in training exercises in specific countries as well.

In each of these areas -- economics, security, and energy -- the nations of the Caribbean will go further and faster when not only they work -- we work with you, but when they work together. 

You’ve already created, Mr. President, an initiative and an innovative model for regional cooperation by pooling risks to respond to global disasters to -- excuse me -- to natural disasters.  And therefore I think that the whole region is better equipped in the future to deal with these pending problems.

And finally, I want to emphasize that these relationships aren’t just about how our governments interact.  They're about people; they are -- who are constantly traveling between our respective countries; 3.6 million members of a hardworking, Caribbean diaspora call home the United States of America today.  And as a consequence, they send more than $8 billion in remittances back to their home countries in the Caribbean. 

But they're also part of the lifeblood and the dynamism of our communities and our country.  I believe in international relations, as in any relationship, it comes down to respect.  Do we respect one another?  And do we show respect?

For my country, that means reforming our immigration system so the 11 million -- 11 million -- undocumented men, women and many children, who came through no choice of their own, can come out of the shadows and be full participants in American life because they are already in many cases participating and contributing to the growth and prosperity of my country, but required to constantly live in fear and live in the shadows.

It’s about time, and the President and I have been calling for this for a long time, even back in the days when he was a senator and I was in the Senate, it’s about time they're afforded the dignity they deserve. 

And respecting your people who are living in my country is part of how we will show respect for you and for quite frankly all of the Americas.  But it’s not just 11 million people in the shadows from the Americas.  They're from all over the world.  They're from Ireland.  They're from Japan.  They're from Africa.  And it’s about time -- it’s about time we reform the system and afford them the dignity they deserve.

So I want to thank you all for the important discussion, at least important to me, and the very warm welcome, but more importantly the frankness and directness we were able to engage in.  I hope you felt as I did that it was completely open, completely frank and completely straightforward -- even where we disagreed.  That's how friends should treat friends, and we need you.  We need you.  And I hope you’ll find a place in your hearts, in your economies, in your quest for energy, in your quest for societalization of your economies that we can play a part with you.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, again, let me conclude, Madam Prime Minister, by thanking you for the incredible hospitality of your government and the people of Trinidad and Tobago.  And I’ll only say it’s good to be back in Trinidad and Tobago, but I have one regret, but it’s good news for you, I can't stay.  (Laughter.)  I would like very much to stay.

So I’m asking you -- I’m heading to Brazil for several days in our initiatives throughout all of the Americas, I’m asking each of you heads of state, would you please write a note to President Obama telling him it’s critical that I come back to Trinidad and Tobago and then visit each of your islands to stay for at least a couple of weeks.  (Applause.)  I would like very much to do that.  Anyway, thank you for your hospitality.  We have a lot of work to do, and we are anxious to work with you.  Thank you.

END
4:00 P.M. AST

Vice President Biden Travels to Colombia

Megan Slack
Megan Slack
May 28, 2013
10:45 AM EST

Marking his fourth visit to the region since taking office, Vice President Biden left D.C. on Sunday for a trip to Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Brazil. Following President Obama’s recent visit to Mexico and Costa Rica, the trip is the latest demonstration of the United States’ commitment to reinforcing partnerships in the Americas.

The Vice President began his trip in Bogota, where he held a bilateral meeting with President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, and highlighted the country’s remarkable progress on security issues as well as the importance of our economic relationship.

Since our free trade agreement went into effect a little over one year ago, "United States exports to Colombia are up 20 percent,” the Vice President said.

Related Topics: Trade and Exports, Western Hemisphere , Foreign Policy

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
May 24, 2013

Readout of Vice President Biden’s Call with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki

Vice President Biden spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki today.  Discussion focused on Syria, and both leaders agreed on the importance of a negotiated end to the conflict.  The Vice President expressed concern about the security situation in Iraq and pledged continued U.S. support for Iraq in its fight against terrorism.   The Vice President also spoke about the importance of outreach to leaders across the political spectrum.  Both leaders expressed their ongoing commitment to deepening the U.S.-Iraq strategic partnership, as outlined in the Strategic Framework Agreement. 

