THE VICE PRESIDENT: Secretary General Almagro, President Vizcarra,
Presidents, Prime Ministers, and leaders from across the Western
Hemisphere — it is my great honor to join you today, as Vice President
of the United States of America, at the 8th Summit of the Americas.
And I bring greetings and great respect to each of you from the 45th
President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump.
As you are all well aware, last night, at President Trump’s
direction, the United States, together with our allies France and the
United Kingdom, launched precision strikes to cripple Syrian dictator
Bashar al Assad’s chemical weapons program.
We acted in response to Assad’s horrific use of chemical weapons on
his own citizens one week ago — an attack that horrified and shocked the
conscience of the world. The United States assesses that the Syrian
regime was responsible for this attack, and that chlorine and possibly
nerve agents were used.
As President Trump said, these were “crimes of a monster.” And
together with our allies, we took action in the wake of that “barbarism
and brutality.” And I’m pleased to report that the strike by the United
States, UK, and French forces was effective, overwhelming, and
successful.
We delivered a clear and unambiguous message to the Syrian regime:
The United States and our allies will not tolerate the use of chemical
weapons against innocent men, women, and children; and we are prepared
to deter any further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime.
The United States and our allies will continue to integrate all
instruments of our national power in this moment. And as President
Trump made clear, our nation is ready to “sustain this response until
the Syrian regime [abandons] the use of prohibited chemical agents.”
Assad and his patrons would do well not to test our resolve or the
capabilities of the Armed Forces of the United States.
The President also sent a message to the two nations that are most
responsible for “supporting, equipping, and financing the criminal Assad
regime” — Russia and Iran.
Even now, Russia is deliberately spreading disinformation about
Assad’s heinous actions and even their own complicity in this crime.
But the horrific pictures of dead children, the videos of suffering
people prove what happened. Russia’s lies will crumble in the face of
truth. And as the President said to both Russia and Iran, nations can
be judged by the company they keep.
Allow me to take a moment to thank the nations here who have already
offered their expressions of support for last night’s military action.
Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada and President Santos of Colombia and
others, we are grateful for your support. As President Santos said
earlier today in support of the actions to, in his words, “punish [the]
use of [chemical weapons] and seek their total elimination” — and we’re
grateful for that moral clarity.
But today, I call upon every nation in this hemisphere of freedom to
support this military action taken by the United States and our allies
and to support it publicly, and also to add to that your condemnation
expressed by nearly everyone here of Assad’s regime’s use of chemical
weapons. The civilized world must send a message of resolve and unity
that we will not accept such barbaric attacks now or ever.
With that, let me say, Mr. President, it is a great pleasure to be in
Lima, and it’s my great privilege to address this historic summit.
President Vizcarra, let me thank you, and congratulate Peru for hosting
this 8th Summit of the Americas.
Peru has done a magnificent job on the summit. And in fact, it has
inspired the United States to announce today that we will be submitting a
bid to host the 9th Summit of the Americas, three years from now, in
2021. And we’ll see if we can do just as well as Peru has done.
We gather today to continue a great work. Twenty-four years ago, the
nations of the Western Hemisphere came together in Miami, Florida, to
chart a new era for ourselves and our posterity. At that first Summit
of the Americas, we issued a Declaration of Principles, in which this
body agreed to work together as never before to advance the prosperity
and democratic values, as well as institutions and security in our
hemisphere.
The United States is proud to stand with free nations across this
hemisphere in pursuit of these noble goals. President Trump sent me to
South America last year to deliver our message of commitment to the
region. It’s a message I will deliver again when I visit Brazil next
month.
But under President Donald Trump, the United States will always put
the security and prosperity of America first. But America first does not
mean America alone. The United States has always cherished our
neighbors and friends across this region. Our nations are bound
together by geography, but also by history and by an enduring aspiration
for freedom.
Ours was always meant to be a hemisphere of freedom. As the charter
of the Organization of American States declares, “the historic mission
of America is to offer… a land of liberty.” And as President Trump has
said, the United States seeks “a future [in the Western hemisphere],” in
his words, “where the people of each country can live out their own
dreams.” From the very first day of our administration, we have also
taken decisive action to make this vision a reality.
Like the citizens of your nations, the people of the United States
seek a future of opportunity and prosperity. That’s why, in America,
I’m pleased to report to our friends and allies present that this
administration has been rolling back burdensome regulations in record
numbers, we’ve been unleashing our boundless natural resources, and
quite recently President Trump signed the largest tax cuts and tax
reform in American history.
And the results have been dramatic. Businesses large and small
across the United States have created nearly 3 million jobs.
Unemployment is at a 17-year low. Companies are investing in the United
States again. Confidence is back, and growth is back. A strong
America and a growing America is back.
Our President has also placed a renewed emphasis on trade
relationships that are fair and reciprocal. While the United States
trades nearly three times as much with our neighbors in the Western
Hemisphere as we do in China, we recognize that there is still
tremendous opportunity to forge stronger and more balanced trade
relationships across this region.
