I am convinced that democracy and free markets are here to stay. Democracy, once the exception, has become the rule. Trade barriers have fallen, giving way to private initiative, economic and state reform, and regional integration. The dictatorships, insurgencies, and rivalries among nations that once characterized our hemisphere have almost all ended. We now see a great shared commitment to democratic values and open economies, and there is more respect for the will of the people and more concern for marginalized sectors of society, such as women and indigenous peoples.
Democracies define themselves in terms of a commitment to liberty and fundamental rights.
The state that identifies and protects fundamental rights is a strong, and dynamic state. Oppression of rights, on the other hand, is a clear sign of a fragile, threatened government. States that ensure fundamental rights generally are more stable and prosper- economically and politically. I believe that the armed forces are fundamentally important to the preservation of the legitimacy of the state and serve as a symbol of the nation. They can facilitate the achievement of the economic and political goals agreed upon by the Heads of State present at the Summit of the Americas, and re-stated by the hemisphere's Defense Ministers present at Williamsburg in July 1995.