Antonieta Cadiz of El Mercurio Asks Secretary Rice about Cuba and Venezuela

This is an excerpt from a recent interview conducted by Antonieta Cadiz, a journalist for El Mercurio where she asked Secretary Rice to give her opinion as to what the United States expects from countries like Chile in regards to the problems that soround countries like Cuba and Venezuela. To see the whole interview go to:

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2007/88015.htm

QUESTION: Antonieta Cadiz of El Mercurio. In -- I have to ask about Chile. Considering the delicate situations in the region as problems with democracy in Venezuela and Cuban transition, what is the role that the United States expects from a country like Chile within the region?

SECRETARY RICE: Yes. Well, first of all, let me say that we have just an excellent relationship with Chile and we have for a number of years; a free trade agreement that's working very well for both sides; I think political relations that have been very strong. And we expect of Chile what we expect of ourselves, which is that we will uphold the values that we share, we will uphold the values of the Inter-American Democratic Charter of the OAS. It is a good thing that Chile remains active in the region and has good relations with all of the countries of the region, but I have found that Chile has been very active in promoting these values and in promoting democracy.

Now in the case of Venezuela, it's obviously important, when something happens like RCTV, for people to speak up about that, because it's not right for a government to close down free media because they think they're going to be criticized.

The Cuban transition is something that I think we'll all have an opportunity to work together on because there is a transition underway in Cuba. We don't know when it will come to an end, but it's underway. And what we need to say to the Cuban people, in no uncertain terms, is that they -- we will stand for their right to free and fair elections, when that transition happens, that we're not going to tolerate the transfer of power from one dictator to another, that the Cuban people have the same rights to democracy and liberty and freedom that we all enjoy. A country like Chile that has gone through some very terrible times in terms of tyranny, in terms of oppression, perhaps can speak to that even more effectively than can the United States.

And so I would hope that we could work together on this so that the Cuban people know that we intend to stand for their rights. And I should say too that we expect the future of Cuba to be decided by Cubans on the island, Cubans who will have to emerge from this authoritarian situation to claim their democratic future. But they need the support of countries like Chile and countries like the United States. I think our work with Chile, our relationship with Chile also shows that the United States doesn't look at whether a government is from the left or from the right. That's not the issue. We have excellent relations with Chile, excellent relations with Brazil, excellent relations with Uruguay, all governments of the left.

But what we want to do is to cooperate with governments that govern democratically, that are trying to deal with the concerns and the aspirations of their people, and that will uphold rule of law. That is, for us, the only basis for a good relationship