US ECONOMICS

WEF

THE WHITE HOUSE. January 21, 2020. REMARKS. Remarks by President Trump at the World Economic Forum. Davos Congress Centre. Davos, Switzerland

PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, thank you very much, Klaus.  And a very special congratulations on your 50th year hosting the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum.  A truly amazing achievement.

It’s an honor to address the distinguished members of this organization for the second time as President.  When I spoke at this forum two years ago, I told you that we had launched the great American comeback.  Today, I’m proud to declare that the United States is in the midst of an economic boom the likes of which the world has never seen before.

We’ve regained our stride, we discovered our spirit and reawakened the powerful machinery of American enterprise.  America is thriving, America is flourishing, and yes, America is winning again like never before.

Just last week alone, the United States concluded two extraordinary trade deals: the agreement with China and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement — the two biggest trade deals ever made.  They just happened to get done in the same week.

These agreements represent a new model of trade for the 21st century — agreements that are fair, reciprocal, and that prioritize the needs of workers and families.  America’s economic turnaround has been nothing short of spectacular.

When I took office three years ago, America’s economy was in a rather dismal state.  Under the previous administration, nearly 200,000 manufacturing jobs had vanished, wages were flat or falling, almost 5 million more Americans had left the labor force than had gotten jobs, and more than 10 million people had been added to the food stamp rolls.

The experts predicted a decade of very, very slow growth — or even maybe negative growth — high unemployment, and a dwindling workforce, and very much a shrinking middle class.  Millions of hardworking, ordinary citizens felt neglected, betrayed, forgotten.  They were rapidly losing faith in the system.

Before my presidency began, the outlook for many nations was bleak.  Top economists warned of a protracted worldwide recession.  The World Bank lowered its projections for global growth to a number that nobody wanted to even think about.  Pessimism had taken root deep in the minds of leading thinkers, business leaders, and policymakers.

Yet despite all of the cynics, I had never been more confident in America’s future.  I knew we were on the verge of a profound economic resurgence, if we did things right — one that would generate a historic wave of investment, wage growth, and job creation.

I knew that if we unleashed the potential of our people, if we cut taxes, slashed regulations — and we did that at a level that’s never been done before in the history of our country, in a short period of time — fixed broken trade deals and fully tapped American energy, that prosperity would come thundering back at a record speed.  And that is exactly what we did, and that is exactly what happened.

Since my election, America has gained over 7 million jobs — a number unthinkable.  I wouldn’t say it, I wouldn’t talk about it, but that was a number that I had in mind.  The projection was 2 million; we did 7 [million] — more than three times the government’s own projections.

The unemployment rate is now less than 3, 4, and 5 percent.  And at 3.5 percent, that’s a number that is the lowest in more than 50 years.  The average unemployment rate for my administration is the lowest for any U.S. President in recorded history.  We started off with reasonably high rate.

For the first time in decades, we are no longer simply concentrating wealth in the hands of a few.  We’re concentrating and creating the most inclusive economy ever to exist.  We are lifting up Americans of every race, color, religion, and creed.

Unemployment rates among African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans have all reached record lows.  African American youth unemployment has reached the lowest it’s ever been in the history of our country.  African American poverty has plummeted to the lowest rate ever recorded.  The unemployment rate for women reached the lowest level since 1953.  And women now comprise a majority of the American workforce; that’s for the first time.

The unemployment rate for veterans has dropped to a record low.  The unemployment rate for disabled Americans has reached an all-time record low.  Workers without a high school diploma have achieved the lowest unemployment rate recorded in U.S. history.  Wages are rising across the board.  And those at the bottom of the income ladder are enjoying the percentage, by far, largest gains.

Workers’ wages are now growing faster than management wages.  Earnings growth for the bottom 10 percent is outpacing the top 10 percent — something that has not happened.  Paychecks for high school graduates are rising faster than for college graduates.

Young Americans just entering the workforce are also sharing in America’s extraordinary prosperity.  Since I took office, more than 2 million millennials have gotten jobs, and their wages have grown by nearly 5 percent annually — a number that was unthinkable.  Nobody would have ever thought it was possible three years ago.  A record number of Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 are now working.

In the eight years before I took office, over 300,000 working-age people left the workforce.  In just three years in my administration, 3.5 million people have joined the workforce.  Ten million people have been lifted off welfare in less than three years.  Celebrating the dignity of work is a fundamental pillar of our agenda.

This is a blue-collar boom.  Since my election, the net worth of the bottom half of wage earners has increased by plus-47 percent — three times faster than the increase for the top 1 percent.  Real median household income is at the highest level ever recorded.

The American Dream is back — bigger, better, and stronger than ever before.  No one is benefitting more than America’s middle class.

We have created 1.2 million manufacturing and construction jobs — a number also unthinkable.  After losing 60,000 factories under the previous two administrations — hard to believe when you hear “60,000 factories” — America has now gained, in a very short period of time, 12,000 new factories under my administration.  And the number is going up rapidly.  We’ll be beating the 60,000 number that we lost, except these will be bigger, newer, and the latest.

Years of economic stagnation have given way to a roaring geyser of opportunity.  U.S. stock markets have soared by more than 50 percent since my election, adding more than $19 trillion to household wealth, and boosting 401(k)s, pensions, and college savings accounts for millions of hardworking families.
And these great numbers are many things, and it’s despite the fact that the Fed has raised rates too fast and lowered them too slowly.  And even now, as the United States is by far the strongest economic power in the world, it’s not even close.  It was going to be close, but a lot of good things happened to us, and some not-so-good things happened to certain other places.

They’re forced to compete, and we compete with nations that are getting negative rates — something very new — meaning, they get paid to borrow money.  Something that I could get used to very quickly.  Love that.  Got to pay back your loan?  Oh, how much am I getting?

Nevertheless, we still have the best numbers that we’ve had in so many different areas.  It’s a conservative approach, and we have a tremendous upside potential, when all of the trade deals and the massive deregulation starts kicking in — which will be during this year, especially toward the end of the year.  Those trade deals are starting to kick in already.  The regulations are kicking in right now.

And I see such tremendous potential for the future.  We have not even started, because the numbers we’re talking about are massive.

The time for skepticism is over.  People are flowing back into our country.  Companies are coming back into our country.  Many of you, who I know, are coming back in with your plants and your factories.  Thank you very much.  America’s newfound prosperity is undeniable, unprecedented, and unmatched anywhere in the world.

America achieved this stunning turnaround not by making minor changes to a handful of policies, but by adopting a whole new approach centered entirely on the wellbeing of the American worker.

Every decision we make — on taxes, trade, regulation, energy, immigration, education, and more — is focused on improving the lives of everyday Americans.  We are determined to create the highest standard of living that anyone can imagine, and right now, that’s what we’re doing for our workers.  The highest in the world.  And we’re determined to ensure that the working and middle class reap the largest gains.

A nation’s highest duty is to its own citizens.  Honoring this truth is the only way to build faith and confidence in the market system.  Only when governments put their own citizens first will people be fully invested in their national futures. In the United States, we are building an economy that works for everyone, restoring the bonds of love and loyalty that unite citizens and powers nations.

Today, I hold up the American model as an example to the world of a working system of free enterprise that will produce the most benefits for the most people in the 21st century and beyond.
A pro-worker, pro-citizen, pro-family agenda demonstrates how a nation can thrive when its communities, its companies, its government, and its people work together for the good of the whole nation.

As part of this new vision, we passed the largest package of tax cuts and reforms in American history.  We doubled the child tax credit, benefitting 40 million American families and lifting 650,000 single mothers and their 1 million children out of poverty — and out of poverty quickly.

We passed the first-ever tax credit for employers who provide paid paternal leave for employees earning $72,000 less annually, and passed paid family leave for government employees as a model for the country.

We made childcare much more affordable and reduced or eliminated childcare waitlists all across the nation.  Our childcare reforms are supporting working parents and ensuring their children have access to high-quality care and education, all of which they very much deserve.

We lowered our business tax from the highest in the developed world down to one that’s not only competitive, but one of the lower taxes.

We created nearly 9,000 Opportunity Zones in distressed communities where capital gains on long-term investments are now taxed at zero, and tremendous wealth is pouring into areas that for a hundred years saw nothing.

The 35 million Americans who live in these areas have already seen their home values rise by more than $22 billion.  My administration has also made historic investments in historically black colleges and universities.  I saved HCBUs.  We saved them.  They were going out, and we saved them.

We’re removing roadblocks to success and rewarding businesses that invest in workers, families, and communities.

We’ve also launched the most ambitious campaign in history to reduce job-killing regulations.  For every new regulation adopted, we are removing eight old regulations, which will save an average of American households about $3,100 per year.  It was going to be, “for every one, we do two,” but we were able to lift that to eight, and we think that’s going to go quite a bit higher.  We still have a way to go.

Today, I urge other nations to follow our example and liberate your citizens from the crushing weight of bureaucracy.  With that, you have to run your own countries the way you want.

We’re also restoring the constitutional rule of law in America, which is essential to our economy, our liberty, and our future.  And that’s why we’ve appointed over 190 federal judges — a record — to interpret the law as written.  One hundred and ninety federal judges — think of that — and two Supreme Court judges.

As a result of our efforts, investment is pouring into our country.  In the first half of 2019, the United States attracted nearly one-quarter of all foreign direct investment in the world — think of that.  Twenty-five percent of all foreign investment all over the world came into the United States, and that number is increasing rapidly.

To every business looking for a place where they are free to invest, build, thrive, innovate, and succeed, there is no better place on Earth than the United States.

As a central part of our commitment to building an inclusive society, we established the National Council for the American Worker.  We want every citizen, regardless of age or background, to have the cutting-edge skills to compete and succeed in tomorrow’s workplace.  This includes critical industries like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and 5G.

Under Ivanka’s leadership — who is with us today — our Pledge to America’s Workers has become a full-blown national movement with over 400 companies committing to provide new job and training opportunities to already very close to 15 million American students and workers.  Fifteen million.

America is making sweeping changes to place workers and their families at the center of our national agenda.  Perhaps the most transformative change of all is on trade reform, where we’re addressing chronic problems that have been ignored, tolerated, or enabled for decades.  Our leaders did nothing about what happened to us on trade.

Before I was elected, China’s predatory practices were undermining trade for everyone, but no one did anything about it, except allow it to keep getting worse and worse and worse.  Under my leadership, America confronted the problem head on.

