Assistant Secretary Nichols’ Remarks: “The Value of Partnership:  Building a More Democratic, Prosperous and Resilient Western Hemisphere”

Good afternoon.  It is good to be here.  And I am grateful to Richard, Jeff, and the Institute of the Americas for hosting this discussion.  

I am here in San Diego, far away from Washington, to share a vision for a U.S. foreign policy rooted in the value of partnership. 

I am here to talk about what Secretary Blinken calls the power and purpose of American diplomacy; to reengage, revitalize, and reimagine our greatest strategic asset:  America’s alliances and partnerships.

I am here to report on the progress we’ve made, through partnership, in tackling some of the hemisphere’s most pressing challenges and delivering for the American people. 

And I am here because I hope IOA will continue to be a key partner in the Administration’s objective to build an Americas that is more democratic, more equitable, more prosperous, and more resilient.

The IOA is an appropriate venue for this speech given our location just across the border from Mexico, which surpassed China as the top U.S. trading partner in the first six months of 2023.  

Last week, I was in Mexico City with the Secretary of State, Secretary of Homeland Security, and Attorney General to discuss concrete actions to improve security on both sides of the border, including to address trafficking of illicit drugs, firearms, and human trafficking and smuggling. 

This audience understands more than most how our security and prosperity directly depend on cooperation with our neighbors to the south.  

Challenges 

Let me start by stating the obvious:  the challenges facing the Western Hemisphere are too great for the U.S. government to tackle alone.

Democratic backsliding threatens the hard-won gains that made the Americas the second-most democratic region in the world.  Several democracies in face threats from within; governments seeking to subvert election results, erode independent judiciaries and free media, and crack down on civil society and political opposition. 

The region is still reeling from the economic fallout of the pandemic.  The IMF projects a meager 1.7% growth rate for Latin America and the Caribbean in 2023, a full percentage point below the global average.  

Persistent corruption exacerbates sluggish growth.  It discourages investment, stimies the efficient delivery of public services, and deepens inequities, leading people to lose faith in their governments.

Climate change continues to batter coastlines and threaten vulnerable communities across the hemisphere, including here in the United States.

Haiti faces a dire humanitarian crisis.  More than 2,000 killings and 1,000 kidnappings took place the first six months of this year; over five million Haitians urgently need humanitarian assistance; tens of thousands of Haitians face catastrophic hunger.

At the same time, the Western Hemisphere is experiencing the highest levels of displacement and regional migration in history.  More than seven million Venezuelans alone have been displaced since 2018.  

Authoritarian powers including Russia and the PRC seize on instability in the Americas to undermine democratic governance.  

Disinformation is one of the primary tools these powers use to challenge democratic systems across the Americas.  

The State Department released just two weeks ago a report on Beijing’s multibillion-dollar effort to construct a global information ecosystem that promotes propaganda and facilitates censorship and disinformation.  

In our hemisphere, authoritarian powers not only spread disinformation but also weaponize corruption and meddle in elections to gain advantage.

Partnership-Based Approach to Tackling Challenges

The sheer magnitude of these challenges illustrates the need for a partnership-based approach to U.S. foreign policy.

Allow me to share a few examples highlighting how this approach builds a Western Hemisphere that is more democratic, prosperous, equitable, and resilient.

Democracy

First, we are focused on working with partners to build up the Western Hemisphere as a stronghold of democracy.  

We partner with democratic actors and civil society in Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela to help citizens realize their aspirations for freedom in the face of repression and human rights violations.

Together with {countries in the region}, we stood up for election integrity in Guatemala and continue to work with civil society, the Organization of American States, and the international community to ensure the will of the Guatemalan people is respected.

We supported Peru as it stared down a coup attempt and denounced an attempt to subvert a constitutional transfer of power in Brazil.

At the regional level, we renewed our commitment to safeguarding democracy through the OAS.  Last month we announced the creation of a voluntary group of OAS member states, supported by 26 countries, that focuses on making good the promise of the Inter-American Democratic Charter; namely, that “the peoples of the Americas have a right to democracy and their governments an obligation to promote and defend it.”

The United States will actively support the efforts of this group to promote dialogue and cooperation to address democratic backsliding. 

Prosperity

As President Biden told the UN last month, the United States will defend democracy by ensuring “democracy delivers in ways that matter to people’s lives.”

