Excerpts From the Daily Press Briefing Pertaining to Western Hemisphere Affairs Full Briefing
MR. CROWLEY: The Secretary is – secondly, on an update on Secretary Clinton, she is in the air and will be arriving in Cairo in the next couple of hours. Yesterday she led a U.S. delegation at the OAS General Assembly and worked to build a broad-based coalition to address the issue of
Cuba’s re-inclusion in the OAS in a way that is true to the core principles and values of democracy: respect for human rights, non-intervention, self-determination, security, and development.
The effort to reach consensus was blocked last night by a small number of countries, principally
Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Honduras. The OAS General Assembly continues today and the issue of Cuba’s reintegration may again be raised, although it appears that the assembly lacks the critical mass of foreign ministers necessary to proceed on this question.
But as a result, there’s a clear sign of how the President’s approach to relations in the Americas is paying dividends. We look – we took an issue on which we were initially isolated, and through respectful diplomacy, built a broad coalition in support of our core principles in the Americas. And clearly, the dialogue on this issue we expect will continue.
QUESTION: P.J., I want to switch to Cuba, please. Isn’t the real essence of democracy if an organization as the OAS submit to a democratic vote the reassignment of Cuba? Isn’t that the real essence of democracy? I mean --
MR. CROWLEY: First of all, the OAS operates by consensus.
QUESTION: And by vote.
MR. CROWLEY: Well, and, you know, we put forward the concept of an OAS resolution that would both recognize Cuba’s opportunity to join – rejoin the OAS, if it chooses – and there’s no evidence right now that Cuba has a desire to join the OAS – but do so in a way that is respectful of the OAS Charter and the Inter-American Democratic Charter.
And at the end of this, it was countries like Nicaragua and Venezuela – they’re the ones who have been trapped in the past. You know, the United States – we’re looking forward. We’re celebrating the fact that the OAS is, in fact, a community of democracies. And we thought there was a way to balance both rectifying the situation from 1962, but in the process affirming that we in the Western Hemisphere value progress made towards democracy in the region over the last 47 years.
QUESTION: In the case of China, you said you saw some progress in the fight against corruption. But the White House yesterday said that the President of the U.S. is pleased because Cuba has accepted to begin again negotiations on immigration and direct mail. Do you consider those things as a step forward, or what?
MR. CROWLEY: Oh, certainly, certainly.
QUESTION: But in terms of --
MR. CROWLEY: No, I mean --
QUESTION: -- democracy, what can you expect from Cuba?
MR. CROWLEY: In a lot of these situations, take Iran for example, we’ve had relations that have been paralyzed for 30 years – Cuba longer than that. It’s going to take a long time. It’s going to be a delicate process over time to see where you can take small steps and maybe larger steps.
In the case of Cuba, we are obviously looking for Cuba itself to make significant strides in terms of release of prisoners, in terms of opening up their political process, other reforms within Cuban society. And we’ve indicated that as Cuba acts, we will respond. So – but certainly, the Cuban decision to reciprocate, to agree to a resumption of the migration talks, and to hint that there are other issues that we could begin to talk about, such as mail delivery – these are progress and these are consistent with what the President has done in terms of expanding the links between our two countries.
QUESTION: And the last thing. In the fight of drugs in
Mexico, in recent days, the authorities have been arresting mayors of many states. And my question to you is: Does the U.S. really trust the local and state governments in Mexico? Because it seems to me that they are working for the drug cartels and the only partner you have in Mexico is the president of Mexico.
MR. CROWLEY: That is a pretty broad-brush indictment --
QUESTION: Well, more than 20 mayors have been arrested --
MR. CROWLEY: The Calderon government has done significant effort here to not only – you know, to fight cartels. The Mexican response to the H1N1 virus was very significant. Obviously, there is the issue of corruption. It exists on the Mexican side of the border. It exists on the U.S. side of the border. We have to make sure that public officials, law enforcement are working on behalf of the people rather than working against local and national interests. And I think Mexico has indicated that it is willing – it is going to aggressively root out corruption. And we in the United States on our side of the border have recognized – Secretary Clinton has talked about this, Secretary Napolitano has talked about this, the President has talked about that – that we both have responsibilities if we’re going to make sure that we fight international criminal activity.
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QUESTION: And in relation to the Usama bin Ladin tape, are you aware of reports that there is an al-Qaida recruiting tape that apparently indicates that al-Qaida is seeking to wage biological attack on the United States somehow through Mexico?
MR. CROWLEY: I’m not familiar with that.
QUESTION: P.J. a follow-up.
QUESTION: on the David Goldman case. Do you have any reaction to developments last night? Do you respect the decision by the Supreme Court? And is – or well, one of the justices, and is there anything that the United States can do? Anything more?
MR. CROWLEY: Well, we’re aware that the
Brazilian Supreme Federal Tribunal today suspended an order granting the immediate return of Sean Goldman to his father. We are disappointed by the decision, but U.S. Embassy officials continue to work with the family and will meet with Brazilian attorneys and Mr. Goldman’s attorney to learn next steps in the legal process.
QUESTION: Has the Secretary reached out to anyone involved in this case, anyone in Brazil, any foreign minister?
MR. CROWLEY: Well, I think this just happened today, so we are aware of this latest development.
QUESTION: We heard of it last night, so –
MR. CROWLEY: Hmm?
QUESTION: We heard of it last night.
MR. CROWLEY: Okay, well, you’re ahead of me.
QUESTION: Venezuela? Hugo Chavez is saying that he has been the target of an assassination plot and that U.S. is behind it. Do you have any response?
MR. CROWLEY: It’s not true. (Laughter.)