Under our new phase one agreement — phase two is starting negotiations very shortly — China has agreed to substantially do things that they would not have done: measures to protect intellectual property; stop forced technology transfers; remove trade barriers in agricultural goods and on agricultural goods, where we were treated so badly; open its financial sector totally — that’s done — and maintain a stable currency, all backed by very, very strong enforcement.

Our relationship with China, right now, has probably never been better.  We went through a very rough patch, but it’s never, ever been better.  My relationship with President Xi is an extraordinary one.  He’s for China; I’m for the U.S.  But other than that, we love each other.

Additionally, China will spend an additional $200 billion over two years on American services, agriculture, and energy, and manufactured goods.  So we’ll be taking in an excess of $200 billion; could be closer to $300 billion when it finishes.  But these achievements would not have been possible without the implementation of tariffs, which we had to use, and we’re using them on others too.  And that is why most of our tariffs on China will remain in place during the phase two negotiations.  For the most part, the tariffs have been left, and we’re being paid billions and billions of dollars a year as a country.

As I mentioned earlier, we ended the NAFTA disaster — one of the worst trade deals ever made; not even close — and replaced it with the incredible new trade deal, the USMCA — that’s Mexico and Canada.

In the nearly 25 years after NAFTA, the United States lost 1 in 4 manufacturing jobs, including nearly 1 in 4 vehicle-manufacturing jobs.  It was an incentive to leave the country.  The NAFTA agreement exemplified the decades-long failures of the international trading system.  The agreement shifted wealth to the hands of a few, promoted massive outsourcing, drove down wages, and shuttered plants and factories by the thousands.  The plants would leave our country, make the product, sell it into our country.  We ended up with no jobs and no taxes; would buy other countries’ product.  That doesn’t happen anymore.

This is the wreckage that I was elected to clean up.  It’s probably the reason I ran for President, more than any other thing, because I couldn’t understand why we were losing all of these jobs to other countries at such a rapid rate.  And it got worse and worse, and I think it’s probably the primary reason that I ran, but there are other reasons also.  And to replace with a new system that puts workers before the special interests.  And the special interests will do just fine, but the workers come first.

Our brand-new USMCA is the result of the broadest coalition ever assembled for a trade agreement.  Manufacturing, agriculture, and labor all strongly endorsed the deal.  And, as you know, it just passed in Congress overwhelmingly.  It shows how to solve the 21st century challenge we all face: protecting intellectual property, expanding digital trade, re-shoring lost jobs, and ensuring rising wages and living standards.

The United States has also concluded a great new trade deal with Japan — approximately $40 billion — and completely renegotiated our deal with South Korea.  We’re also negotiating many other transactions with many other countries.  And we look forward to negotiating a tremendous new deal with the United Kingdom.  They have a wonderful new Prime Minister and wants very much to make a deal, as they say.

To protect our security and our economy, we are also boldly embracing American energy independence.  The United States is now, by far, the number-one producer of oil and natural gas anywhere in the world, by far.  It’s not even close.

While many European countries struggle with crippling energy costs, the American energy revolution is saving American families $2,500 every year in lowering electric bills and numbers that people said couldn’t happen, and also, very importantly, prices at the pump.

We’ve been so successful that the United States no longer needs to import energy from hostile nations.  With an abundance of American natural gas now available, our European allies no longer have to be vulnerable to unfriendly energy suppliers either.  We urge our friends in Europe to use America’s vast supply and achieve true energy security.

With U.S. companies and researchers leading the way, we are on the threshold of virtually unlimited reserves of energy, including from traditional fuels, LNG, clean coal, next-generation nuclear power, and gas hydrate technologies.

At the same time, I’m proud to report the United States has among the cleanest air and drinking water on Earth — and we’re going to keep it that way.  And we just came out with a report that, at this moment, it’s the cleanest it’s been in the last 40 years.  We’re committed to conserving the majesty of God’s creation and the natural beauty of our world.

Today, I’m pleased to announce the United States will join One Trillion Trees Initiative being launched here at the World Economic Forum.  One Trillion Trees.  (Applause.)  And in doing so, we will continue to show strong leadership in restoring, growing, and better managing our trees and our forests.

This is not a time for pessimism; this is a time for optimism.  Fear and doubt is not a good thought process because this is a time for tremendous hope and joy and optimism and action.

But to embrace the possibilities of tomorrow, we must reject the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse.  They are the heirs of yesterday’s foolish fortune-tellers — and I have them and you have them, and we all have them, and they want to see us do badly, but we don’t let that happen.  They predicted an overpopulation crisis in the 1960s, mass starvation in the ’70s, and an end of oil in the 1990s.  These alarmists always demand the same thing: absolute power to dominate, transform, and control every aspect of our lives.

We will never let radical socialists destroy our economy, wreck our country, or eradicate our liberty.  America will always be the proud, strong, and unyielding bastion of freedom.

In America, we understand what the pessimists refuse to see: that a growing and vibrant market economy focused on the future lifts the human spirit and excites creativity strong enough to overcome any challenge — any challenge by far.

The great scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century — from penicillin, to high-yield wheat, to modern transportation, and breakthrough vaccines — have lifted living standards and saved billions of lives around the world.  And we’re continuing to work on things that you’ll be hearing about in the near future that, even today, sitting here right now, you wouldn’t believe it’s possible that we have found the answers.  You’ll be hearing about it.  But we have found answers to things that people said would not be possible — certainly not in a very short period of time.

But the wonders of the last century will pale in comparison to what today’s young innovators will achieve because they are doing things that nobody thought even feasible to begin.  We continue to embrace technology, not to shun it.  When people are free to innovate, millions will live longer, happier, healthier lives.

For three years now, America has shown the world that the path to a prosperous future begins with putting workers first, choosing growth, and freeing entrepreneurs to bring their dreams to life.

For anyone who doubts what is possible in the future, we need only look at the towering achievements of the past.  Only a few hundred miles from here are some of the great cities of Europe — teeming centers of commerce and culture.  Each of them is full of reminders of what human drive and imagination can achieve.

Centuries ago, at the time of the Renaissance, skilled craftsmen and laborers looked upwards and built the structures that still touch the human heart.  To this day, some of the greatest structures in the world have been built hundreds of years ago.

In Italy, the citizens once started construction on what would be a 140-year project, the Duomo of Florence.  An incredible, incredible place.  While the technology did not yet exist to complete their design, city fathers forged ahead anyway, certain that they would figure it out someday.  These citizens of Florence did not accept limits to their high aspirations and so the Great Dome was finally built.

In France, another century-long project continues to hold such a grip on our hearts and our souls that, even 800 years after its construction, when the Cathedral of Notre Dame was engulfed in flames last year — such a sad sight to watch; unbelievable site, especially for those of us that considered it one of the great, great monuments and representing so many different things — the whole world grieved.

Through[Though] her sanctuary now stands scorched and charred — and a sight that’s hard to believe; when you got used to it, to look at it now, hard to believe.  But we know that Notre Dame will be restored — will be restored magnificently.  The great bells will once again ring out for all to hear, giving glory to God and filling millions with wonder and awe.

The Cathedrals of Europe teach us to pursue big dreams, daring adventures, and unbridled ambitions.  They urge us to consider not only what we build today, but what we will endure long after we are gone.  They testify to the power of ordinary people to realize extraordinary achievements when united by a grand and noble purpose.

So, together, we must go forward with confidence, determination, and vision.  We must not be timid, or meek, or fearful — but instead we must boldly seize the day and embrace the moment.  We have so many great leaders in this room — not only business leaders, but leaders of nations — and some are doing such a fantastic job.  We work together very closely.  We will draw strength from the glories of the past, and we will make greatness our common mission for the future.

Together, we will make our nations stronger, our countries safer, our culture richer, our people freer, and the world more beautiful than ever before.

Above all else, we will forever be loyal to our workers, our citizens, and our families — the men and women who are the backbone of our economies, the heart of our communities, and the soul of our countries.  Let us bring light to their lives one by one and empower them to light up the world.

Thank you very much.  God bless you.  God bless your countries.  And God bless America.  Thank you.  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)

END

THE WHITE HOUSE. CNBC. JAN 22, 2020. Trump says GDP would be near 4% and the Dow could be 10,000 points higher if it weren’t for the Fed
Mike Calia

KEY POINTS

• President Donald Trump said U.S. economic growth would be closer to 4% if it weren’t for the lingering effect of Federal Reserve rate hikes.
• “But we had Boeing. We had the big strike with General Motors. We had things happen that are very unusual to happen,” Trump told CNBC’s Joe Kernen.
• “Now, with all of that, had we not done the big raise on interest, I think we would have been close to 4%,” Trump said. “And I – I could see 5,000 to 10,000 points more on the Dow.”

President Trump: US economic growth will be higher than 2 percent, but I’m not thrilled about it
President Donald Trump told CNBC on Wednesday that U.S. economic growth would have been closer to 4% if it weren’t for the lingering effect of Federal Reserve rate hikes.

“That was a big blip that should not have taken place. It should not have happened. But it’s one of those things. But we had Boeing. We had the big strike with General Motors. We had things happen that are very unusual to happen,” Trump told CNBC’s Joe Kernen in an interview from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The president also suggested that the stock market would be even higher than its already record-setting highs if the Fed hadn’t raised rates so quickly before cutting them three times during 2019.

“Now, with all of that, had we not done the big raise on interest, I think we would have been close to 4%,” Trump said of the U.S. gross domestic product. “And I – I could see 5,000 to 10,000 points more on the Dow. But that was a killer when they raised the rate. It was just a big mistake.”

The president has repeatedly taken the Fed and its chair, Jerome Powell, to task for raising rates too quickly, in his view. Trump nominated Powell to the role in November 2017, and the Fed raised rates four times in 2018.

The president’s remarks Wednesday echoed those his top economic advisor Larry Kudlow made to CNBC on Tuesday, when he predicted 3% growth in U.S. GDP in 2020.

“This is a long cycle, and what you’ve got here in the Trump years is essentially a mini upcycle,” Kudlow said Tuesday. “You’ve gone from 1.5% to 2% growth. We had it going at almost 4%, then the Fed tightened.”

Manufacturing and trade data released this month suggested the American economy ended 2019 on a strong note. The economy is expected to grow more than 2% in the fourth quarter. That would represent a slowdown from the 2.9% increase in 2018, and 2% growth would still suggest the decade-old expansion is set to continue into this pivotal election year.

