http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/1863484553

U.S. Interests and Resource Needs in Latin America and the Caribbean

A key element of this Administration's foreign policy has been the recognition of the importance to our national security of our own hemisphere. We cannot effectively deal with the challenges to our interests in other parts of the world if are unable to cope with problems in nearby areas of great strategic importance. Many of our allies in Latin America at the present time do not have the resources to provide simultaneously for their own security and basic economic needs of their people. Because we know they must do both if they are to survive and prosper, and if democracy is to be given a chance to flourish, we must help make up the shortfall. Congress has supported these policies with increased funding, but the resources made available to us in FY 1986 and 1987 are not sufficient to pursue essential U.S. interests. We have taken great satisfaction in the remarkable trend toward democracy taking place in Latin America and the Caribbean. We have supported this trend, not only because it is in accord with our deepest values but also because we believe it is in our interest. We have found that we have the most stable long-term relationships with countries where government is founded on the consent of the governed. However, although the seedlings of democracy have appeared in several nations, the roots of the tree are not yet deep enough to protect it from bring uprooted by violent storms, nor the trunk thick enough to withstand the chops of wayward axmen. Our assistance programs can help provide the protection this tree needs to reach maturity.

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