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
May 24, 2013

Readout of Vice President Biden’s Calls with Iraqi Kurdistan President Masud Barzani and Iraqi Council of Representatives Speaker Osama Nujayfi

Vice President Biden spoke with Iraqi Kurdistan President Masud Barzani and Iraqi Council of Representatives Speaker Osama Nujayfi yesterday, Thursday, May 23rd.  With President Barzani, the Vice President commended the return of Kurdish ministers and parliamentarians to Baghdad, and stressed the importance of engagement by all sides to seek solutions to contentious issues under the Iraqi Constitution.  With Speaker Nujayfi, the Vice President expressed concern about the security situation in Iraq, stressing the need for all of Iraq’s political leadership to unequivocally renounce violence and seek to marginalize extremists.  All three leaders reaffirmed the importance of the U.S.-Iraq strategic partnership. 

West Wing Week: 05/24/13 or “Justice for Everybody”

Adam Garber
Adam Garber
May 24, 2013
12:00 AM EST

This week, the President continued his Jobs & Opportunity tour, this time highlighting bold new efforts in education and manufacturing in Baltimore, gave the commencement address at Morehouse College, invited the President of Myanmar, eight immigration reform advocates and DREAMers themselves, and Gershwin Prize winner Carole King and friends to the White House, and delivered a major counter-terrorism speech at the National Defense University. 

Related Topics: Inside the White House, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania

West Wing Week: 05/24/13 or “Justice for Everybody”

May 23, 2013 | 05:38 | Public Domain

This week, the President continued his Jobs & Opportunity tour, this time highlighting bold new efforts in education and manufacturing in Baltimore, gave the commencement address at Morehouse College, invited the President of Myanmar, eight immigration reform advocates and DREAMers themselves, and Gershwin Prize winner Carol King and friends to the White House, and delivered a major counter-terrorism speech at the National Defense University.

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The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
May 22, 2013

Background Conference Call with Senior Administration Officials on Vice President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden's Trip to Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil

Via Teleconference

3:37 P.M. EDT

MS. TROTTER:  Thanks, everyone, for joining today’s call.  Our hope is to provide you with a more detailed sense of the Vice President and Dr. Biden’s schedule and goals during their trip next week to Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil.

This call will be on background and our speakers are happy to take questions after they give some brief opening statements at the top.  We’d like to keep this call as focused on the trip as much as possible and just remind everyone it’s one question per person. 

With that I will turn it over to our first official who you can quote as a senior administration official.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thanks, everyone, for joining the call.  As you all know as this point, Vice President Biden will be making his fourth trip to the region next week since he became Vice President.  And it follows on President Obama’s recent visit to Mexico and Costa Rica as our latest demonstration of the United States’ commitment to reinforcing our partnerships in the Americas. 

It will also be our latest demonstration of an approach to engagement from the beginning that has been based on mutual respect and shared responsibility. 

President Obama and Vice President Biden right from the outset of their time in office have made clear their view that the Americas represent a region of opportunity for the United States, and they're looking at the period that we’ve entered now as a time to really ramp up our engagement in the hemisphere in every part of the hemisphere, in Mexico, in Central America, the Caribbean and South America.  And you will see a number of visits in the coming months, most immediately President Piñera of Chile and President Humala of Peru, and further travel by the Vice President to the region later in the year as well.

When we look to the Americas, we see a region that has reduced poverty by over 50 percent in the last decade and has seen tens of millions of people join the middle class.  And I said earlier that we look at this as a region of opportunity, and it’s in no small part because the countries of the region are among our most important trading partners, and that's only becoming more true as time goes on.  Our economies, our societies, our people are becoming more and more connected.

The Vice President gave remarks on May 8th to the Conference of the Americas at the State Department where he laid out the vision and the agenda for the administration’s approach to the hemisphere in the second term.  And his sort of fundamental, underlying point was that our objective is to work with our partners across the hemisphere to promote a hemisphere that's middle class, secure and democratic.  And that's the message that he’s going to be carrying with him when he goes on this trip next week.