The Trump interview came hours after the first full day of impeachment proceedings wrapped up in the Senate and a day after Trump gave a speech to the World Economic Forum in which he boasted about U.S. economic gains under his watch.
Several observers said the address sounded like a campaign speech in his 2020 reelection bid.

From a policy standpoint, Trump stood firm on his use of tariffs in trade negotiations, particularly as his administration looks to follow its so-called phase one trade deal with China with a second-phase pact. This stance has made business leaders in Davos skeptical that the two nations would reach an agreement before Trump’s first term is up in a year.

—CNBC’s Thomas Franck contributed to this article.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKwarFuHzxg

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

OMC. REUTERS. 22 DE JANEIRO DE 2020. Trump diz que se reunirá com chefe da OMC e promete medidas "dramáticas"

(Reuters) - O presidente dos Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, prometeu nesta quarta-feira ação dramática com a Organização Mundial do Comércio, dizendo que o diretor-geral do grupo visitará Washington já na próxima semana, mas sem dar mais detalhes.

“Vamos fazer algo que acho que será muito dramático”, disse Trump a repórteres.

Por Alexandra Alper

COSTA RICA

U.S. Department of State. 01/21/2020. COSTA RICA AND THE UNITED STATES: AFFIRMING OUR RELATIONSHIP

“The relationship between the United States and Costa Rica is grounded in our mutual commitment to democracy, security, and prosperity.  Costa Rica continues to be a regional model of democracy and respect for human rights, as well as a leader in the fight against transnational crime and drug trafficking.” 

–U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, September 14, 2019

The Secretary traveled to San José, Costa Rica, on January 21, where he met with Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado, Foreign Minister Manuel Ventura, and Minister for Public Security Michael Soto to discuss our strong bilateral relationship and cooperation to fight transnational crime and strengthen regional security.  While in San José, the Secretary also spoke with members of the Nicaraguan opposition who fled from the Ortega regime’s repression, and visited the Joint Operations Center, which focuses on regional law enforcement.

THE UNITED STATES AND COSTA RICA ARE GOOD FRIENDS AND PARTNERS

• The United States and Costa Rica enjoy a long historic relationship.  We officially recognized Costa Rica as an independent state in 1849, and our first diplomatic presence in Costa Rica was established as the Consulate in San José in 1852.
• Our two governments work together to promote our shared goals of democracy, security, human rights, and prosperity in the region.
• The United States is Costa Rica’s top trading partner, accounting for around 40 percent of the country’s imports and exports. 
• The United States is also Costa Rica’s top source of foreign direct investment, which reached $1.47 billion in 2018 and grew more than 16 percent from 2014 to 2018. This investment primarily benefits the technology, manufacturing, and infrastructure sectors. 
• More than 200 U.S. companies operate in Costa Rica, and collectively employ more than 94,000 people, or nearly 84 percent of all jobs created by multinational companies in Costa Rica.
• U.S. travelers account for nearly half of the 2.9 million annual visitors to Costa Rica. The country is the top destination in Latin America for U.S. study abroad programs.

OUR PARTNERSHIP PROMOTES REGIONAL SECURITY

• The United States provided approximately $80 million of security assistance to Costa Rica from 2017 to 2019 to fight transnational criminal activities in the region, curb the flow of illicit drugs, and address violent crime.
• Our assistance included four helicopters, three 110-foot Island Class Cutters, and help for Costa Rica to acquire a Marine Patrol Aircraft, greatly enhancing interdiction capabilities.  In 2019, Costa Rica interdicted 35.1 tons of cocaine, up from 33.7 tons in 2018 – the second year in a row for record seizures.
• Costa Rica partners with the United States on the Sembremos Seguridad community security program, focused on increasing collaboration between police, municipal officials, and citizen groups.

WE WORK TOGETHER TO CHAMPION PEACE, DEMOCRACY, AND RULE OF LAW IN THE REGION

• Costa Rica is a strong proponent of democracy and human rights, joining the United States in supporting interim Venezuelan president Juan Guaidó and in condemning the abuses of the former Maduro regime, as well of those of the Ortega regime in Nicaragua.
• Costa Rica now hosts almost 30,000 Venezuelans who have fled Maduro’s disastrous misrule, along with tens of thousands of Nicaraguans escaping Daniel Ortega’s repression.
• The United States supports Costa Rica’s migration authority and these vulnerable populations. In addition to direct humanitarian assistance, in Fiscal Year 2019 we provided nearly $8 million in support to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) for this purpose.

U.S. Department of State. 01/21/2020. Secretary Michael R. Pompeo And Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado At a Press Availability. Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State

MODERATOR:  (Via interpreter)  Good afternoon.  We would like to welcome to the president’s house in Costa Rica His Excellency the Secretary of State of the United States of America Mr. Pompeo and his delegation.  We will also extend our greetings to the president, Mr. Carlos Alvarado Quesada, the ministers, ambassadors, the media in both countries.  Welcome to Costa Rica.

We will hear the message of the president, Mr. Carlos Alvarado Quesada, who will give us a summary of the issues discussed in the bilateral meeting with the Secretary of State Mr. Michael Pompeo.

PRESIDENT ALVARADO:  (Via interpreter)  Good afternoon.  Good afternoon, Mr. Secretary.  Welcome.  Welcome to Costa Rica, Ambassador Kozak as well, Ambassador Day, the members of the delegation, distinguished friends.  We had a very positive conversation.  We are countries that are close to each other.  We work together in many issues.  We are consolidated democracies, and we have a dialogue in – that has to do with values and respect we have too for each other as one of the two most solid democracies in the Americas.

We discussed several issues in our bilateral agenda between the two countries.  One which I think is a very great concern for Costa Ricans has got to do with the recommendations issued by the State Departments to the tourists in Costa Rica.  We were downgraded from number one to number two, and we have discussed this with Secretary Pompeo, and I would like to thank him for being so open to discuss this.  And he told us that he is ready to go back into this issue, which is the ranking, which is essential for us in Costa Rica.  And I would really like to express our deep gratitude for that.

Also, Costa Rica’s ranking at the FAA, the Federal Aviation Administration – we’ve had four visits with the U.S. embassy and the Costa Rican authorities.  We’ve corrected the issues that were mentioned, and we’re ready to receive the audit to recover our ranking.  We also requested that this audit takes place as soon as possible so that we can recover our position in the area of aviation.

We have looked at our joint security program, and we’ve seen the results.  They’re very positive.  Between 2018 and 2019 we saw an important increase, thanks to our joint cooperation, in the seizing of cocaine and marijuana.  And this is something the Secretary will be looking into during his visit, and we want to continue our efforts in the areas of security and joint work.  The results have been successful, and we would like to thank him for the cooperation in this joint effort.

Both countries have underscored their commitment to democracy and democratic institutions, and especially given the situation of the Nicaraguan regime that has violated not only human rights but also freedom of press, freedom of meeting of Nicaraguan citizens.  Many of them had to escape to our country.  And in the case of Nicaragua and in the case of Venezuela, we’ve shown our commitment to find democratic solutions for those countries, countries where they do not enjoy democracy but rather have an oppressive regime that hurt the citizens of those nations.

We also would like to express our deep gratitude for our conversation vis-a-vis the OCDE joining of Costa Rica.  We know that we are in the last phases of a process that we have to continue working on to conclude it, but any support we can give is really very – we can get is very important.  We also underscore the work done by the ambassador, Sharon Day, a very strong ally of Costa Rica.  We thank her for her work.

And Mr. Secretary, we would like to thank you for the trust and the openness in our dialogue and your openness to cooperate with Costa Rica.  You are always welcome.  You will always be safe in our country, in our land that is receiving you today.

MODERATOR:  (Via interpreter)  Thank you, Mr. President Carlos Alvarado Quesada.  We will now hear the words of the Secretary of State of the United States of America, Mr. Michael Pompeo.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Thank you.  Buenas tardes.  Mr. President, thank you so much for hosting me here today.  You and your team have been incredibly gracious.  It’s a pleasure to come to Costa Rica on my first trip in calendar year 2020.  Our administration has made a real priority of reaching out to our friends in the Western Hemisphere, and there has indeed been no better friend than Costa Rica to the United States of America.  Your country has done great work in supporting human rights, the rule of law, democracy.  It grounds our relationship.  You’re an incredible supporter of freedom in our region.

We began our conversation by talking about AC/DC and great music, shared freedoms and values that our two countries have.  It’s getting stronger too – this friendship.  It was clear from my discussion today with President Alvarado.  At the very center of our talks was Costa Rica’s leadership in standing up to the Maduro regime, which has sunk Venezuela into repression and poverty.  Costa Rica is a founding member of the Lima Group and a huge supporter of the Rio Treaty, both important elements of what will ultimately, hopefully, deliver the Venezuelan people the democracy they so richly deserve.  You were, in fact, the first country to recognize Juan Guaido in January of 2019.

Costa Rica, too, has been a model part of the OAS, an institution that’s done so much for prosperity and security and freedom under President Almagro’s leadership.  President Alvarado and I agree that he deserves to be re-elected.  Thank you, Mr. President, for your efforts in this regard.  As I said in Washington to the entire OAS Assembly on Friday, multilateralism that works gives us a likelihood of getting to the shared vision that we all have for this hemisphere of freedom.

Look, there’s only a few authoritarian outliers left in this region.  Nicaragua is one of them.  Today, the United States urges the Ortega regime in Nicaragua to cease its repression, restore basic civil liberties, and support free and fair elections.  The United States is backing up its words by acting with partners to pressure the regime.  We’re holding those who violate basic human rights accountable, as we did last year when we sanctioned many of Ortega’s top officials and their family members.

We’re also providing humanitarian assistance for Nicaraguans and Venezuelans that are fleeing this tyranny.  And today, I’ll hear firsthand from just a few of the tens of thousands of Nicaraguans who have found safety here in Costa Rica.

Thank you, Mr. President.  Thank you for so generously hosting them.  We’ve been proud to help you in that.  We’ve provided $13 million since 2017 to assist you and to assist asylum seekers and other vulnerable people who have traveled here.  We will continue to work with freedom-loving people around the world to obtain a diplomatic resolution of the crisis across your border.  The regime in Nicaragua cannot be permitted to continue its gross humanitarian violations.

We also talked about important economic ties.  The United States approaches our economic relationship in the spirit of partnership.  That’s a stark contrast to the flashy promises from the Chinese Government that have often produced only debt, dependency, and even the erosion of sovereignty from some nations.  We were talking about all the companies – IBM and Microsoft and Pfizer, medical devices that are built here.  Costa Rica has done good work and is being rewarded for that with good jobs for the Costa Rican people, and we will continue to support American business providing foreign direct investment into your country to help you grow and create prosperity for Costa Rica.

