In response to a question asking if the president would condemn Hugo Chavez by name, Scott said:
I think the focus of his remarks will be on democracy in our hemisphere, and strengthening democracy in our hemisphere.
...
And one way that we can help support younger democracies in our own hemisphere is to continue to advance trade. And the President will talk about the importance of CAFTA in his remarks. CAFTA has great strategic significance in our own hemisphere. It's not only about leveling the playing field and making sure that our farmers and producers at home can compete on an equal footing, it's also, in a much broader sense, about supporting these younger democracies and helping them fulfill the promise of democracy; we need to make sure that democracy delivers more than promises.
Yes, one thing democracy can deliver is, apparently, a free trade agreement that lets corporations strike down democratically-enacted laws if they prove to be unfair barriers to commerce, and further demands that countries enforce their existing, abysmally inadequate labor laws, which are more oxymorons than anything else. When we're done with them, Central America will be begging for a populist, nationalist strongman. It almost makes you wonder if Bush has a secret plan to discredit democracy in the developing world.