And that is why the second example of our focus on partnership is an effort to promote inclusive and equitable economic growth.

Through the North American Leaders Summit, we are making North America even more competitive globally by deepening our economic cooperation, increasing investments, incentivizing innovation, and strengthening resilience in critical industries, such as semiconductors.   

In May, the United States convened Cabinet ministers from Canada and Mexico with industry and academic leaders for the first-ever trilateral semiconductor forum – a key commitment from the January 2023 North American Leaders Summit.   

Cabinet secretaries from all three countries engaged semiconductor industry executives and academic leaders on how best to increase the competitiveness of regional semiconductor manufacturing and enhance semiconductor supply chain resilience, especially through R&D and workforce development investments.

APEP 

We also pursue the goal of inclusive and sustainable growth through the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, an innovative, leader-led forum that drives regional cooperation.

Launched at the last Summit of the Americas, APEP reflects the region’s priorities, ideas, and vision for an integrated hemisphere. 

The twelve countries in APEP represent 90 percent of the hemisphere’s GDP and nearly two-thirds of its population.

Together, we seek to achieve three overarching outcomes:

First, we are committed to creating good jobs for our citizens, especially for those most often left behind.

Second, we will deepen economic ties between our countries by building the world’s most resilient and competitive supply chains, which benefit the U.S. economy and its workers.

Third, we will lead the world in attracting responsible investment that funds high-standard infrastructure and the jobs of tomorrow.

We will achieve these outcomes through a cooperative economic forum that works across finance, trade, and foreign affairs tracks to support inclusive, fair, and equitable growth.

To promote these objectives, we will work with partners to identify regulatory barriers that undermine economic growth, and potential reforms that lead to increased foreign direct investment and job creation.

Haiti 

One of the greatest tests for U.S. foreign policy in the hemisphere is the deterioration of security and humanitarian conditions in Haiti.

The Haitian people are desperate.  And it is only through a partnership approach that we now have a glimmer of hope.

We worked with Ecuador at the UN Security Council to draft and obtain approval of a resolution authorizing a Multilateral Security Support mission.

We welcome Kenya’s leadership of a mission that bolsters the Haitian National Police against threats posed by armed gangs.

And, we are working with partners across the Americas and the rest of the world to secure the personnel, funding, and equipment needed to ensure the mission succeeds.

In addition to Kenya, several of our Caribbean partners have publicly stood up to answer the call, including The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Antigua and Barbuda.  

We expect additional announcements in the weeks to come.  And we are fully prepared to do our part.  Secretary Blinken announced our intent to work with Congress to secure $100 million to support this effort, which will be matched by up to $100 million in in-kind support from the Defense Department.  

This will include planning, logistics, equipment, billeting, base operations support, airlift, communications, and medical support among other support services.

Irregular Migration

Violence and insecurity are but two of the root causes of irregular migration, in Haiti and across the Americas.  

Irregular migration directly impacts the United States.  Our border communities struggle to provide basic services to overwhelming numbers of migrants and refugees seeking security and opportunity in the      United States.  

Partners throughout the hemisphere share our struggles and concerns, and we work diligently with civil society, multilateral organizations, and financial institutions to help ease their burdens.

In response to this historic challenge, we sought to forge an unprecedented partnership:  the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection.

Through the LA Declaration we work with 20 partner countries as well as civil society, international organizations, and financial institutions to create conditions for safe, orderly, humane, and regular migration.  

We have urged our partners to create regularization programs for out-of-status migrants residing in their countries, and we have seen Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru step up with programs to respond to the most urgent local needs.  

We greatly appreciate Colombia, Costa Rica, and Guatemala’s work with us on the Safe Mobility initiative, a program that allows us to identify the most vulnerable among the migrants and refugees and offer them a safer passage to the United States or a third country for refugee resettlement.  DHS leads a working group with several partner countries focused on countering human smuggling and trafficking in persons.  

Despite these important accomplishments, we still have much work to do to address the challenges posed by irregular migration.  

We cannot solve these problems alone – no single country could – but we are ready to lead.  In addition to known issues, we also must think constantly about changing conditions in the region:  El Niño will hit this year, and countries have begun preparations for potentially disastrous damage to agriculture and infrastructure.  

We will continue working with our partners to prioritize safe, humane, and orderly migration management for the region’s most vulnerable citizens.