Finally, I want to commend Costa Rica for the work that it has done in its fight against drugs.  President Trump is committed to defending America against poison peddled by transnational criminal organizations.  Both our countries are more secure as a result of the great work being done by Costa Rican law enforcement and your country.

President Alvarado, thank you again for hosting me here today.  We applaud your government’s efforts and look forward to continuing our great partnership and friendship in the future.  Thank you.

MODERATOR:  (Via interpreter) Now, questions by the media.  We begin with a first question from the Costa Rican press.  Alan Arroyo representing colleagues from Costa Rica will ask the first question.

QUESTION:  (Via interpreter) Good afternoon, Mr. President, Mr. Secretary of State.

For President Alvarado, have you discussed the Venezuelan crisis and the role that Costa Rica could have?  Because I know it’s one of the objectives of Mr. Pompeo in this meeting.  We know that yesterday he met with Juan Guaido as part of the meetings held in Colombia.  And we would like you to tell us about this effort to – and also to look at the promise by Mr. Pompeo to review the ranking.  Can he do that?  Or does he have to talk to other agencies in the U.S. so that these rankings in tourism and also with the FAA can be reverted, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT ALVARADO (Via interpreter):  Thank you for the question.  We discussed both issues, both Nicaragua as well as Venezuela, within the context of our vision in terms of democracy, respect for human rights.  It has been an effort we’ve been undertaking since the beginning of our administration, and we’ve indicated violations to the rights of Nicaraguans and Venezuelan citizens and will continue to point our finger to that.

We respect that we have to find solutions found by Nicaraguans and Venezuelans themselves.  We also – when we see that there are violations against the press or against the people, we denounce them.  And both the U.S. and Costa Rica have been working on that.  We will continue making efforts to try to ensure that there are free and fair elections with international observers and – so that the citizens of those countries are the ones that can go back to a constitutional, democratic regime, which is what we want for the region.

MODERATOR:  (Via interpreter)  Another question by the U.S. media, the spokesperson of the U.S. State Department.

MS ORTAGUS:  (Inaudible) Kevin Cirilli, Bloomberg.

QUESTION:  (Via interpreter)  Thank you both.

(In English.) The first question (inaudible) about trafficking.  Both of you have mentioned how the Organization of American States is crucial in order to combatting drug trafficking.  I’m wondering about how the upcoming election could impact that goal.  And then secondly, from an economic and a financial perspective, how has the designation as it relates to tourism impacted your economy here in Costa Rica?  Thank you.

PRESIDENT ALVARADO:  The second question?  What was it please?

QUESTION:  The travel – the travel tourism designation, how has that impacted Costa Rica’s economy?  Thank you.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Should I go first?  Go ahead.

PRESIDENT ALVARADO:  En espanol, si?  (Laughter.)

(Via interpreter.) The issue of the ranking, the classification for us is not so much a direct economic impact.  It’s got to do with reputation, and we’ve talked about that because a country has made great effort reducing its crime rates.  It’s reduced the homicide rates in the last two years in a consistent fashion and has offered more security of the three million visitors we have had.  The crime rate that they suffered is zero, zero two – 0.02. Small crimes.  It’s not attempts to their life.  So this has got to do with reputations.

We do not face terrorist threats, and we – now that the ranking has gone down, we share that classification with countries that have over 50 death over a hundred thousand, when ours is 11 every hundred thousand.  So it has got to do with reputation, and that is what we made a request very respectfully for that to be revisited by the Secretary and his team, given it’s so important for us in terms of alliance, cooperation, and partnership between our two countries.

The relationship between Costa Rica and the U.S. is a relationship based on mutual respect, friendship, and it is not just a relationship between governments but between countries, between states, and it’s a historical relationship.  It started in 1851 in areas such as security, which has so many points in common.  In others, whether we may not have the same vision, but we understand how to relate.  The issue in security is a strong relationship for some time, and it will continue to be strong in future years, because it’s a relationship among states, and it’s a win-win situation for both countries.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  So we’re going to take a look at this.  There’s a process inside the State Department.  There was a question about – on how this decision’s made.  It’s inside the State Department with respect to our travel advisories.  We’ll take a look at it.  We want to make sure we get it right.  We’ll also communicate with them and say, hey, here’s the things that – if we can change, if we can make better, here’s how we get to the right place.

My second point on that is we had a million and a half-plus Americans come travel to Costa Rica last year.  I am confident that we will have a million and a half-plus Americans come travel again.  I hope there’ll be more.  I know you hope there’ll be more as well.  I’m very confident that people who are coming here – people who are coming here for travel and leisure, people who are coming here to do business – will continue to do so.

What we try to do with our travel advisory is just make sure that we’re sharing with the American people things that we identify as concerns.  We always want to make sure we get it right.  It’s something we constantly evaluate and review.  He asked – the president asked if we would do that again, and we will certainly do so here as quickly as we can.

The second thing you asked about was the OAS.  That election is really important.  You asked its connection to our capacity to reduce narcotics and drug flows in the region.  For those of you who have reviewed the history of the OAS, you know it has not always been the case that that organization was functional, successful, productive, driven towards the values that Costa Rica is an amazing example of – the rule of law, respect for human dignity of its people.

We need to make sure that he OAS continues to be that.  We’re supporting the re-election of president Almagro because we believe he has put the OAS in a position where this can be a successful – demonstrated successful multilateral organization that leads to the outcomes that matter to the people of Costa Rica and the United States and all of the OAS members.  So yes, this election’s very important, and we want to make sure that the OAS continues to be a force for good and a force that can permit us to continue to do this important work to counter trafficking in narcotics in the region.

MODERATOR:  (Via interpreter)  Thank you.  The next question is for the Costa Rican media.  Laura Avelar.

QUESTION:  (Via interpreter)  Good afternoon, Mr. President, Mr. Secretary.  President Trump has been very strong vis-a-vis Venezuela, and the U.S. has adopted very strong sanctions.  Will economic sanctions will be imposed in Nicaragua?  There are sanctions against specific people, but will there be sanctions against Nicaragua itself?  The caravans from Honduras are a proof that the migration policy in the U.S. is failing, because it’s not going to the causes of migration.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Sure.  So I never get out in front of particular sanctions about what we plan to do, so your question about sanctions in Nicaragua is something we constantly evaluate.  It’s important to know:  We don’t impose sanctions for the purpose of imposing sanctions.  We do this when we believe that it can create the right incentive system so that regimes that are fueled by the money that comes from those illicit activities are denied those resources, giving the people of that country the capacity to have the elections and the democracy that I know the Nicaraguan people – and I’m going to hear from some of them who’ve had to flee here just in a minute – to help them get to the right place.

As for our migration policy, there remains an awful lot of work to do, to be sure.  But if you look at the data set, you look at the work that’s been done over these past three years, I’m very confident that the efforts we have made with great partners in the region like Costa Rica, like the Mexican Government – we’ve made real progress on that.  I think we have it precisely right.  We have an obligation to secure our southern border.  We’re going to continue our efforts to do that.

MODERATOR:  (Via interpreter) Now the last question by the U.S. media by the State Department spokesperson.

MS ORTAGUS:  Jessica Donati, Wall Street Journal.

QUESTION:  Thank you.  Mr. President, I wanted to know if you agree with the U.S. policy of having asylum seekers wait in third countries on the way to the U.S., and is Costa Rica interested in joining these programs as one of the few countries – Panama has been mentioned; other northern countries are involved – so I was wondering what your take is on that.

And for Mr. Secretary, Maduro in The Washington Post offered direct talks with the U.S., and the Trump administration has been open to talks with Iran, is talking with the Taliban.  So are you considering the offer made by Maduro?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Go ahead, Mr. President.

MODERATOR:  Senor President Alvarado.

PRESIDENT ALVARADO:  (Inaudible) different because mainly we are a country that receive migrants, not a country that has migrants leaving Costa Rica from – to another country.  So our situation is completely different on that.  Actually, that was something that not necessarily was discussed on what we had as part of our meeting, but our current situation – actually, it’s trying to have enough funds and to work together, too, because we’re hosting more than half a million people, particularly from Nicaragua.  That’s 10 percent of people being in Costa Rica, and also more than 80,000 refugees, so our situation is what’s happening actually inside Costa Rica and not what we are sending elsewhere.

MODERATOR:  (In Spanish.)

QUESTION:  I asked that question because there are, in fact, more Nicaraguan refugees currently in Costa Rica than in the U.S.  Are you interested in signing one of the same agreements to keep asylum seekers here while they wait for a decision, and do you agree with the policy?

PRESIDENT ALVARADO:  It’s not a core – it’s not being part of our core policy currently.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Your question about the statement that was reported to have been made by Nicolas Maduro in the press the other day – there have been lots of conversations with Nicolas Maduro over these past months.  There’s been no demonstration that he is prepared to permit free and open presidential elections.  We constantly evaluate our policy; our end state goal has been very, very clear.

We will continue to tweak our policy to get the strategy just right, but we’ve seen no evidence that Maduro is remotely interested in having free and fair elections.  He knows that he would lose.  He knows that if there are free and fair elections, that what the Venezuelan people have done by putting Juan Guaido as the duly elected leader in Venezuela would be repeated in a free and fair election.

The people don’t want Maduro to be a tyrant.  He has destroyed their economy, he has created one of the greatest humanitarian crises in the history of Central and South America, all of this without a war.  The devastation that has been wrought on the people of Venezuela is enormous, and it is the responsibility of Nicolas Maduro.  And so as for our strategy, the tack we’ll take, I’m sure that will change over time.  But our mission and our strategy and our objective for the Venezuelan people will never vary.

MODERATOR:  (Via interpreter) Thank you very much.  We would like to thank the Secretary of State and his delegation for their visit to the office of the president.  I would like to thank you all, as well as the Costa Rican delegation.  Now the president is saying goodbye to the Secretary, as well as of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

JAMAICA

U.S. Department of State. 01/21/2020. JAMAICA AND THE UNITED STATES: A MODEL FOR PARTNERSHIP IN THE CARIBBEAN

The United States and Jamaica have long been friends, partners, and allies, with enduring cultural and economic ties and a commitment to democratic and free market traditions.

