FUNDING OF INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY TRAINING

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Intellectual Property Training Programs Funded
Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC
April 19, 2012
As part of U.S. efforts to combat transnational crime and promote the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) worldwide, the U.S. Department of State has approved twelve projects totaling $2.6 million in Fiscal Year 2011 anticrime funds. These projects will enable U.S. law enforcement agencies and diplomatic missions to collaborate on the delivery of IPR protection criminal enforcement training and technical assistance programs for foreign law enforcement partners.

Training and technical assistance in the investigation and prosecution of IPR crime will be provided to foreign law enforcement partners in nations across the Pacific Rim, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa. The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs selected the projects after considering input from the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, other federal agencies, our overseas missions, Congress, and industry representatives.

The twelve projects are:
1) Africa - Western Regional Workshops $182,000
Training for West African customs authorities on methods to identify and seize infringing goods.
2) Africa - Sub-Saharan Regional Workshops $525,920
Workshops for Sub-Saharan African law enforcement partners focusing on border enforcement, following the money trail, organized crime involvement in trafficking of counterfeit medicines, and gathering electronic evidence.
3) Africa - East Central Regional Workshops $255,936
Regional training for East African law enforcement authorities in combating counterfeit medicines which threaten human health and safety.
4) ASEAN $242,329
A series of workshops for Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) member state judges and prosecutors focused on judicial and prosecutorial management of IPR cases, especially those that involve transnational organized crime.
5) Brazil $150,644
Training seminars through the U.S. Embassy partnership with the Brazilian Government focusing on “notorious markets” identified in the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Special 301 Out-Of-Cycle reviews.
6) Chile $100,000
Training for Chilean judges on handling IPR crimes cases, including development of a judicial bench book and follow up monitoring by the U.S. Mission.
7) Colombia $70,000
Training for the Colombia National Police on combating IPR crime.
8) South Asia Regional $210,185
Joint workshops with Indian, People’s Republic of China, and ASEAN IPR enforcement officials to strengthen and build stronger cross-border partnerships.
9) Mexico $438,814
Training for Mexican enforcement partners on following the money trail, digital evidence in online piracy cases, and border and customs enforcement.
(10) Philippines $175,171
Seminars for Philippine judges and prosecutors on courtroom and case management procedures in IPR cases.
(11) Thailand $184,000
Training for Thai judges, customs officials, and prosecutors to strengthen skills needed to carry out Thai IPR reforms.
(12) Turkey $106,375
Training for Turkish judges and law enforcement officials involved in new special IPR courts.

PRESIDENT OBAMA AT THE CEO SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS PANEL DISCUSSION

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE

President Barack Obama participates in the CEO Summit of the Americas panel discussion at the Hilton Hotel, Cartagena, Colombia, April 14, 2012. President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff and President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos took part. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

April 14, 2012
Remarks by President Obama at CEO Summit of the Americas
Gran Salon Bolivar
Hilton Hotel
Cartagena, Colombia
10:43 A.M. COT
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, first of all, I want to thank President Santos and the people of Colombia for the extraordinary hospitality in the beautiful city of Cartagena.  We're having a wonderful time.  And usually when I take these summit trips, part of my job is to scout out where I may want to bring Michelle back later for vacation.  So we'll make sure to come back sometime in the near future.  (Applause.)
I want to acknowledge Luis Moreno of IDB, as well as Luis Villegas of the National Business Association of Colombia, for helping to set this up, and everybody who's participating.

As President Rousseff indicated, obviously we've gone through some very challenging times.  These last three years have been as difficult for the world economy as anything that we've seen in our lifetimes.  And it is both a result of globalization and it is also a result of shifts in technology.  The days when we could think of each of our economies in isolation, those days are long gone.  What happens in Wall Street has an impact in Rio. What happens in Bogota has an impact in Beijing.

And so I think the challenge for all of our countries, and certainly the challenge for this hemisphere, is how do we make sure that that globalization and that integration is benefiting a broad base of people, that economic growth is sustainable and robust, and that it is also giving opportunity to a growing, wider circle of people, and giving businesses opportunities to thrive and create new products and new services and enjoy this global marketplace.