Now, the countries that the Vice President is going to visit are all very different.  But they each have governments that share our democratic values, that are focused on delivering for their citizens and on working as partners to advance common interests across the region and around the world.  The countries of the Americas, including Colombia and Brazil, are playing an increasingly large and important role in global affairs, and that's just one more reason for why the hemisphere and the region are so important to U.S. interests.

So before going to your questions, I just want to take a minute to talk through the specifics of the Vice President’s itinerary and the purposes of each of the stops along the way.  So he will depart Sunday for Bogota and will begin his trip in Colombia.  On Monday, he’ll have the opportunity to meet with President Santos.  And his visit to Bogota will be a chance to reaffirm the strength of our relationship with one of our most important partners in the Americas.  It will allow us to highlight the remarkable progress on security in Colombia, both our support for President Santos’s efforts to bring an end to conflict in the Americas.

The Vice President last was in Colombia in 2000, so he will personally get to see the distance that Colombia has traveled over the last 13 years.  He'll also have a chance to meet with people and business leaders who will demonstrate firsthand to him the importance of our commercial relationships in the years since our free trade agreement came into force.  

In Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday, the Vice President will meet with President Carmona and Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar and participate in a meeting and working lunch with a number of other Caribbean leaders who have been invited by Trinidad and Tobago to a regional meeting with the Vice President.

And in that series of meetings, we anticipate good discussions on regional efforts to promote economic growth; on cooperation around citizen security; on energy issues, and other issues that are high on the priority list of our partners across the Caribbean.

Then on Wednesday, in Brazil, the Vice President will visit Rio de Janeiro, where he will have a public speaking event to help frame our view of Brazil at a strategic partner of the United States, and the trajectory of the U.S.-Brazil partnership as we head into the future.  He will also tour a Petrobras site and discuss our energy cooperation, meeting with Petrobras officials and Brazilian officials to discuss issues related to the future of energy, both in Brazil and the United States and the global energy picture.  And he will also have the opportunity to discuss with local leaders issues around security and social inclusion.

And then in Brasilia, on Friday, the Vice President will meet with President Rousseff and with Vice President Temer, and have a chance to talk about the architecture of the partnership that we’ve built together over the last four years, and then get down to the specifics in terms of the bilateral and global agenda that our two countries share moving forward.

It's our perspective that we've already accomplished a significant amount with Brazil, but we think there's much more that we can do together to promote the common interest and common values that we share.

So that gives you I think a lay-down of the trip over the course of next week, and as sense of the context in which it's taking place and the main purposes.  And with that, we -- my colleague and I would be happy to take your questions. 

Q    I wanted to ask -- as you guys well know, President Xi of China is going to be right on the heels of Vice President Biden, particularly in Trinidad, but doing his own Latin American tour.  And the Chinese tend to show up with a lot of deliverables, whether it's financing for a stadium or expanding financing for ports or roadways or whatever.  What kind of deliverables does Vice President Biden bring to the region?  Is there any concern that the Chinese showing up a few days later and perhaps making a lot of announcements about new investment in the region might undercut the perception of U.S. commitment to Latin America? 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I'll go ahead and address that question.  So, first of all, we don't really see ourselves as being in competition with any particular actor in the Americas.  There is of course a natural commercial competition that exists across the board in all countries. 

And we're very pleased with the type of trade that we engage in throughout the Americas, a very diversified level of -- type of trade.  It's a trade that emphasizes the value-added products from many countries throughout the region.  So we're content on that -- and we're moving in a good direction.  We do of course want to promote commercial growth and economic growth throughout.  And that's been a big theme of this administration in its relations with the Americas.

With respect to our cooperation in the Caribbean, we have a very strong level of cooperation regarding energy, regarding the environment, regarding sustainable growth and economic growth and regarding citizen security.  And these are all areas that have been signaled to us by our partners in the Caribbean as being very important to them.  And we're very pleased to be able to continue that, that high level of cooperation.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  And just to add to what my colleague said, we will have specific steps forward in many of those areas that we'll discuss with our partners in the Caribbean on trade, on energy, on citizen security -- but we don't want to get ahead of ourselves here today in terms of what exactly it is that we'll be bringing to Trinidad and Tobago. 