Equity

Equal opportunity is the bedrock of American democracy.  Under this Administration, it is also a pillar of our foreign policy.

To advance our goal of a more equitable Americas, we prioritize bilateral partnerships on racial and ethnic equality with Brazil and Colombia and similar agreements with Chile and Uruguay.

We also work with Mexico and Canada through the North American Partnership for Equity and Racial Justice to build more just, inclusive, and equitable democracies in our three countries.

As part of our focus on underserved groups and communities, we launched the Academy of Women Entrepreneurs in 2019.  

This initiative has reached approximately 11,000 women in 24 countries in the Western Hemisphere, providing skills development to help them grow their businesses.  

The program targets a mix of urban, rural, and indigenous communities, many of whom experience high levels of poverty and violence.  

Program alumni in Nicaragua reported that it incentivized them to stay rooted in their communities despite growing economic and civil strife. 

In Mexico, sixty percent of the Academy’s graduates have transitioned their businesses to the formal economy.   

And in an example of how partnerships deliver for real people, in the Dominican Republic restaurant owner Gabriela Lee increased her business by 500 percent, growing from 20 customers to more than 300 per week; she hired 11 additional staff and moved into a larger industrial-sized kitchen thanks to the skills she learned in this program.  

Empowering female entrepreneurs has lasting societal and economic benefits.

We are proud of this work, which aligns with U.S. values and priorities, and sets us apart from other countries that seek greater influence in the region.

Resilience

Partnership has also been the cornerstone of our approach to the escalating climate crisis, a crisis that knows no boundaries.

We have seen in the United States and across the region how gains on the economic front can be wiped out by a single extreme weather event.

The adverse impacts of climate change are felt more acutely by vulnerable and historically disadvantaged populations.

Longer periods of drought, for example, have had a profound effect on agricultural productivity, driving food insecurity and irregular migration.

Our response to this crisis has been to inject energy into partnerships designed to accelerate climate action.

We co-hosted with Argentina the first-ever High-Level Dialogue on Climate Action in the Americas. We are providing technical assistance to accelerate the clean energy transition through the Renewable Energy for Latin America and Caribbean initiative. 

The Caribbean is on the front lines of the climate crisis; sea level rise threatens low-lying islands and storm surge from hurricanes has had devastating effects.  

Cognizant of these challenges, the Vice President launched, with Caribbean leaders, last June the U.S.-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis 2030 or PACC 2030. 

Through this partnership, we are elevating cooperation with Caribbean countries to support climate adaptation, increase access to finance, and strengthen energy security, while building the resilience of critical infrastructure and local economies.  

Since the Summit of the Americas, when President Biden and Vice President Harris held an historic meeting with Caribbean leaders, we’ve seen higher levels of engagement than at perhaps any time in our history.  

In addition to hosting several Caribbean Heads of State at the White House, the Vice President traveled to the Bahamas in June to engage Caribbean leaders.  One month later, Secretary Blinken flew to Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana to listen and underscore our continuing support.  

Another key element of our climate response is to invest in a healthy ocean.  In the words of Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, “climate and ocean action are two sides of the same coin.”  Marine protected areas, which build climate resilience and store carbon, are a key nature-based solution to climate change.

In May, the U.S. Development Finance Corporation announced it would provide $656 million in political risk insurance to facilitate the largest debt for marine conservation swap in history to protect the Galápagos. 

The swap or “blue bond” is supported by a range of partners including DFC, the IDB, Credit Suisse, Oceans Finance Company, and the Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy.  

A clear example of financial innovation in support of conservation, the blue bond will generate over $300 million to enhance monitoring and enforcement in waters surrounding the Galapagos Islands.  

Closing

In closing, the United States seeks ambitious outcomes for our foreign policy in the Americas.

We are at a pivotal moment in global affairs and the challenges we face in this hemisphere represent a test of U.S. leadership.

Our response is to lean into partnership as the source of our strength.

This strength, as Secretary Blinken has noted, is grounded in humility and confidence.

We recognize effective leadership requires us to listen and understand a variety of perspectives on our shared problems. 

We are confident because we know this hemisphere has faced great challenges in the past, and we have consistently found common ground, and worked together to overcome these challenges.   

John F. Kennedy may have put it best: “partnership is not a posture but a process.”  Let us continue our hard but important work, together.