Now, I think the good news is this hemisphere is very well positioned in this global economy.  It is remarkable to see the changes that have been taking place in a relatively short period of time in Latin and Central America and in the Caribbean.  When you look at the extraordinary growth that's taken place in Brazil, first under President Lula and now under President Rousseff, when you think about the enormous progress that's been made here in Colombia under President Santos and his predecessor, what you see is that a lot of the old arguments on the left and the right no longer apply.

And what people are asking is, what works?  How do we think in practical terms about delivering prosperity, training our people so that they can compete in the global economy?  How do we create rule of law that allows businesses to invest with some sense of security and transparency?  How do we invest in science and technology?  How do we make sure that we have open and free trade at the same time as we're making sure that the benefits of free trade are distributed both between nations but also within nations?
And the good news is I think that, through various international organizations and organizations here within the hemisphere, we've seen enormous progress.  Trade between the United States and Latin, Central -- South America, Central America and the Caribbean has expanded 46 percent since I came into office -- 46 percent.

Before I came to Cartagena, I stopped in Tampa, Florida, which is the largest port in Florida.  And they are booming and expanding.  And the reason is, is because of the enormous expansion of trade and commerce with this region.  It's creating jobs in Florida, and it's creating jobs in Colombia, and it's creating jobs in Brazil and throughout the region.  Businesses are seeing that if they have an outstanding product or an outstanding service, they don’t have to restrict themselves to one market, they now have a regional market and ultimately a global market in which they can sell their goods and succeed.

A couple of things that I think will help further facilitate this productive integration:  Number one, the free trade agreement that we've negotiated between Colombia and the United States is an example of a free trade agreement that benefits both sides.  It's a win-win.  It has high standards -- (applause) -- it's a high-standards agreement.  It's not a race to the bottom, but rather it says each country is abiding by everything from strong rules around labor and the environment to intellectual property protection.  And so I have confidence that as we implement this plan, what we're going to see is extraordinary opportunities for both U.S. and Colombian businesses.

So trade agreements of the sort that we have negotiated, thanks to the leadership of President Santos and his administration, I think point the way to the future.

In addition, I think there is the capacity for us to cooperate on problems that all countries face, and I'll take just one example -- the issue of energy.  All of us recognize that if we're going to continue to grow our economies effectively, then we're going to have to adapt to the fact that fossil fuels are a finite resource and demand is going up much faster than supply.  There are also, obviously, significant environmental concerns that we have to deal with.  So for us to cooperate on something like joint electrification and electric grid integration, so that a country like Brazil, that is doing outstanding work in biofuels or hydro-energy, has the ability to export that energy but also teach best practices to countries within the region, create new markets for clean energy throughout the region -- which benefits those customers who need electricity but also benefit those countries that are top producers of energy -- that's another example of the kind of progress that we can make together.

On the education front, every country in the region recognizes that if we're going to compete with Asia, if we're going to compete with Europe, we've got to up our game.  We have to make sure that we've got the best-trained workers in the world, we've got the best education system in the world.  And so the work that President Rousseff and I are doing together to try to significantly expand educational exchanges and send young people who are studying science and engineering and computer science to the United States to study if they're Brazilian, down to Brazil to study best practices in clean energy in Brazil -- there's enormous opportunity for us to work together to train our young people so that this hemisphere is filled with outstanding entrepreneurs and workers, and allows us to compete more effectively.

So there are a number of areas where I think cooperation is proceeding.  Sometimes it's not flashy.  I think that oftentimes in the press the attention in summits like this ends up focusing on where are the controversies.  Sometimes those controversies date back to before I was born.  (Laughter.)  And sometimes I feel as if in some of these discussions or at least the press reports we're caught in a time warp, going back to the 1950s and gunboat diplomacy and Yanquis and the Cold War, and this and that and the other.  That's not the world we live in today.

And my hope is, is that we all recognize this enormous opportunity that we've got.  And I know the business leaders who are here today, they understand it; they understand that we're in a new world, and we have to think in new ways.

