The Americas: Dynamic Change in the 21st Century

I want to use my allotted time to make a few points about how we view the Americas following President Bush's most recent trip through the region.

First, this is not your father's Latin America and Caribbean. It is not even your older brother's Latin America and Caribbean. The Americas of the 21st century is undergoing dynamic change. And the rate of change is accelerating. The Americas the President encountered during his March trip, his eighth trip to the region, was markedly different from the region he inherited in 2001.

Second, for the most part, this change is positive. You are all familiar with the broader dimensions of change in the Americas, especially the movement from authoritarian regimes to elected governments and from closed, centralized economies to open, free market economies that connect to global markets. But who would have guessed that this agenda would have been embraced so aggressively.

Countries in the region are eliminating trade barriers, integrating electricity grids and energy markets, collaborating on alternative energy sources, connecting national infrastructures, constructing new fora for political dialogue and cooperation, and reaching beyond the Americas to cement commercial relationships with Europe, Africa, India, and Asia. Even those leaders who decry what they call "neoliberalism" speak the language of integration and trade.

Third, democracy is for real and is the most potent driver of change in the Americas. There are other important drivers accelerating change. Globalization, migration, market integration, and advances in information technology. But none of these is as dramatic as democracy.