–U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, August 5, 2019

Secretary Pompeo will travel to Kingston, Jamaica, on January 22 to meet with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness and discuss the strong U.S.-Jamaica bilateral relationship and opportunities to broaden and deepen our ties.  Jamaica’s close partnership with the United States is a model for the Caribbean region.

JAMAICA IS A STRONG PARTNER IN ADVANCING SHARED VALUES AND STRATEGIC INTERESTS IN SECURITY

• The United States’ relationship with Jamaica stretches back fifty-seven years.  We are friends, partners, and allies with enduring cultural and economic ties and an unwavering commitment to democratic values.
• Over the past six months, the United States and Jamaica finalized four key security-related agreements to expand our joint capabilities to combat transnational crime, illicit trade, and aviation safety.
• The Department of State and USAID are working together to professionalize law enforcement and strengthen counternarcotics, rule of law, child trafficking, and anti-corruption efforts.
• The United States is helping Jamaica enhance its marine domain awareness and intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance capacities, including through an advisor program for Jamaica’s Maritime Patrol Aircraft.
• Our countries are advancing cybersecurity, including hosting the inaugural Cyber Capacity Building Workshop for the Caribbean and Latin America – the first of its kind for the region – and through the development of an innovative cyber security degree program with the Caribbean Military Academy and Arizona State University.
• Together, at the OAS, we have consistently advanced policies in support of human rights and democracy in the region wherever threatened, including in Venezuela and Nicaragua.

THE UNITED STATES SUPPORTS JAMAICA’S REGIONAL LEADERSHIP ON SECURITY, ENERGY, AND INFRASTRUCTURE

• U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness launched the U.S.-Jamaica Energy Infrastructure Finance Working Group in November 2018 to expand energy supply and generation, transmission and grid solutions, and energy investment.
• In December 2019, Jamaica was one of the first four countries to join the Growth in the Americas Initiative, to accelerate private sector led economic growth in energy and infrastructure projects.
• The U.S. Department of the Treasury is establishing a resident advisor to assist the Ministry of Finance with the tendering and financing of large infrastructure projects, such as the proposed Government Oval project.
• USAID established a new $25 million loan portfolio guarantee mechanism with the National Commercial Bank for small-scale energy projects throughout the Caribbean.
• Jamaica will soon join the U.S. Trade and Development Agency Global Procurement Initiative, which provides $800,000 in technical assistance to promote greater efficiency, transparency, and confidence in Jamaica’s government procurement.

U.S. ASSISTANCE BOLSTERS JAMAICAN DISASTER RESILIENCE AND HEALTH 

• In consonance with the U.S. Caribbean Resilience Partnership, the United States is working with Jamaica to strengthen cooperation and advance resilience to withstand the impacts of natural disasters, climate change, and extreme weather events by leveraging Caribbean and American innovation and expertise.
• In October and December 2019, the Partnership announced approximately $19.5 million in support of these objectives throughout the region.
• The United States is providing $5 million to support Disaster Risk Financing, which will make Jamaica more prepared for natural disasters and save lives.
• Working with Jamaican health authorities, we are combatting HIV in Jamaica, including through support for more than 11,000 Jamaicans on life-saving anti-retroviral treatment.

U.S. Department of State. 01/22/2020. Secretary Michael R. Pompeo And Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness At a Press Availability. Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State. Kingston, Jamaica

MS FRANCIS:  So, ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the arrival of Prime Minister The Most Honorable Andrew Holness, and the Honorable Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State.  You may be seated.

This morning our proceedings will be moderated by myself, Naomi Francis, and Ms. Morgan Ortagus, the spokesperson from the State Department.

We now turn over to Prime Minister The Most Honorable Andrew Holness for his statement.

PRIME MINISTER HOLNESS:  Thank you very much, members of the media, ladies and gentlemen.  Good morning.  Thank you all for being here to join me in welcoming with great pleasure Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his delegation to Jamaica.

Mr. Secretary, thank you for including Jamaica on your travels through the region, your visit today following on that of your predecessor almost two years ago, and the intervening meetings I had last year with President Trump and Vice President Pence confirm the special strategic partnership our two countries have long enjoyed by virtue of history, geography, and culture.

Our discussions today have provided yet another opportunity to affirm our shared commitment to democratic ideals, the rule of law, and economic prosperity.  The United States is our largest trading partner, and Jamaica continues to count the United States of America as one of our most reliable and longstanding partners.  I believe you will agree with me when I say that our relations are dynamic and multifaceted and continue to grow in a positive direction.

It is against this background that Secretary Pompeo and I have engaged in discussions on critical issues of mutual interest to Jamaica and the United States.  The aim of our talks was to reaffirm our mutual commitment to partnering for greater peace and prosperity in our respective countries, and indeed across the hemisphere.  I am pleased to say that we found common understanding on the urgent need to scale up our security cooperation.  The main focus will be on bolstering Jamaica’s capacity to counter transnational organized crime, secure our borders and ports, and interrupt the flow of illicit weapons into our country.  I cannot overstate the urgency with which we need to address these security matters.  The Jamaican public most recently heard me underscore this in my New Year’s message.  I have also emphasized their importance in my discussions with Secretary Pompeo today.

Mr. Secretary, we are therefore greatly heartened to have your pledge of support as we move to rigorously implement Plan Secure Jamaica.  (Applause.)

At the wider level, securing Jamaica also requires sustained intervention on the economic and social front.  We are determined to position Jamaica to take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself to grow the economy so that large and small businesses as well as our communities and citizens can reap the benefits.  I therefore reaffirmed Jamaica’s keen interest in and plans to build upon the economic partnership between the United States and Jamaica.  We will bolster cooperation in the area of energy security, increase trade, and importantly, we restated our desire to see greater U.S. investment in Jamaica and across the region.

Mr. Secretary, I am very pleased that we are working well together on the socioeconomic front, where Jamaicans continue to benefit from educational opportunities through the Fulbright Program and other exchanges.  We also value the outstanding work being undertaken by the USAID and the U.S. Peace Corps at the community level to build the capacity of microenterprises and to address crime and violence among youth.  It is important that we recognize that work geared towards the creation of stable and prosperous communities is ultimately work geared towards a stable and prosperous region.

I must also highlight the critical importance of our partnership in confronting natural disasters through risk reduction, building resilient communities, and improving disaster response.  We therefore very much welcome the U.S.-Caribbean Resilience Partnership launched last April, as it has given greater impetus to our efforts in this truly existential challenge for Jamaica and the Caribbean as a whole.

For our regional engagement, the U.S.-Caribbean 2020 Engagement Strategy also set the course for further work to promote prosperity, energy security, health and well-being, peace and security, and ongoing high-level political engagement in the years ahead.  Mr. Secretary, I trust that your discussions at the Caribbean roundtable later today will catalyze the implementation of this very important strategy.

Secretary Pompeo and I also shared views on the challenges being confronted in the wider region.  We concurred on the importance of these issues being resolved in a peaceful but timely manner, and for the people who face hardship to receive the fullest support of the international community in order to exercise their rights and enjoy their dignity.

We reiterated the value of the role of the Organization of American States in supporting countries of the hemisphere and expressed the desire for the OAS to continue playing this role through strong leadership, strategic and sustainable planning, and, of course, responsible action by all members.

Secretary Pompeo, I thank you for being with us today.  I certainly value our fruitful and productive dialogue and look forward to the continued robust partnership between Jamaica and the United States.

(Applause.)

MS FRANCIS:  Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister.  And now, Secretary Pompeo.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Thank you, Prime Minister Holness.  Thank you for you and your team welcoming me here to Jamaica House during my first trip to the Caribbean as America’s Secretary of State.

As the prime minister and Foreign Minister Johnson-Smith and I discussed today, we are natural allies, natural friends.  We have a close and historic relationship with Jamaica that is built on a whole lot more than just proximity.  That was clear as far back as 1981, when a great champion of democracy and free markets, Prime Minister Seaga, who sadly passed away this year, had become the first foreign leader to visit President Ronald Reagan at the White House.

It was clear last year too, in March, when President Trump demonstrated the importance of our relationship by hosting a group called the summit of Caribbean leaders at his home at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

More importantly, it is clear every day in the bonds of trade, tourism, and flourishing communities of Jamaican Americans in my home country.

I want to touch on what ties us together more fully in my remarks and the conversation with the foreign minister later this afternoon.

But today in our meeting the prime minister and I strengthened our countries’ friendship and set the table for greater engagement.

In that conversation, I echoed my remarks at the OAS in Washington last week, and my discussions over the last few days in Colombia and in Costa Rica.  The United States is proud that our neighbors believe in multilateralism, and multilateralism that can work to secure a prosperous, stable, peaceful hemisphere of freedom.

A strong, freedom-minded OAS is crucial to that effort.  Prime Minister Holness and I share the goal of empowering that organization.

Development and infrastructure were also on our list of topics today.  Last year, Jamaica became the first Caribbean partner to join our “Growth in the Americas” initiative.  And we’re honored to assist our Caribbean friends in making their countries more attractive to private-sector infrastructure investment.

Because there is so much opportunity, United States companies have already invested nearly $1 billion in energy infrastructure here in Jamaica.

And we want to ensure that all new investments – especially in the technology sector – come from trusted sources who won’t compromise Jamaicans’ security and privacy.  We want the Jamaican people to receive quality, high-level, trusted work on fair terms.

Prime Minister Holness actually raised first security in the region.  It was the first thing we talked about today.  We discussed how we can work together to stop drug flows and transnational crime.

The United States has supported Caribbean nations with more than $600 million in much-needed funding for this fight over this past decade.  Our expectation is those funds will augment homegrown efforts to protect all Caribbean peoples.

I want to commend the prime minister for standing up to the illegitimate, destabilizing Maduro dictatorship and its brutal repression of the Venezuelan people.

I know this hasn’t been easy, but I applaud his leadership, and we will keep working together to help the Venezuelan people have a democratic nation with free and fair elections and a return to prosperity that the Venezuelan people so richly deserve.

Prime Minister Holness, I look forward to working with you and your team in the weeks and months and years ahead.

Thank you once again for your hospitality.  I’ll bring the warmth of our meeting, if not, unfortunately, your amazing weather, back to Washington with me.  Thank you, sir.  (Applause.)

MS FRANCIS:  Thank you, Mr. Secretary, Prime Minister.  And now, ladies and gentlemen of the media, we invite your questions.  Earlier, we had indicated the process for this.  If you could raise your hands, once you do, then we’ll acknowledge you.  I’ll be joined in this segment by my colleague, Ms. Morgan Ortagus, and so let’s take the first question from Jamaica.  Mr. Arthur Hall (ph).