Last point I want to make -- I think when you think about the extraordinary success in Brazil, the success in Colombia, a big piece of that is governance.  You can't, I believe, have, over the long term, successful economies if you don't have some basic principles that are being followed:  democracy and rule of law, human rights being observed, freedom of expression.  And I think -- and also personal security, the capacity for people to feel as if they work hard then they're able to achieve, and they have motivation to start a business and to know that their own work will pay off.

And I just want to compliment both Brazil and Colombia, coming from different political traditions, but part of the reason why you've seen sustained growth is governments have worked effectively in each country.  And I think that when we look at how we're going to integrate further and take advantage of increased opportunity in the future, it's very important for us not to ignore how important it is to have a clean, transparent, open government that is working on behalf of its people.

And that's important to business as well.  The days when a business feels good working in a place where people are being oppressed -- ultimately that's an unstable environment for you to do business.  You do business well when you know that it's a well-functioning society and that there's a legitimate government in place that is going to be looking out for its people.

So I just want to thank both of my outstanding partners here.  They're true leaders in the region.  And I can speak, I think, for the United States to say that we've never been more excited about the prospects of working as equal partners with our brothers and sisters in Latin America and the Caribbean, because that's going to be the key to our success.  (Applause.)

* * * *
MR. MATTHEWS:  President Santos, I guess there are some issues in America -- we have a very large Hispanic population.  Ten percent of our electorate is going to be Hispanic in background.  We are the second-largest Spanish-speaking country in the world after Mexico.  People have dual languages in the United States, of course, but there is so much Spanish speaking. You have the chance to sit next to President Obama now.  Do you want to ask him about the ways you think the United States could help your country in the drug war?
* * * *
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Do you want me to respond?

MR. MATTHEWS:  Yes, sir.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, this is a conversation that I've had with President Santos and others.  Just as the world economy is integrated, so, unfortunately, the drug trade is integrated.  And we can't look at the issue of supply in Latin America without also looking at the issue of demand in the United States.  (Applause.)

And so whether it's working with President Santos or supporting the courageous work that President Calderón is doing in Mexico, I, personally, and my administration and I think the American people understand that the toll of narco-trafficking on the societies of Central America, Caribbean, and parts of South America are brutal, and undermining the capacity of those countries to protect their citizens, and eroding institutions and corrupting institutions in ways that are ultimately bad for everybody.

So this is part of the reason why we've invested, Chris, about $30 billion in prevention programs, drug treatment programs looking at the drug issue not just from a law enforcement and interdiction issue, but also from a public health perspective. This is why we've worked in unprecedented fashion in cooperation with countries like Mexico on not just drugs coming north, but also guns and cash going south.

This is one of the reasons why we have continued to invest in programs like Plan Colombia, but also now are working with Colombia, given their best practices around issues of citizen security, to have not just the United States but Colombia provide technical assistance and training to countries in Central America and the Caribbean in finding ways that they can duplicate some of the success that we've seen in Colombia.
So we're mindful of our responsibilities on this issue.  And I think it is entirely legitimate to have a conversation about whether the laws in place are ones that are doing more harm than good in certain places.

I personally, and my administration's position, is that legalization is not the answer; that, in fact, if you think about how it would end up operating, that the capacity of a large-scale drug trade to dominate certain countries if they were allowed to operate legally without any constraint could be just as corrupting if not more corrupting then the status quo.

Nevertheless, I'm a big believer in looking at the evidence, having a debate.  I think ultimately what we're going to find is, is that the way to solve this problem is both in the United States, us dealing with demand in a more effective way, but it's also going to be strengthening institutions at home.

You mentioned earlier, the biggest thing that's on everybody's minds -- whether it's the United States, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Jamaica -- is, can I find a job that allows me to support my family and allows my children to advance and feel secure.  And in those societies where you've got strong institutions, you've got strong business investment, you've got rule of law, you have a law enforcement infrastructure that is sound, and an economy that's growing -- that country is going to be like a healthy body that is more immune than countries that have weak institutions and high unemployment, in which kids see their only future as participating in the drug trade because nobody has actually trained them to get a job with Google, or Pepsi, or start their own small business.