And, more broadly, I would say that our focus on a hemisphere that is middle class, secure and democratic is a fundamentally inclusive concept that looks to every country across the region and, frankly, partners outside the region who are prepared to contribute to that vision because we want to see things move forward in this hemisphere in a positive sum way, where everybody agrees on the objectives and works towards them and nobody undermines them. 

Q    There are two topics right now in the Brazil-United States relationship -- two topics right now the Brazilian government that is -- one, is the purchase of military airplanes in which an American company, Boeing, is interested.  And this is a $5,000 -- million-dollar deal.  And another one is visa waiver problems for tourists, for Brazilian tourists able to go to the United States without a visa.  So I was wondering if that is going to be one of the topics in Vice President Biden's visit to Brazil.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  So I would say, first of all, the commercial relationship, the trade relationship with Brazil is going to be an important element not only of Vice President Biden's trip, but in our interaction with Brazil throughout.  It has certainly been a big topic that has been raised by the Brazilian government in the last several years. 

With respect to the FX-2 fighter competition, the United States government is fully committed to the technology transfer package that contained in the Boeing F-18 offer.  I should say at the outset, we think it's the best product at the best price.  We've been continuously engaging with the Brazilian government and supporting this effort, which we think is going to be not only important in itself with respect to Brazil's security objectives, but also as a way to foster good cooperation between Boeing, one of the leading aerospace companies, and Brazilian counterparts to create thousands of jobs in both countries.  So in that respect, I think we're looking forward to discussing that.

With respect to the visa waiver issue, the United States and Brazil have a structured dialogue to talk about progress towards that objective.  We also have interim measures such as global entry and other efforts intended to speed, to facilitate travel between the United States and Brazil.  But I'd say the most important single confirmation of our commitment to speeding and facilitating travel is the work that we've done to reduce these waiting times for visas, which has been a spectacular reduction and can now be done within just a few days as opposed to several weeks, as was the case in the past.  And, as a result, travel in both directions have increased, but especially travel from Brazil to the United States has increased dramatically. 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  And just to underscore that, since the beginning of last year, the start of 2012, we have more than doubled our consular staff in Brazil.  And even though demand is going up for visas to the United States, our wait times have dropped from 14 weeks to two days.  So it shows the level of commitment that the United States has to ease the process by which Brazilians are able to travel to the United States for a range of purposes.

And on the issue of visa waiver and Global Entry and other things, as my colleague said, we will continue to discuss this intensively with the Brazilian government, because our fundamental objective is taking all the considerations into account to facilitate as much travel -- lawful travel, commerce, tourism and the like between Brazil and the United States.  And we think what we've done so far has been pretty impressive; we want to build on it. 

Q    Thanks for the opportunity for to talk to you.  You have said that the commercial relationship will be -- the commercial aspects.  I'd like to talk about the political aspects a little bit, especially concerning the support from the -- U.S. support for permanent seat in the Security Council, which is something that Brazil aspires, and the U.S. has never given it to Brazil.  Now, at least, Dilma will come as a state guest in a state visit.  And the political support to Brazil seems to be increasing, but I wonder if this particular aspect of the Security Council will be in the agenda?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  So I'm sure that there's going to be a broad range of multilateral architecture issues that are going to be on the agenda and that are going to be about the work that we're doing at the multilateral level -- not just at the U.N., but at the Organization of American States, at the G20, and at the U.N. Human Rights Council.  So there's going to be a broad discussion about international architecture. 

Certainly, as we've said, we appreciate Brazil's aspiration to become a permanent member of the Security Council, and we think -- we've said this before -- that the long-term viability of the U.N. Security Council depends on the Council reflecting the world of the 21st century.  We’ve been very clear in that respect.  We're very committed to a serious and deliberate U.N. Security Council reform, working with other member states to improve the ability of the Security Council to carry out its mandate and meet the challenges that we're facing together in this century.

Q    Thank you.

Q    Hello?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yes, go ahead.

Q    Yes.  On immigration please.  My question is will Vice President Joe Biden promote the American health care industry, especially cancer research in Latin America by sharing the great accomplishments of (inaudible) St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital?  Well, mainly my primary question is, will Vice President Joe Biden promote America's health care industry with Latin America?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I'm sorry, could you repeat the question?  It just didn’t come through very clearly.