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary of State, quick check for you.  You indicated the friendship between Jamaica and the U.S. and the warm friendship there has been, but in recent times, the U.S. has cancelled the visa of one cabinet minister and a former cabinet minister with no explanation, which has made Jamaica seem like a corrupt state in the international light.  Can you respond, please?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  I can’t respond to the specific in that we don’t talk about decisions that we make on granting visas, but the Jamaican people should know we grant hundreds, thousands of permits for Jamaicans to come travel to America.  You return the favor by allowing – indeed, I have a command to come back here on my own, on a personal visit here to Jamaica from the prime minister.  We have a process by which we evaluate each and every person who seeks entry into the United States.  It is a – it’s an even process, it’s a fair-handed process, and we do our best to make sure that if we get such a decision wrong, we continue to review it so that we can make sure that we’re doing the right thing.  We, just like Jamaica, have security interests when we think about how we approach these problems.  That’s always foremost in our mind.

MS FRANCIS:  Thank you, Mr. Secretary.  Next, from our U.S. colleagues.

MS ORTAGUS:  Elizabeth McLaughlin, ABC News.

QUESTION:  Thank you.  Mr. Secretary, back in Washington, impeachment is front and center.  Have you been tracking the Senate trial during your travels and would you testify if called upon?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  No, and if I’m legally required to testify, as I’ve said before, I’ll be happy to do it.

MS FRANCIS:  Thank you, Mr. Secretary.  Another one from Jamaica, Ms. —

SECRETARY POMPEO:  I just want to make sure.  The “no” was to the question of have I been tracking the impeachment back home.

MS FRANCIS:  Ms. Andrea Chesum (ph).  Go ahead, please.

QUESTION:  Good morning.  Secretary Pompeo, I gather that six CARICOM countries were invited to the high-level meeting today.  Just to be clear, which CARICOM countries were invited?  Could you please explain the connection to the OAS vote on Mr. Tarre?  And how do you respond to criticisms that the specific invitations were linked to the vote?  And how do you respond to the dividing CARICOM that is being perceived as well as the vote to secure OAS on the incumbent secretary general?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Well, I’m happy to answer them, and the prime minister may want to weigh in on this as well.

PRIME MINISTER HOLNESS:  Not really.

(Laughter.)

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Fair enough.  Look, there’s no intent from the United States to divide CARICOM – not yesterday, not today, not tomorrow.  We want all the countries of this region to prosper and be successful.  We know that countries in this region will agree with the United States on certain positions from time to time and disagree with us from time – that’s true for Jamaica as well it’s true for many of the folks that I’ll visit with this afternoon.  We want to invite them all to be part of the economic prosperity, security zone that is this region.  We welcome the leadership that Jamaica has demonstrated in this region, in the CARICOM region.

And then your final point was really about this OAS issue.  We’ve made very clear who we think should be the next leader of the OAS.  We’ve made that clear because we think he has demonstrated his ability to return financial stability to the institution and return this institution to a really important place, a really important place for all member states of the OAS.  And so there’s absolutely no intent to divide.  We have conversations, dialogues with every country.  We’d welcome that.  We want to meet with them all, and we’d welcome them all to participate in all of the conversations that we’re having about the important issues, the things that mattered to the United States of America, we think matter to each and every country in the CARICOM.  And we want to work with them closely to develop out a security-prosperity dialogue with them so that we can all be successful, not divided but together.

PRIME MINISTER HOLNESS:  Let me endorse what the Secretary has said.  Jamaica does not want to see and does not engage in any policy that would divide CARICOM.  CARICOM is an important fraternity of countries.  We are a trading bloc.  We are a custom union.  But more than that, it is the fraternity.  And we want to keep it that way.  In modern diplomatic relations and in the exercise of foreign policy, we all must respect the sovereignty of countries to determine how they structure their foreign policy.  When friends ask to be hosted or for us to host them, we’re friends, and so we do that.  We’re friends with the United States.

So we are happy to host here, not to the exclusion of anyone.  And if anyone wanted to attend, they just have to signal.  From my perspective, we would have done everything to ensure that they are present.  I think the focus has to be for every single member of CARICOM and for every Jamaican to ensure that there is engagement.

So the conversation should be:  How do we get greater engagement?  How are we talking more?  And my interest is to get Jamaica talking with everyone and to strengthening our relationship, particularly with our largest trading partner.  Particularly with our largest security partner.  Particularly because we have over a million U.S. visitors visiting our shores yearly.  We have significant economic, social, and cultural interests.  So we should never seek to create an artificial divide.  Jamaica’s interest is to unite the region for prosperity, freedom, and peace.  (Applause.)

MS ORTAGUS:  Alina Dieste from AFP.

QUESTION:  Good morning.  Thank you for doing this.  Mr. Secretary, President Trump confirmed his administration plans on expanding the travel ban, which targeted several Muslim-majority countries.  Why is it necessary to do so, and which countries will be added?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  I don’t have anything to announce on that today.  I’ll simply state that it is always our policy to make sure that we’re getting security right, to make sure that we work with every country to have processes in place such that when their citizens travel to the United States we can have confidence that there’s not excessive risk to the United States of America.  And so, we will continue to evaluate that.  We are constantly evaluating that, and we will continue to do that.  Our obligation is to ensure that from wherever people are traveling to the United States, that we protect America.

MS FRANCIS:  Thank you, Secretary.  And we’ll allow the prime minister to do a wrap-up statement, following which he will invite you to sign our guestbook.  Thank you so much, too, to members of the media.  Mr. Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER HOLNESS:  Thank you.  I probably didn’t convey how well our meeting went.  I think we had very frank discussions, that Jamaica was able to raise in direct ways our perspective on difficult and complex issues.  And I believe that the United States was equally upfront in their perspectives as well.  Jamaica placed on the table specific requests and areas of cooperation, and I believe that we will see some benefits coming from that.  I think that this meeting is an advanced step in elevating our relationship to an even stronger plane.

Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Thank you all very much.

MS FRANCIS:  Thank you so much, Mr. Prime Minister.  Mr. Secretary.  (Applause.)

FOREING POLICY

U.S. Department of State. 01/22/2020. Secretary Michael R. Pompeo With Kevin Cirilli of Bloomberg. Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State. Kingston, Jamaica. Pegasus Hotel

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, thank you for the interview.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you. Thanks for being with me.

QUESTION: You were recently traveling in Colombia. You met with Venezuelan President Juan Guaido who’s risking his life to meet with world leaders, including yourself, who will be headed to Davos. Are you hopeful that these world meetings will shift the momentum and continue the momentum against the Maduro regime?

SECRETARY POMPEO: I am. When I had a chance to meet with him, he is a great man. He’s also a good leader who cares deeply about the Venezuelan people, the same interest that the United States has. And so I do hope as he meets with European leaders, when he travels to Davos, they too will see that this is a worthy and noble goal that we’re engaged in – restoring democracy. The humanitarian calamity that is Venezuela now – some 6 million people by the end of this year will have fled the country in a country that’s the size of 30 million or so, so 20 percent of the population – this is a staggering humanitarian crisis, one the United States wants to do its best to resolve in a way that can only happen when there are free, fair, democratic elections that lead to the people’s choice to be the leader of that country.

QUESTION: In Colombia, President Duque at the conference cautioned against the threat of Hizballah in the region, and you yourself, sir, said that Hizballah has, quote, “found a home in Venezuela.” How significant of a role does Hizballah play in the region?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Too much. And I mentioned it in Venezuela, but in the Tri-Border Area as well. This is again an area where Iranian influence – we talk about them as the world’s largest state sponsor of terror. We do that intentionally. It’s the world’s largest; it’s not just a Middle East phenomenon. So while – when folks think of Hizballah, they typically think of Syria and Lebanon, but Hizballah has now put down roots throughout the globe and in South America, and it’s great to see now multiple countries now having designated Hizballah as a terrorist organization. It means we can work together to stamp out the security threat in the region.

QUESTION: I’m struck by this, because even hearing you – what you’re saying, right, now – I mean, to take a step back, an Iranian-backed terrorist organization has found a home in America’s backyard.

SECRETARY POMPEO: It’s – it’s something that we’ve been talking about for some time. When you see the scope and reach of what the Islamic Republic of Iran’s regime has done, you can’t forget they tried to kill someone in the United States of America. They’ve conducted assassination campaigns in Europe. This is a global phenomenon. When we say that Iran is the leading destabilizing force in the Middle East and throughout the world, it’s because of this terror activity that they have now spread as a cancer all across the globe.

QUESTION: This past week as you’ve traveled the world, we started in Germany, in Berlin, where you met with world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. You talked – I’m sure you talked about Iran, but as you know, Europe has not always followed the same strategic route as the United States when it comes to Iran. Did your meetings with European leaders move the needle in that direction at all?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yes, sir. Look, they – we’ve been clear. We’ve had a different view on the right way to proceed to make sure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon and that their missile program is contained and that this terror regime we were just talking about is pushed back. They’ve never wavered from the shared objective. They’ve just had a different view about how to proceed. But if you’ve seen what Iran has done even in the past few weeks – right, this nuclear extortion. They’re now threatening to leave the NPT.

So I did, we – I talked with my European counterparts while I was there. They have now taken a step under the JCPOA to invoke the dispute resolution mechanism. I think not only they, but the world can now see that this rogue regime has no intention of complying with the central tenets of what that agreement contained, and the world must unite to ensure that Iran never has a nuclear – when I saw President Macron say that yesterday, I know he means it. Now we need to work together to achieve it.

QUESTION: So when you say they have no intention, then how do you get Tehran to go to the United Nations, to come to the United Nations, to work with the international community aside from the sanctions and the various military response options?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Ultimately, the people of Iran will get what they so richly deserve: a regime that behaves in ways that are consistent with the values sets of the Iranian people. And in the end, the Iranian people will demand of their government – you see it in the protests, you see it when they walk around American flags that were put down by the Islamic Republic’s leadership in an attempt to – so they can show pictures of Iranian people walking over American flags. They’ve got – people go out of their way not to do that.

This isn’t about Iran versus the United States. This is about a regime that has treated its own people terribly. The world can see it. It’s a regime that, even now, the IAEA is trying to figure out how nuclear material got to places that the Iranian leadership said it would not be, and so this is a global risk. President Trump started his remarks the night after an American response by saying Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. It’s our primary purpose. But we have a broader set of objectives here. We just want them to behave like a normal nation and reenter the community of nations.