And so I think that it's important for us not to think that if somehow we look at the drug issue in isolation, in the absence of dealing with some of these other challenges -- institutional challenges and barriers to growth and opportunity and the capacity for people to climb their way out of poverty, that we're going to be able to solve this problem.  The drug issue in this region is, in some ways, a cause, but it's also, in some ways, an effect of some broader and underlying problems.  And we as the United States have an obligation not only to get our own house in order but also to help countries in a partnership to try to see if we can move in a better direction.  (Applause.)
* * * *
MR. MATTHEWS: Mr. President, do you want to respond?  I think the question that seems to be apparent here in the last couple of days is, first of all, tremendous enthusiasm, a zeitgeist here that's almost unusual in the world for positive optimism about the development in this part of the world.  It's not like it was -- just isn't the way it was we grew up with.

The challenge I think you just heard from the President of Brazil was the notion that Latin America is not interested in being our complementary economy anymore -- the agricultural end while we do the industrial end; they do the provision of raw materials and we do the finest and highest-level high-tech work. How do we either respond to Brazil's demand, really, to be partners and rivals -- they want to use our educational resources, they want to come north to learn how to compete with us -- right, Madam President?  You want to be equals.  You want to learn everything we know, and then take it back and shove it at us, right?  (Laughter.)  Isn't that it?

Well, anyway, that's the response -- I'd ask you for your response.  (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Chris, I'm not sure you're characterizing what President Rousseff said -- (laughter) -- but this is what happens when you get some of our U.S. political commentators moderating a panel.  (Laughter.)  They try to stir up things that may not always be there.  (Applause.)  And Chris is good at it.  He's one of the best.  (Laughter.)
But, look, this is already happening.  This is already happening.  Brazil has changed, Colombia has changed -- and we welcome the change.  The notion somehow that we see this as a problem is just not the case, because if we've got a strong, growing, prosperous middle class in Latin America, those are new customers for our businesses.  (Applause.)
Brazil is growing and that opportunity is broad-based, then suddenly they're interested in buying iPads, and they're interested in buying Boeing airplanes and -- (laughter.)

PRESIDENT ROUSSEFF:  Boeing -- Embraer.  (Laughter and applause.)

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  I was just trying to see how she'd respond to that.  (Laughter.)  But the point is, is that that's a market for us.  So we in the United States should welcome not just growth, but broad-based growth, of the sort that President Rousseff described.
I'll give you just -- I said I was in Tampa.  All those containers that are coming in, they have, in some cases, commodities coming from Latin America, but they also have finished products that are coming in from Latin America.  We have commodities that are going into Latin America that we're sending back on those containers, as well as finished products.  And so this is a two-way street.

When I came into office, one of my first decisions was to say that the G20 was not a temporary thing to respond to the world economic crisis; this should be the permanent forum for determining and coordinating direction in the world economy.  And frankly, there were some folks who were members of the G8 who were upset with me about that determination, but realistically you can't coordinate world economic issues if you don't have China and Brazil and India and South Africa at the table -- and Mexico.  That's not possible.

So the world has changed.  I think the United States and U.S. businesses stand to benefit from those changes.  But it does mean that we have to adapt to that competitive environment.  And all the advantages that President Rousseff mentioned we have as the United States -- its flexibility, our scientific edge, our well-educated workforce, our top universities -- those are the things that we continue to have to build and get better at.  And that's true for every country here.
Every one of the businesses here are going to be making determinations about where you locate based on the quality of the workforce, how much investment you have to make in training somebody to handle a million-dollar piece of equipment.  Do you feel as if your intellectual property is going to be protected?  Do you feel as if there's a good infrastructure to be able to get your products to market?  And so I think this is a healthy competition that we should be encouraging.

And what I've said at the first summit that I came to, Summit of the Americas that I came to, was we do not believe there are junior partners and senior partners in this situation. We believe there are partners.  And Brazil is in many ways ahead of us on something like biofuels; we should learn from them.  And if we're going to be trying to mount a regional initiative, let's make sure that Brazil is taking the lead.  It doesn’t have to be us in every situation.

Now, the flip side is -- and I'll close with this -- I think in Latin America, part of the change in mentality is also not always looking to the United States as the reason for everything that happens that goes wrong.  (Applause.)