Our administration has already taken action to reach new deals and
update existing agreements, and we’re encouraged by the progress we’ve
mad. Last year, in Colombia, I announced that the United States will
allow Colombian Haas avocados into the U.S. market, while Colombia has
expanded access for U.S. rough rice.
And as we speak, I’m pleased to report the United States is working
very closely with Canada and Mexico to modernize the North American Free
Trade Agreement. We believe we are fairly close to a deal, and we’re
going to be working earnestly to make that a reality for all of our
nations.
Beyond trade, the United States will continue to share our traditions
of entrepreneurship throughout the region. I’m honored to be joined
today by Ivanka Trump, who is a great champion for women’s economic
empowerment all over the world. She helped organize our administration’s
new “2X Women’s Initiative.” And as Ivanka announced in Lima
yesterday, through this vital program, the United States will invest an
unprecedented $150 million to support women entrepreneurs throughout
Latin America.
These actions, we know, will strengthen the prosperity for the people
of the United States, and strengthen prosperity across this region.
But ultimately, as we gather today, we all recognize, with few
exceptions, that we cannot forget that security is the foundation of our
prosperity.
For despite our progress, as we gather here for this historic summit,
the challenges facing the Western Hemisphere remain. We see the gangs
and criminal syndicates that plague our cities and towns. We see the
illegal drugs that poison our children and tear families apart. We see a
flow of migrants fleeing hardship and oppression in their homelands.
And we see the migration of criminals, human traffickers, drug
traffickers, and even terrorists making their way across our borders.
In the category of terrorists, the United States actually refuses
entry to seven known or suspected terrorists every day — nearly 2,500 a
year are stopped. We have real challenges for security at our borders.
Just yesterday, we were reminded of the threats that we face when
Marxist narco-terrorists in Ecuador brutally killed two journalists and
their driver. And I extend the condolences and the prayers of the
American people to the victims and their families and the people of
Ecuador.
Under President Donald Trump, the United States is working hard to
confront these security challenges. We’re securing our borders,
enforcing our laws, removing dangerous drug dealers and violent
criminals from our streets as never before.
We’ve also taken significant steps to strengthen our partnerships
with nations across the wider region. Our efforts include the Caribbean
Basin Security Initiative to stop the flow of drugs, expanded security
collaboration with Mexico, security assistance to a wide array of
Central American countries. And be assured: We will continue to deepen
our security relationships with countries across the region in the years
ahead.
President Vizcarra, let me commend Peru for your ambitious agenda for
this summit: “Democratic Governance Against Corruption.” This is a
vitally important issue that bears upon the long-term prosperity as well
as the wellbeing of the people of this hemisphere, and I commend this
body’s agreement on the Lima Commitment earlier today.
Corruption emboldens vicious criminals and endangers public safety.
Corruption corrodes the foundations of democracy as well, and undermines
trust in government. For we know as corruption grows, freedom and
prosperity wither.
And as all freedom-loving nations know as well, the greatest
corruption of government is when the people lose their voice, their
vote, their freedom, and their basic human rights under the heavy hand
of dictatorship. And the free nations of this conference are right to
focus in renewed ways on ending dictatorship here in the New World.
As we speak, a tired communist regime continues to impoverish its
people and deny their most fundamental rights in Cuba. The Castro
regime has systematically sapped the wealth of a great nation and stolen
the lives of a proud people. Our administration has taken decisive
action to stand with the Cuban people, and stand up to their oppressors.
No longer will the United States fund Cuba’s military, security and
intelligence services — the core of that despotic regime. And the
United States will continue to support the Cuban people as they stand
and call for freedom.
But Cuba’s dictatorship has not only beset its own people, as we all
well know — with few exceptions in this room acknowledging that. Cuba’s
dictators have also sought to export their failed ideology across the
wider region. And as we speak, they are aiding and abetting the corrupt
dictatorship in Venezuela.
In Venezuela, as in Cuba, the tragedy of tyranny is on full display.
As this body knows well, Venezuela was one of our hemisphere’s richest
nations once, and not too long ago. It is now among the poorest.
Venezuela was also once a flourishing democracy. It has now collapsed
into dictatorship and tyranny.
Now let me be clear, the responsibility for the Venezuelan people’s
suffering can be laid at the feet of one man — Nicolas Maduro. He
promised his people he would restore prosperity, but delivered them only
deeper poverty. He promised them safety and security, but Venezuela is
now riven by chaos and rampant crime. Nicolas Maduro promised the
people of Venezuela renewed greatness, and he has only brought a nation
to its knees.
Just yesterday, I met with four courageous leaders of the Venezuelan
opposition — great defenders of democracy who have been forced to flee
their homeland or face Maduro’s wrath. They described to me how Maduro
has corroded Venezuela’s democracy and corrupted the upcoming election.
They also told me about the heartbreaking humanitarian crisis their
family, friends, and fellow Venezuelans now face. It’s heartbreaking to
think about.
