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Skriven 2007-03-10 23:31:14 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (070310) for Sat, 2007 Mar 10
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President's Radio Address
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary March 10, 2007

President's Radio Address

˙˙President's Radio Address
˙ Audio ˙˙En Espa_

˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: President's Trip to Latin America

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Today, Laura and I are in Latin America, where
we are visiting five countries: Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala, and
Mexico. These countries are part of a region that has made great strides
toward freedom and prosperity in the past three decades. They have raised
up new democracies. And they have undertaken fiscal policies that have
brought stability to their economies.

Yet despite the progress we have seen, many citizens in our hemisphere
remain trapped in poverty and shut off from the promise of this new
century. Nearly one out of every four people in Latin America lives on less
than $2 a day. Many children never finish grade school. Many mothers never
see a doctor. The fact is that tens of millions of our brothers and sisters
to the South have yet to see improvements in their daily lives. And this
has led some to question the value of democracy.

Archives

Radio Address: 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001

Radio Interviews: 2006 2005 2004 Our Nation has a vital interest in helping
the young democracies in our neighborhood succeed. When our neighbors
prosper, they create more vibrant markets for our goods and services. When
our neighbors have a hopeful future in their own countries, they can find
work at home and are less likely to migrate to our country illegally. And
when our neighbors feel the blessings of liberty in their daily lives, the
appeal of radicalism declines, and our hemisphere becomes more secure.

The United States is doing its part to help our neighbors in Latin America
build a better life for themselves and their families. We are helping these
young democracies make their governments more fair, effective, and
transparent. We are supporting their efforts to meet the basic needs of
their citizens -- like education, health care, and housing. And we are
increasing opportunity for all by relieving debt, opening up trade, and
encouraging reforms that will build market economies, where people can
start from nothing and rise as far as their talents and hard work can take
them.

On Monday, I will meet a Guatemalan citizen who has experienced the power
of open trade and free economies. His name is Mariano Can . Twenty years
ago, he was an indigenous farmer whose land provided barely enough corn and
beans to feed his family. No one in his family had ever been to college,
and most of the people in his village never got past the sixth grade. And
his own children's prospects for prosperity looked just as bleak.

Mariano was determined to do better for his family. So he organized an
association of small farmers called Labradores Mayas. He persuaded his
fellow farmers to switch their crops to vegetables they could sell overseas
-- high-value crops like lettuce, carrots, and celery. Soon they were
selling to big companies like Wal-Mart Central America. Today, the business
he helped establish is thriving, and it supports more than a thousand jobs.
It also has supported something else: a college education for Mariano's
son.

Mariano is showing what the people of Latin America can accomplish when
they are given a chance. We must help others like him gain the opportunity
to build a better life for their families. The generosity of the American
people is helping our neighbors in Latin America build free and vibrant
economies. By doing so, we will increase living standards for all our
citizens, strengthen democracy in our hemisphere, and advance the cause of
peace.

Thank you for listening.

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