QUESTION: And traveling with you all week, I mean, I’m struck by just the range of hotspot issues around the world that are going on. Back home, the only thing that they’re talking about is impeachment and the Senate impeachment trial. Did that come up at all in your conversations with world leaders? And has the Senate impeachment trial endangered U.S. interests and reputation around the world?

SECRETARY POMPEO: You know, Kevin, it hasn’t come up today except for I received a question at a press conference about it, so it came up.

QUESTION: And you said you would testify if you were asked.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, I’ve said consistently, if the law required me to testify, I would do so. It hasn’t come up. It almost never comes up in meetings with my counterparts. There’s too many important things going on in the world. America is too close a partner today with countries in the Caribbean region. Here in Kingston they care about so much that we do. They’re such good friends and allies. They see the noise in Washington, but it is not something they would think, in the time that we have between us, that they would raise.

QUESTION: House Democrats are saying that Rudy Giuliani orchestrated a shadow foreign policy, and can you assure diplomats serving overseas, all around the world in dangerous places, that that’s not the case?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, the foreign policy we were executing then is the same foreign policy that we are executing today with respect to Ukraine. It’s an important country. It sits at this crossroads. It’s under enormous pressure from Russia. President Trump has taken actions to counter Russia that President Obama had refused to take. We’ve provided defensive systems for the Ukrainian people so that they can defend themselves. We’ve supported this new leader, President Zelensky, in his efforts to stamp out corruption and to build his democracy. We’re continuing to do that. Our policy with respect to Ukraine has been set on the fundamental principles of reducing the footprint of corruption and helping the Ukrainian people build up a democracy while under threat from the Russians in the east and southeast.

QUESTION: You said that you looked forward to going there, that you have other issues that you want to discuss with them. Are – is that still the case?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, I’m going to get there. I’m going to get there before too long. I had a trip planned, and then we had an issue arise in the Middle East that I had to attend to. While that issue is not behind us and there’s still a lot of work to do there, I’ll get to Ukraine before too long.

QUESTION: To take a step back, why should Americans care about what happens in the Ukraine? What’s the broader theme here? Who’s explaining to the American people why U.S.-Ukraine policy matters to the average American?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah. So Ukraine sits at the edge between democracy and tyranny in the easternmost parts of Europe. This is a nation that gave up its nuclear weapons at the end of the Cold War, and America made a commitment that said we would assist them with a number of things so that they could still be a secure, sovereign nation. We care about democracy everywhere. They’re a huge trading partner for the United States of America. America has a number of interests with respect to Ukraine, and I think the level of resources we’ve committed there reflects that level of interest.

QUESTION: And likewise, in contrast to Russia, you look at the situation, which I know you were in Silicon Valley, I believe, the other week, before embarking on —

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yes, sir, a couple weeks back now.

QUESTION: Oh, and before embarking this trip. And all throughout this region, I’ve seen Huawei buildings, I’ve seen Huawei phones, and what’s your – how do you convince our allies in this region and all throughout the region to not go that route?

SECRETARY POMPEO: There’s not much convincing that needs to be done about the threat from the Chinese Communist Party. They all understand it. Our task is to make sure that the risks are known to these leaders. I talked about it with each leader here that I’ve met with today, ranging from Haiti and the Dominican Republic to Jamaica.

QUESTION: Are they listening? They’re not going to use Huawei?

SECRETARY POMPEO: They’re trying to work their way through a set of complex commercial and national security challenges that they face, and what I want them to know is the United States stands ready to support them, and we want to make sure that they understand the risk. If you put this technology into your system, you risk exposing the people of your country to having their information – their health information, their private information, their financial information – exposed to the Chinese Communist Party. It’s a risk that they’ve all taken on board. We’re working to make sure that there as secure as they can be, and then we are in turn working to make sure that American information that might flow across those networks protects the American people’s privacy.

QUESTION: I just have a couple of final questions. The situation in Lebanon – they’ve had their cabinet, and they’ve got Hizballah connections. Is the U.S. going to work with this new cabinet?

SECRETARY POMPEO: We’ll have to take a look at it. I don’t know the answer to that yet. I saw what happened over the last 24 hours. We’ve been very clear about the requirements for the United States to engage. Lebanon has a terrible financial crisis that lays in front of it in just the weeks ahead. We’re prepared to engage, provide support, but only to a government that’s committed to reform. That’s important for America, but if you look at the protests that are taking place in Beirut and cities outside of Beirut, you can see, just like in Baghdad – go look at the protests in Baghdad – these aren’t anti-American protests; these are protests demanding sovereignty and freedom. The protests taking place today in Lebanon are saying to Hizballah, “No mas.” No more. We want a non-corrupt government that reflects the will of the people of Lebanon. If this government in responsive to that and there’s a new set of leaders that’s prepared to make those commitments and deliver on that, that’s the kind of government that we’ll support around the world and the kind of government we would support in Lebanon.

QUESTION: All right, Mr. Secretary, I know you have a busy schedule. Thank you —

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you.

QUESTION: — for talking to me.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Kevin, thank you so much.

________________

ORGANISMS

EDUCATION

OECD. 22/01/2020. Teenagers’ career expectations narrowing to limited range of jobs, OECD PISA report finds

Paris - Huge changes to the world of work over the past two decades have made little impact on teenagers’ career expectations, which have become more concentrated in fewer occupations, according to a new OECD report.

Dream jobs: Teenagers’ career aspirations and the future of work says 47% of boys and 53 % of girls surveyed in 41 countries expect to work in one of just 10 popular jobs by age of 30. The figures, based on the latest PISA survey of 15-year-olds released last month, reveal a narrowing of expectations as these shares increased by eight percentage points for boys and four percentage points for girls since the 2000 PISA survey.

The report says the narrowing of job choices is driven by young people from more disadvantaged backgrounds and by those who were weaker performers in the PISA tests in reading, mathematics and science.

Traditional 20th century and even 19th century occupations such as doctors, teachers, veterinarians, business managers, engineers and police officers continue to capture the imaginations of young people as they did nearly 20 years ago, before the era of social media and the acceleration of technologies such as artificial intelligence in the workplace.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where the findings were discussed by educationists, business leaders, teachers and school students, OECD Education Director Andreas Schleicher said: “It is a concern that more young people than before appear to be picking their dream job from a small list of the most popular, traditional occupations, like teachers, lawyers or business managers. The surveys show that too many teenagers are ignoring or are unaware of new types of jobs that are emerging, particularly as a result of digitalisation”.

The report finds a broader range of career aspirations in countries with strong, established vocational training for teenagers. In Germany and Switzerland, for instance, fewer than four in ten young people express an interest in just 10 jobs. In Indonesia, on the other hand 52% of girls and 42% of boys anticipate one of just three careers –business managers, teachers and, among girls, doctors or, among boys, the armed forces. German teenagers show a much wider range of career interests, which better reflect actual patterns of labour market demand.

Gender continues to exert a strong influence. Among students who score highly in the PISA tests, it is overwhelmingly boys who more often expect to work in science and engineering. The data also shows that high achievers do not always aim to their potential. High-performing young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds are, on average, four time less likely to hold ambitious aspirations than those with high PISA scores from the most privileged social backgrounds.

The report also points to the frequent misalignment of young people’s career aspirations with the education and qualifications required to achieve them. Addressing this challenge requires ensuring effective systems of career guidance combined with a close engagement with the working world.

The report points to the importance of social and family backgrounds in young people’s career choices and aspirations as well as to the need for clear signals of the requirements of the labour market.

The report is available at www.oecd.org/education/dream-jobs-teenagers-career-aspirations-and-the-future-of-work.htm.

...

This report is part of the OECD’s “I am the Future of Work” campaign, which aims to contribute to a positive future of work transition, helping to transform learning and social protection systems as well as reducing inequalities between people and across regions. See http://futureofwork.oecd.org.

Working with over 100 countries, the OECD is a global policy forum that promotes policies to improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.

FULL REPORT: www.oecd.org/education/dream-jobs-teenagers-career-aspirations-and-the-future-of-work.htm

OCDE. PORTAL G1. BBC. 22/01/2020. Trabalhos dos sonhos de jovens de hoje correm risco de não existir no futuro, diz OCDE. Levantamento a partir de dados do Pisa aponta possível desconexão entre expectativas profissionais e mercado de trabalho futuro, principalmente entre jovens de baixa renda.

Algumas profissões, nas áreas médicas e sociais, correm baixo risco de automação; outras podem acabar sendo rapidamente substituídas por máquinas e algoritmos

Os jovens atuais do mundo têm, em média, mais anos de estudo do que qualquer geração que veio antes deles. E, no entanto, eles vêm tendo grande dificuldade em se inserir no mercado de trabalho e em conciliar o que aprendem na escola com o que é esperado do ambiente profissional.

Além disso, uma parcela considerável desses jovens sonha com profissões que correm o risco de não existir no futuro: podem ser automatizadas pelo avanço da tecnologia.

A avaliação acima é o ponto de partida do relatório Emprego dos Sonhos?, lançado nesta quarta-feira (22/1) pela OCDE (Organização para a Cooperação e Desenvolvimento Econômico) durante o Fórum Econômico Mundial, trazendo dados sobre aspirações profissionais futuras de cerca de 600 mil jovens de 15 anos em 79 países e territórios, entre eles o Brasil.

As entrevistas com os jovens foram feitas em 2018, durante a aplicação do Pisa, exame internacional que mede o desempenho de estudantes em matemática, leitura e ciências. Aos 15 anos de idade, a maioria dos participantes do exame caminhava para o fim do ciclo da educação básica e se preparava para a escolha da educação superior — e também de o que quer fazer na vida profissional.

E o que a pesquisa identificou é que a maioria dos jovens sonha com um número limitado de carreiras, bastante parecidas às citadas por jovens entrevistados na mesma pesquisa oito anos antes, durante o Pisa 2000.

Para meninos, na média, as ocupações dos sonhos mais citadas são, nesta ordem: engenheiro, administrador de empresas, médico, profissional de TI, atleta, professor, policial, mecânico de veículos, advogado e arquiteto. Para meninas, as ocupações mais citadas são médica, professora, administradora de empresas, advogada, enfermeira ou parteira, psicóloga, designer, veterinária, policial e arquiteta. Não foram divulgados dados específicos de cada país, apenas uma média global.