I saw it firsthand when I visited Colombia last year along the border
of Venezuela. But today, nearly 9 out of 10 Venezuelans live in
grinding poverty. Venezuela’s grocery stores are all but empty. Food
and daily necessities are often impossible to find. Hospitals lack the
most basic medical services and supplies, putting lives at risk and
causing untold misery and death.
And every day, some 5,000 Venezuelans flee the land of their birth,
in the largest cross-border mass exodus in the history of our
hemisphere. Under the Maduro regime, Venezuela is essentially a failed
state. Failed states know no borders.
Venezuela’s ongoing collapse is already affecting economies across
the region. It’s giving drug traffickers and transnational criminal
organizations new opportunities to endanger our people.
President Trump has made it clear: The United States of America will
not stand idly by as Venezuela crumbles. Our administration has already
imposed strict financial sanctions on more than 50 current or former
senior Venezuelan officials. And three weeks ago, we cut off the
so-called “Petro” from the United States’ financial system.
Last month, we also announced that we are providing, through the
generosity of the American people, $2.5 million to help meet the needs
of vulnerable Venezuelans living in Colombia. And yesterday, it was my
privilege to announce that we’ll add nearly $16 million more dollars of
direct aid to assist Colombia’s efforts to come alongside those
Venezuelans.
To be clear, the United States and our allies and partners stand
ready to do more, much more, to directly support the long-suffering
Venezuelan people. But the world deserves to know that as the people of
Venezuela suffer, lacking basic humanitarian aid, Nicolas Maduro stands
in the way. Maduro stands today, refusing to allow humanitarian
assistance simply because he claims there is no humanitarian crisis, as
his people starve and die and flee.
I’ll never forget when my wife and I visited the border of Venezuela
in a visit to Colombia last year. We met a grandmother who had just
made the long journey with her five grandchildren out of their small
town in Venezuela. She told me, with tears in her eyes, how the poverty
had become so acute, her grandchildren had to stand in line at 5:00 in
the morning to get a ticket to buy a piece of bread at 5:00 in the
afternoon. And that was the sum total of sustenance that was available
to their family.
And today, we call on the Maduro regime to open up their country to
life-saving aid the Venezuelan people so desperately need. Allow me to
thank the many nations here who have already taken action to support the
Venezuelan people with assistance and aid — nearly two million that
have been displaced thus far. And the compassion and generosity of
nations across this region is inspiring to see.
Let me also thank all those that have stepped forward to join us to
rebuke and isolate the dictator Maduro and his brutal regime through
economic and diplomatic means. Costa Rica has refused to let
Venezuela’s Minister of Defense land on its territory, setting a
precedent for other nations to deny Venezuela official travel.
Canada has sanctioned more than 40 Venezuelan officials. Argentina
and Brazil led the effort to suspend Venezuela from Mercusor.
Panama designated more than 50 Venezuelan officials as high risks for money laundering and recalled its ambassador from Caracas.
And Peru withdrew Venezuela’s invitation to this summit. Mr.
President, that sent a powerful message that Maduro and dictatorship and
his despotism is not welcome here, and I commend you.
To all of you whose nations have taken action: Thank you for you stand. Thank you for your stand for freedom in our hemisphere.
But let me say on behalf of President Donald Trump: The United States
believes now is the time to do more, much more. Every free nation
gathered here must take stronger action to isolate the Maduro regime.
We must all stand with our brothers and sisters suffering in Venezuela.
And I can promise you, the United States will not rest. We will not
relent until democracy is restored in Venezuela and the Venezuelan
people reclaim their birthright of libertad.
And I believe with all of my heart, Mr. President, as I close, that
that day will come. For as Simón Bolívar declared, and I quote, “A
people that loves freedom will in the end be free.” And the people of
the New World love freedom, and have proved throughout the generations
the capacity to fight for it, to achieve it, to defend it.
This New World, from its very birth, was destined to be a hemisphere
of freedom. In the long annals of our shared history, names like
Bolívar, San Martín, and Martí stand shoulder to shoulder with
Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln as champions of freedom and great
defenders of the freedom — the freedom that each one of us are endowed
with by our Creator.
As we gather here, we have much work yet to do. So today, let us
rededicate ourselves that most cherished ideal. Let us strive with all
our strength to reach the day when freedom reigns in every nation across
the New World.
And as we go forward, let’s have faith — faith in the boundless
capacity of the people of the New World to advance the principles that
have always been the source of our greatness.
And let us have that other kind of faith. Remember to pray for
people that are struggling under the weight of tyranny, remembering, as
the Good Book says, that “where the spirit of the Lord is, there is
freedom.”
And with the courage of our citizens, with the conviction of the
leaders gathered here, and with God’s help, I know this New World will
prove, once more, that no force on Earth can overcome freedom.
Thank you. May God bless all the people and nations of this great
Western Hemisphere, and may God bless the United States of America.
(Applause.)
END
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-by-vice-president-pence-at-first-plenary-session-of-the-summit-of-the-americas/
