Well, you, Mr. President, are a man of law and liberty. Your first statement as President-elect of your country carried on the profound tradition of law and liberty in Colombia. I was waiting to be interpreted, but I understand I'm not to wait. Well, we all know that the democratic path is never easy. But it's a path toward which the peoples of this hemisphere are increasingly turning.
Democracies are better able to reconcile their internal differences without violence.
They're also neighbors in whom we can have confidence. Mr. President, as I said in my very encouraging visit to Brazil, I did not come to visit with any preconceived plan that we wish to impose. I came here to listen and to learn, to ask how we could be of greater help in promoting peace and progress in the Americas. It has long been my dream that the more than 600 million people of the Americas could represent an enormous force for good in the world. Just think how much we could achieve if there were accord between us.