I was in an interview -- several interviews yesterday.  These were actually with Spanish-speaking television stations that have broadcast back in the United States.  And the first interviewer said, why hasn't the United States done more to promote democracy in the region, because you've done a lot in the Arab Spring but it seems as if you're not dealing with some of the problems here in Latin America.  The next questioner said, why are you being so hard on Cuba and promoting democracy all the time?  (Laughter and applause.)  That’s an example, I think, of some of the challenges we face that are rooted in legitimate historical grievances.  But it gets -- it becomes a habit.

When it comes to economic integration and exchanges, I am completely sympathetic to the fact that there are challenges around monetary policy in developed and less-developed countries. And Brazil, for example, has seen the Real appreciate in ways that had been hurtful.  I would argue a lot of that has to do with the failure of some other countries to engage in rebalancing, not the United States.  But having said that, I think there's not a country in Latin America who doesn’t want to see the United States grow rapidly because we're your major export market.

And so most of these issues end up being complicated issues. Typically, they involve both actions in the United States as well as actions in the other countries if we're going to optimize the kind of growth and prosperity and broad-based opportunity that both President Santos and President Rousseff have spoken about.

And the United States comes here and says:  We're ready to do business.  We are open to a partnership.  We don’t expect to be able to dictate the terms of that partnership, we expect it to be a negotiation based on mutual interest and mutual respect.  And I think we're all going to benefit as a consequence of that. (Applause.)

MR. MATTHEWS:  Thank you very much, President Rousseff, President Santos, and my President, President Obama.  Thank you. It's been an honor.
END

SECRETARY OF STATE CLINTON SAYS BRAZIL AND U.S. HAVE "SPECIAL OBLIGATION TO STAND FOR OUR VALUES"

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks to the U.S.-Brazil Partnership for the 21st Century
Remarks Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Washington, DC
April 9, 2012
Good morning. It’s wonderful to be here to celebrate the strong ties between Brazil and the United States, and to talk, starting this morning and going through the day, about how we can strengthen and deepen those ties.

I want to thank Tom Donohue and the extraordinary staff of the chamber for the work that you do every day, and in particular, for your commitment to this relationship. You know, as does our government, that it is one of the most consequential relationships for the 21st century. And I want to welcome my friend and colleague, the foreign minister of Brazil. It’s a great pleasure to work with Antonio on a broad range of issues, but none more important than our commitment to seeking out new, creative, enduring ways to really bind the peoples of our two countries together.

I am delighted that we also have this visit of President Rousseff here today, because when I think about the extraordinary leadership she is providing to Brazil, it makes eminent sense that she would be leading the way for Brazil and the United States’ relationship, along with President Obama, to find those lasting ties and illustrate in a very public, visible way how important they are.

Everyone knows we are the two largest and most diverse democracies, the two largest economies, in our hemisphere. But what may not be known is that the United States and Brazil, because we are democracies, have a special obligation to stand for our values. It is, of course, important that we promote our economic ties, that we try in every way possible to raise the standard of living of our two peoples, but we do so within a strong framework of commitment to democratic values. And we increasingly have a responsibility to work together on behalf of those values. The policies we embrace and the investments that we make will shape our shared future, and we are developing strong habits of partnership and cooperation. And that is not, as you know so well, a job solely for governments. In fact, it is actually more the job for the private sectors, our universities, our civil societies, our citizens. And therefore, we need to draw on all sources of our respective national strengths to build this partnership for the future. And I look out at this audience, and I see many Americans whom I know well who are deeply committed to doing just that.

Now, the fact that this meeting is here at the chamber points to the importance of our economic ties. We see in Brazil an inspiring success story: a dynamic economy that has lifted millions of people into the middle class; a country that is helping to fuel the global economy; that produces everything from commodities, of course, but also aerospace technologies, whose goods and services are facing increasing demand across the globe.

And as the United States works to increase our own competitiveness, create jobs here in our country, we look to our neighbors. The proximity that we have here in the Western Hemisphere to some of the fastest growing economies and some of the most vibrant democracies is a great strength for us all. And we seek to be a partner, an equal partner, to promote sustainable, diversified, innovation-driven growth that translates into inclusive, long-lasting progress. We want, together, Brazil and the United States, to work toward creating economic opportunity, a system in which everyone has a fair chance to compete.

