Speeches Shim
Administrator Green will travel to Colombia July 14 - July 18. The Administrator will go to the Colombian border with Venezuela to visit U.S.-supported health clinics, and meet with newly arrived Venezuelans, thousands of whom are crossing into Colombia every day. While in Colombia, he will also visit USAID-funded projects that support rural development and licit economic opportunities that promote a sustainable, inclusive peace.
The Administrator will also travel to Bogota, where he will meet with senior Colombian officials to discuss U.S.-funded development initiatives, address the Concordia Americas Summit, and speak to Members of the Colombian Congress.
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Well, I think President Trump and Vice President Pence have been very clear in their support for freedom in the hemisphere, the importance of human rights, the importance of democracy. So, we've simply been taking their message everywhere that we go. You know, I'm a believer. This is what I believe in. This is natural to me. This is, I think, is core to our mission. Among other things, we believe in citizen-responsive, citizen-centered governance is the key to be able to rise, is the key to being able to grow economically.
First off, the relationship, as I see it, between the U.S. and Colombia, as you just heard and the Chargé is absolutely right, there is no more important relationship in this hemisphere. I think the U.S.-Colombia relationship is historic. I think it is vitally important today, and I think it will be just as important in the years ahead. It will change and evolve, and that's good. I think that obviously there is work to be done here, but there is also work to be done here that we can do with Colombia elsewhere. I like to refer to it as "force projection in development." And I just got done speaking to a number of new members of Congress, and that's part of what I talked to them about, was to challenge them that we need to partner more closely for the work that needs to be done throughout the hemisphere. The U.S. and USAID can talk about things all we want to; Colombia is proof of model. They can show what can be done with tough reforms, tough choices, and the kinds of things that they have been doing.
My friends, though I come from the United States, as I look around me, I see so much that is friendly and familiar. Our countries may sit more than 4,200 kilometers apart border to border, but in every important way you are so very close, joined together in heritage, values, and most importantly their hopes for the future. Colombians have helped shape the very fabric of American society. When U.S. students study literature, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Gabo, is assigned reading. The generation of my countrymen has grown up watching John Leguizamo on stage, listening to Shakira on the radio, and seeing Sofia Vergara on T.V.
Today, U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Mark Green met with Colombian President-elect Ivan Duque in Bogota. Administrator Green congratulated the President-elect on his recent election victory, and reaffirmed USAID's commitment to its strong partnership with Colombia.
We're going to move on to the next discussion and what I think will be an incredibly important conversation. We are honored today to be joined by the administrator of USAID, Mark Green.
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