Q    Will Vice President Joe Biden promote America's health care industry, especially cancer research to Latin America?  And especially how we're doing great accomplishments here in the United States regarding St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital (inaudible)?  Will the Vice President promote our health care industry?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Certainly.  I should say that health care is one of the issues that is an important -- a particularly important issue in the Americas with the expansion of the middle class.

What's very clear is that this is one of the most important phenomena in the Americas and one of the reasons why the United States is very involved.  Because as the middle classes emerge, they're going to be more interested in having access to functional and effective public services, including health care,  I would say in general terms, this is an area where we’re certainly very open to continuing our collaboration.

In both Colombia but especially in Brazil, we’ve had very active collaboration between the Department of Health and Human Services and their counterparts, and this is something that’s going to continue.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  And just to add to what my colleague said, I think science, technology, and innovation are incredibly central features of U.S. engagement across the hemisphere.  It’s something President Rousseff is particularly interested in driving in Brazil, and so deepening the U.S.-Brazil partnership in this space. 

But beyond Brazil, in many other countries in the region as well, we view this as an area where the United States has a lot to offer and it will certainly be the sort of thing that the Vice President raises in the various stops of his visit.

MS. TROTTER:  All right, we’re going to take one more question.

Q    My question has to do with the war on drugs, drug strategy, the new strategy that has been billed on this part of the trip, Colombia, a very important ally in this fight in Brazil, one of the main players in the region.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  So your question is about the new drug strategy?

Q    Yes, and how it’s going to play into the visit.  You have Colombia, a major producer; you have Brazil, a transitional country and a very important market; and you have the Caribbean -- Trinidad and Tobago. 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I think we should start this by saying, number one, we have a very good counternarcotics and law enforcement relationship throughout the Americas.  We expect that to continue.  We’ve had that indicated to us both in the meetings that the President had in Mexico and Central America and the meetings since then and what we expect to see during the Vice President’s trip as well.

I think what is very clear is that there are no simple solutions.  All sides are recognizing that this is a matter of shared responsibility and shared action.  And what we’re seeing is an evolution where countries are both transit countries, some production countries, as well as consumer countries.  So there’s no one country that fits into a particular category on its own.

We’ve had a very ample level of cooperation obviously in Colombia, which has seen impressive turnarounds in security postures due largely to the work of successive Colombian administrations to put citizen security at the front of their agenda and to dedicate their resources and policies to bring that about.

In the case of Brazil, we have a very strong counternarcotics cooperation -- level of cooperation, as well.  In both cases, we have been very focused on demand reduction.  In the case of the United States, as you mentioned there was a new strategy that was rolled out by the Office of National Drug Policy, and that strategy, which I recommend people look at, emphasizes demand reduction, to which the United States has dedicated $30 billion over the last three years, and alternative resolutions for people who should not be incarcerated for nonviolent crimes.

In other words, these are all issues that we’ve seen indicated a lot of interest from our partners in the Americas and an area where we expect to continue to collaborate closely.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  And so just to add to that, citizen security is going to be an important feature of the agenda, though it will not be the dominant feature of the agenda.

Economic growth, energy cooperation, partnership on regional and global issues -- it’s going to be broad-ranging agenda.

But within that context in both Colombia and in the Caribbean, we have very deep security partnerships.  The Caribbean Basin Security Initiative will be a significant topic of conversation in Trinidad and Tobago.  Our ongoing cooperation with the Colombians on the work they're doing will be a topic.  And then the work we’re doing together with Brazil that my colleague referenced will obviously come up in the meetings with the President and the Vice President.

So we feel like the steps that we’ve taken on a multi-pronged approach to citizen security and to dealing with the issue of drug trafficking and drug consumption both at home and throughout the region that we are pursuing the right course, and we’re going to look to continue and deepen the cooperation that we have with each of the countries we’re visiting.

MS. TROTTER:  All right, thanks, everyone, very much for joining the call.  That's it.

END
4:00 P.M. EDT