Now, as I look at what we’ve already committed to doing together, we see those ties in action. The Brazilian company that buys materials and components from the U.S. and the American company that opens a factory in Brazil, many businesses have already discovered how much we have to offer each other. And as our economic relationship continues maturing, investment will increase in both directions, trade will grow and diversify, more businesses from both Brazil and the United States will find markets in the other country. I know this is a priority for both of our presidents, and I particularly applaud President Rousseff’s commitment, her historic pledge to end extreme poverty in her country.

Now, later today, the foreign minister and I will sign the U.S.-Brazil Aviation Partnership Memorandum, which builds on our Open Skies Agreement and will promote more and safer air travel between our countries. We think that’s a win-win. It will promote not only our aviation industries and business travel, but also more tourism and exchanges.

And the United States will be opening two new consulates in Brazil. Some of you know that we’ve been working very hard at the State Department to meet the demand in two countries – Brazil and China – that has far exceeded our capacity up until now. And we’ve made a lot of progress, and the opening of these two consulates – one in Belo Horizonte and one in Porto Alegre – keeps up with our expanding relationship. We’re trying to make it easier to get those visas, easier to travel, knock down some of the barriers that have been put up, and continue to promote people-to-people contact.

But we know that the progress we wish to make is not going to be measured alone by flight traffic or trade or investment figures, or even by visas. We have to have more cooperation and partnership between and among our universities, our science and tech sectors, our civil societies. Now, Brazil knows how important it is for a nation to invest in its people, and starting in the ‘90s, when I was privileged to travel to Brazil, I have followed with great interest the innovative social programs serving Brazil’s children. This tradition of innovation of conditional cash transfers and other investments in the human beings of Brazil is paying off. You can see the results. It’s not only fueled the rapid expansion of Brazil’s middle class, but it has demonstrated that an economy growing is not an end in itself; it is a means to improving the lives of the people of a country, and Brazil is a model for that.

So now we want to do more to innovate together, and our two presidents have launched path-breaking initiatives. President Rousseff’s Science without Borders program will send 100,000 Brazilian students to the world’s top universities to study science, technology, energy, and math – engineering and math, the stem subjects. And we’ve already welcomed 700 of those Brazilian students to the United States. We expect thousands more in the next few years. And the State Department is working with our extensive contacts in our higher education community to pave the way. We know that the students who are here today are studying at universities in 42 states, and many of their educational programs are supported by the private sectors from both of our countries. This program is an excellent complement to President Obama’s educational initiative, which is called 100,000 Strong in the Americas. Our goal is to increase the numbers of Latin American and Caribbean students in the United States to 100,000 each year, and we want to send 100,000 American students to the region over the next 10 years as well.

I personally believe that having more interaction between our young people, going north to south, east to west within our hemisphere is one of the keys to that shared future. Educational exchange programs like these will help us prepare the workforce to give our students the skills, experiences, and relationships that a global economy requires.

Consider the Brazilian company Tecsis, which makes the blades used in wind turbines. It happens to be one of the largest blade manufacturers in the world, founded by three Brazilian engineers. Now, all of them attended ITA, a top Brazilian technical institute that was created with strong support from MIT, and one of the company founders also studied at Harvard. And I’m delighted that President Roussef will be going to both MIT and Harvard tomorrow.

Well today, Tecsis is a leader in the U.S. market. It exports more than half its blades to the United States. Eighty percent of the raw material it uses to make the blades actually comes from the United States. One of its top customers is GE. And a partnership between the two companies has helped GE become a top wind energy equipment provider in the United States.

So in addition to employing more than 5,000 people in Brazil, Tecsis has created a subsidiary company in Houston which employs more than 150 workers to repair and maintain the blades used in the United States. This kind of partnership – call it cross-pollination, if you will – is increasingly achievable, and we want to see more of this.

