Remarks Announcing USG Support for the OAS SYG Candidacy of
Former Salvadoran President Francisco Flores

January 27, 2005

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The Government of the United States is pleased and proud to announce its support for the candidacy of El Salvador’s former president, Francisco Flores, for the office of Secretary General of the Organization of American States.

We believe that Central America deserves one of its own to be elected as the next Secretary General. Current Salvadoran President Saca made this case to Secretary Powell in October of last year, and we strongly agree.

President Flores represents a new generation of Latin American leaders: thoroughly modern, dynamic, forward-leaning — who view the challenges of our 21st century, globalized world not as threats to be shunned, but as opportunities to be embraced.

He is a Central American visionary — fresh and creative in his outlook — who deeply appreciates the benefits of regional action and hemispheric unity. His vision is the vision of the OAS: democracy, prosperity, and stability for a region that has known too much turmoil.

Moreover, President Flores has the political acumen, administrative skills, and hands-on experience necessary to meet the unique demands of the office of Secretary General.

His country may be small in size, but it is significant in its influence. El Salvador — and, indeed, all of Central America — has much to teach us about the pursuit of a brighter future in the face of daunting challenges.

As a former president, Francisco Flores knows the demands of leadership and the pressures of decision-making that are the everyday responsibilities of a chief executive. In El Salvador, a country not long ago racked by civil war and economic dislocation, he confronted challenges of the sort many of us will be fortunate never to face. Yet he made the tough decisions, and succeeded despite the doubts (and opposition) of many, playing a central role in the birth of a new El Salvador: socially at peace, economically vibrant and outward-looking, and politically stable.

Indeed, it is precisely his chief executive experience in a conflicted environment that will allow President Flores to lead the OAS in some of its most challenging endeavors, such as post-conflict reconstruction and the painful process of reconciliation.

Francisco Flores ran an honest government, fought corruption, highlighted human rights and security, and presided over an inclusive administration that reached out to the opposition to give it a stake in the business of democratic government.

Demonstrating a modern-day social conscience, he worked hard to bring the benefits of economic development to the poorest and most forgotten corners of his country. When natural disaster struck, he presided over effective disaster relief and held to the sound principles that kept Salvador's economy stable.

He is a committed democrat and multilateralist, who embodies the values that are at the core of the work of the Organization of American States.

We have no doubt that he can guide this organization in its quest to strengthen the institutions that underpin regional prosperity, the basis of which is investment in our hemisphere's most precious resource: its people.

For these reasons and more we take great satisfaction in joining Foreign Minister Lainez and the representatives of other governments in Central America and beyond to endorse Francisco Flores’ candidacy for Secretary General of the OAS.