Former U.S. Ambassadors to Argentina
Ambassador Wayne's Speech
REMARKS BY AMBASSADOR WAYNE “U.S.-ARGENTINE RELATIONS” FOR FURP ALUMNI IN MENDOZA
August 16, 2007
I would like to thank Luis Rosales, President of the University Foundation of the River Plate -- just one of his many talents -- for inviting me to join you here today.
Luis told me how active the Mendoza chapter of FURP is and this is good news. The important work FURP has been doing for thirty years has had a significant impact on building mutual understanding. Thanks to FURP, Argentines have been traveling to Texas, Washington DC, Philadelphia and elsewhere over the years to study the American political system and experience first hand the American culture and society. What better way not only to destroy myths but also build bridges?
I really believe that, over the long term, the strength of our bilateral ties has as much if not more to do with the interaction of everyday people as with the actions or behavior of governments. After all, governments come and go; diplomats like me come and go; but the relationships built by individual people remain.
In recognition of that core fact, the US Embassy has worked very hard to strengthen people-to-people ties, with a special focus on reaching out to young people. Just today, here in Mendoza, I was pleased to accompany US Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings on her visit to the Godoy Cruz School and the AMICANA BNC. The Secretary is here on personal travel but wanted very much to learn more about Argentina’s educational system, to meet students and their teachers, and to exchange ideas with alumni of Embassy exchange and scholarship programs. As you know the Godoy Cruz school has strong ties to the US, as its first Director was one of the teachers President Sarmiento brought from the US to help strengthen education in Argentina. The Secretary’s own family has contributed to the long tradition of educational interchange between our two counties, as her daughter Mary is currently here in Mendoza studying.
The Embassy is also making a strong contribution to education in Argentina. We are investing significant resources (around a million dollars a year) in Argentina’s youth through cultural and academic exchanges, seminars, book donations, English teaching, and the Teacher Ambassador and Youth Ambassador programs. The flagship of our exchange effort, of course, is the Fulbright program, which Norma heads, and which celebrated its 50th anniversary in Argentina last year.
We are also trying to get out more to schools, orphanages, community libraries, drug treatment centers, homes for at-risk women and children, and other such institutions in the barrios of Buenos Aires to donate books, computers, school supplies and other needed materials. Just last week I visited a home for children from troubled families in Quilmes, and we set up a computer lab there so those kids will have a chance to broaden their view of the possibilities the world has to offer.
Our goal is to deepen our engagement with the community, and especially young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. We want to be engaged at all levels of society – to be good neighbors and to contribute in a very modest way. And we’re looking for partners and ideas on how we can increase people-to-people contacts. So if you have suggestions about where we can possibly make a difference, please let us know.
Now, turning for a moment to our relations with the Government of Argentina, I must say that our relationship is quite positive, punctuated from time to time by moments of drama. We maintain a very fluid dialogue with Argentina on a wide range of issues. And, although it may not seem like it sometimes from the news reports, on many of these issues, the U.S. and Argentina hold similar views. It is on the basis of this convergence of views and mutual interest that we are moving the bilateral relationship forward.
We have very good concrete and practical cooperation between our agencies in many areas, but in particular, on crime, illegal narcotics trafficking, and counter terrorism.
During Argentina’s two years on the UN Security Council, we worked closely together on many issues, including peacekeeping, UN reform, and nuclear proliferation. Today, Argentina is probably our closest partner in Latin America on non-proliferation issues.
In the region, we have jointly promoted democracy, including a multilateral peacekeeping mission in Haiti, where the Argentine forces have played an important role in building a functioning democracy and rebuilding an economy. We couldn’t have done it without Argentina.
We have strong commercial links between our two countries. There are 450 US companies in Argentina, and they employ 155,000 Argentines. Many of these US companies have a long history in Argentina (some of them just celebrated their 100th anniversary), and their CEOs are, in many cases, Argentines. In addition, many of them are practicing good corporate citizenship; they are actively involved in sponsoring social and educational projects in their communities that have helped improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of Argentines.
The US and Argentina have a broad range of cooperation in science, technology and the environment, as well as excellent bilateral research and collaboration in space between NASA and CONAE.
We have vibrant exchanges among lawyers and judges on best practices in judicial reform.
Increasing numbers of Americans are traveling to Argentina. Tourism is booming. Airlines are reporting 85% occupancy and we just expanded on our airline agreements.
So overall, we have a very positive agenda between our governments and civil societies and the level of cooperation is strong. Of course, there are going to be bumps in the road, but when there are differences, you address them in a mature way, in an atmosphere of mutual respect and open dialogue.
With that, I think I’ll stop here. I do want to thank you again for giving me the opportunity to talk with you today and I want to hear from you and hear your ideas on building strong people-to-people ties and building this relationship and look forward to a lively exchange.
Thank you.