The foreign minister and I were talking earlier before we came in that our values, our common commitment to democracy, to human rights, to freedom, to the full potential of every individual, is such an advantage in the world today. And there is tremendous untapped potential in both of our countries. We’ve only begun to explore how we can work and prosper together.

So I urge all of you here for today’s conference to identify concrete ways for collaboration in business and education, energy, and any other critical field. And the foreign minister and I will do the same here in Washington and then when I travel to Brazil next week, where we will convene the next meeting of the U.S.-Brazil Global Partnership Dialogue.

Now, when we look at the rise of powers around the world, the story of Brazil stands out. Yes, it is becoming one of the largest economies in the world; it’s already one of the largest democracies. It increasingly has an impact on global stability and security. We face complex challenges in our region and beyond, and Brazil is a responsible actor. Our countries have to be partners. We want to be. But even in today’s world, that want is matched by need. Because whether we’re taking advantage of shared opportunities or facing shared threats, we have to do all we can to work effectively together.
And I am confident that this relationship will serve to stabilize our hemisphere, our economies, but even reach far beyond. Because what we want to see is the progress in Brazil that has been so laudable over the last several decades continue and grow from strength to strength. And we want to see the United States, with our great, diverse, pluralistic population, being the kind of model inspiration that we have historically been over our own history.

As today’s conference makes clear, the work between the two countries is well underway. And I want to commit this government and our country to the peace, prosperity, and progress that will, I am sure, ensue because we will build an even stronger relationship for years to come.

Thank you all very much. (Applause.)

CHAIRMAN OF THE U.S. JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF GENERAL DEMPSEY SAYS COLOMBIA HAS GOOD STRATEGY TO COMBAT FARC

The following excerpt is from an American Forces Press Service e-mail: 

Dempsey: Colombia Has Strategy to Take Down Terror Group

By Jim Garamone

BRASILIA, Brazil, March 29, 2012 - The Colombians have a good strategy to counter the main terrorist group in the country, and they will stick with it, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey spoke with reporters traveling with him from Colombia to Brazil. He spent two days in Colombia meeting with senior leaders and visiting Joint Task Force Vulcano – a new interagency force aimed at defeating the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC.

Dempsey said he was impressed by the senior leaders he met during his visit. "They had a remarkably coherent vision of where they are today to where they need to be," he said.

The strategy calls for Colombia to cut the FARC forces in half in two years. "They selected 2014 as a key moment for them," he said. "They want to accelerate their effects against the FARC."

The conversations he had with senior leaders dealt not only with equipment, but also intellectual capital, the chairman said. "We're getting ready to send some brigade commanders who have been in Iraq and Afghanistan down here to partner with their Joint Task Force commanders in a leader developmental function," the general said. "The challenges they face are not unlike the challenges we've faced in Iraq and Afghanistan."

These American officers will visit with joint task force commanders for two weeks and share insights into their fights overseas. Dempsey said he fully expects the American leaders to learn from their Colombian counterparts, too.

The Colombians began by speaking about their personnel, Dempsey said, and then went to ways to accelerate the effects they were trying to make on the ground. He said this includes border security; critical infrastructure protection; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; intelligence fusion; airlift; and remotely piloted vehicles. "It wasn't a shopping list," the chairman said. "It was more, 'We have the strategy. We've got the resources we need to do it, with a few exceptions, and we can work together to close those gaps."

The Colombians have made great progress and they want to take advantage of that, Dempsey said. They have found that as they introduce the army into the populace, people became fond of its presence, he added.

That works well, Dempsey said, until you want to move the units. "The army has become fixed to an extent, and part of the strategy is to reintroduce mobile forces," he explained. "They are forming a number of joint task forces, but also national police, and they are putting them in the places where the FARC has migrated to."

The Colombians are doubling their efforts and making sure they are integrating their efforts as a nation, the chairman said. "It really has to be the whole of government," he added. "It is really emphasizing what we called in Iraq 'clear, hold, build.'"

Colombia has been working closely with the U.S. government in the fight. Current Colombian military leaders all have received at least some American military training.

"There was a gravitas about them, and they have a grasp of what they are facing," Dempsey said. "There was a real appreciation of the task at had. The Colombians are winning. The FARC has had a few successes, but so have the military."