Para a OCDE, há ao menos duas questões importantes a serem debatidas: será que essas aspirações vão refletir as necessidades do ambiente profissional do futuro? E será que os jovens — principalmente os de baixa renda — estão recebendo a educação e a orientação corretas para fazer boas escolhas para seu futuro profissional?

'Expectativas de carreiras mudaram pouco'

"Enquanto o mundo passou por grandes mudanças desde o Pisa 2000, os resultados mostram que as expectativas de carreiras dos jovens mudaram pouco desde então", diz o relatório da OCDE. "Ficaram, inclusive, mais concentrados em menos ocupações. Na pesquisa de 2018, 47% dos meninos e 53% das meninas de 41 países e economias (os que também participaram do Pisa 2000) dizem que esperam trabalhar em um dos dez trabalhos mais citados quando chegarem aos 30 anos."

No Brasil — onde 11 mil alunos participaram do Pisa —, 70% das meninas e 60% dos meninos sonham com as mesmas dez carreiras, semelhantes às citadas acima.

É bom lembrar que jovens costumam sofrer, em muitos países, com taxas de desemprego superiores às da população em geral. Entre os jovens brasileiros de 18 a 24 anos, por exemplo, o desemprego passava de 25%, segundo dados de novembro de 2019, contra a taxa geral de 11%.

"Parece que, ao longo de sua escolarização, os jovens têm dificuldade em desenvolver entendimentos mais bem informados e sutis sobre o mercado de trabalho e como podem se engajar nele", conclui a OCDE, destacando "preocupação quanto à extensão em que crianças estão sendo preparadas para os empregos do futuro".

Essas carreiras vão continuar a existir?

A maioria das carreiras nas áreas médicas e sociais tendem a ter baixo risco de serem substituídas por máquinas no curto prazo, diz a entidade. No entanto, para além de alguns dos trabalhos mais cobiçados, "muitos jovens selecionaram (em suas aspirações) trabalhos que correm alto risco de automação", aponta o estudo da OCDE.

"No total, 39% dos trabalhos citados pelos participantes do Pisa, em média pelos países da OCDE, correm o risco de serem automatizados ao longo dos próximos cinco ou dez anos."

Esse risco varia de país para país e também é influenciado pela educação e pelo nível socioeconômico dos trabalhadores: quanto mais baixo for esse nível, maior é o risco de eles terem seus empregos substituídos por computadores ou pela Inteligência Artificial.

Embora o relatório da OCDE não detalhe quais profissões escolhidas por jovens estão mais sob risco de automação, pesquisas prévias já haviam se debruçado nesse assunto.

O relatório Futuro do Emprego 2018, do Fórum Econômico Mundial (WEF, na sigla em inglês), lista funções que tendem a se tornar cada vez mais "redundantes" à presença da Inteligência Artificial e, portanto, correm o risco de serem substituídas por robôs, drones ou algoritmos. Entre essas funções estão: advogados, contadores, mecânicos, motoristas de veículos, bancários, trabalhadores fabris, auditores, gerentes administrativos e caixas de lojas.

Quase 50% das empresas entrevistadas pelo Fórum Econômico Mundial preveem que a automação provocará demissões de seus empregados até 2022. Ao mesmo tempo, 38% delas esperam contratar mais gente para funções que elevem sua produtividade, gerando outro tipo de emprego com exigências de outro tipo de qualificação.

Os empregos considerados em ascensão pelo relatório do WEF são analistas e cientistas de dados, especialistas em TI ou Big Data, desenvolvedores de softwares, especialistas em redes sociais e comércio digital, entre outros.

"Em 2022, (as empresas preveem que) nada menos que 54% de todos os funcionários vão precisar de um significativo aumento de suas habilidades", diz o texto.

Relatório do Fórum Econômico Mundial listou funções que podem se tornar redundantes pela automação

Como preparar os jovens para as novas demandas?

De volta ao relatório da OCDE, a entidade conclui que parece haver uma desconexão entre o que os jovens de agora anteveem para seu futuro profissional e o que encontrarão, de fato, ao procurarem emprego, em um futuro próximo.

"Parece que os sinais do mercado profissional não estão conseguindo alcançar os mais jovens: empregos acessíveis e bem remunerados não parecem captar a imaginação dos adolescentes", diz a organização. "Muitos jovens, particularmente meninos de origem desvantajosa (socioeconomicamente), querem empregos que correm alto risco de automação."

É possível, diz o relatório, que esses meninos sequer tenham tido qualquer contato, ao longo de sua vida escolar, com informações a respeito de como encaixar suas ambições pessoais no ambiente profissional do futuro. "Estudantes não conseguem ser algo que eles sequer conseguem ver", diz o texto.

Na pesquisa realizada durante o Pisa 2018, jovens de baixa renda tinham menor probabilidade de terem pesquisado na internet sobre carreiras futuras, de terem conversado com conselheiros vocacionais e de terem visitado ambientes profissionais ou feiras de emprego.

Entre as recomendações da entidade estão que todos os jovens tenham a oportunidade, dentro do ambiente educativo, de entrar em contato com novas profissões, por exemplo, em estágios temporários, visitas ou trabalhos meio período.

Mais ainda, recomenda que esses jovens tenham acesso a algum tipo de mentoria, que ajude-os a "refletir sobre quem eles são e quem querem se tornar, e a pensar criticamente sobre a relação entre suas escolhas educacionais e vida econômica futura. (...) Pela exposição a pessoas de diferentes empregos, os jovens têm a chance de desafiar estereótipos de classe e gênero e ampliar suas aspirações, facilitando sua entrada no mercado de trabalho".

Como serão as profissões do futuro?

Ensinar além de conhecimento acadêmico

A OCDE destaca também a importância de os jovens atuais aprenderem não apenas conteúdo, mas habilidades socioemocionais que lhes permitam transitar com mais facilidade pelo ambiente profissional futuro.

"A nova geração de cidadãos exige não apenas fortes habilidades acadêmicas, mas também curiosidade, imaginação, empatia, empreendedorismo e resiliência", diz o relatório. "Eles vão precisar de autoconfiança e determinação para criar seu próprio emprego e gerenciar suas carreiras de novas formas."

Para dar conta disso, as escolas precisarão "ir além das tradicionais técnicas de ensino".

"Não apenas elas terão de oferecer aos alunos o conhecimento relevante para seu futuro emprego, como também precisarão desenvolver neles habilidades para que sejam pessoalmente eficientes em aplicar esse conhecimento em ambientes em mutação. (...) Boas escolas vão ajudar os jovens a se tornar pensadores críticos sobre o mercado de trabalho e sobre como ele se relaciona ao seu aprendizado."

________________

ECONOMIA BRASILEIRA / BRAZIL ECONOMICS

ÍNDIA

MRE. 17 de janeiro de 2020. Visita do Presidente Jair Bolsonaro à Índia

O Secretário de Negociações Bilaterais na Ásia, Pacífico e Rússia, Reinaldo Salgado concedeu briefing à imprensa a respeito da visita do presidente Jair Bolsonaro à Índia, que ocorrerá entre 25 e 27 de janeiro.

VÍDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79fLWS3uRYI

POLÍTICA EXTERNA

MRE. 27/12/2019. Ministro Ernesto Araújo faz balanço da política externa brasileira em 2019

VÍDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb4vXP0UIac&t=243s

CONTAS PÚBLICAS

PR. 21/01/2020. CONTAS PÚBLICAS. Lei do Orçamento da União para 2020 é sancionada. A seguridade social terá recursos da ordem de mais de R$ 1,189 trilhão. Sancionada Lei do Orçamento. A receita da União está estimada em mais de R$ 3 trilhões

O presidente da República, Jair Bolsonaro, sancionou sem vetos a Lei 13.978, que estima a receita e fixa a despesa da União para o exercício financeiro de 2020. A sanção foi publicada no Diário Oficial da União (DOU) dessa segunda-feira (20). O texto-base da lei é oriundo do PLN 22/2019, aprovado pelo Congresso em 17 de dezembro.

A norma prevê R$ 2 bilhões para o Fundo Especial de Financiamento de Campanha (FEFC), a ser utilizado nas eleições municipais de outubro. Este valor foi proposto pelo governo em novembro passado. A receita da União está estimada em mais de R$ 3 trilhões e a despesa é fixada em igual montante. A seguridade social terá recursos da ordem de mais de R$ 1,189 trilhão. Para o refinanciamento da dívida pública federal são destinados mais de R$ 917 bilhões.

A lei orçamentária foi sancionada com R$ 18,4 bilhões em emendas parlamentares, dos quais R$ 15,4 bilhões são impositivas, ou seja, de execução obrigatória.

MINERAÇÃO

MME. 10/01/2020. Albuquerque convida representantes diplomáticos europeus para apresentar objetivos do Governo na mineração

O Ministro de Minas e Energia, Bento Albuquerque, reuniu-se esta semana com representantes de diversos países da Europa para situar as comunidades europeias sobre a mineração no Brasil e as diversas questões que envolvem o setor, assim como a sua importância para a economia e o desenvolvimento do país.

Entre os presentes estavam representantes diplomáticos da França, Suécia, Alemanha, Espanha, Portugal, Itália, Polônia, Bélgica, Dinamarca, Eslovênia, República Tcheca, Hungria, Países Baixos, e também da União Europeia, que representa 27 países do Continente Europeu.

A reunião foi aberta pelo Ministro Bento Albuquerque, que destacou a importância do tema para o Governo Bolsonaro em relação ao desenvolvimento sustentável de áreas indígenas, bem como sua ênfase para com o setor de mineração.

O Ministro discorreu sobre as riquezas existentes em boa parte dos territórios indígenas e explicou que a exploração de recursos nessas áreas foi uma opção feita pelo povo brasileiro na Constituição Federal de 1988, conforme está previsto no parágrafo 3º do Artigo 231.

De acordo com o dispositivo Constitucional, o aproveitamento dos recursos hídricos, incluídos os potenciais energéticos, a pesquisa e a lavra das riquezas minerais em terras indígenas só podem ser efetivados com autorização do Congresso Nacional, ouvidas as comunidades afetadas, ficando-lhes assegurada participação nos resultados da lavra, na forma da lei.

Albuquerque também destacou aos representantes diplomáticos que lideranças expressivas de muitas das mais de 600 comunidades indígenas existentes no Brasil demandam ações do Governo junto ao Congresso Nacional para permitir a exploração das riquezas existentes em suas áreas, a fim de garantir um desenvolvimento sustentável com sua participação nos resultados.

Entre os temas ligados à mineração, a exploração mineral em áreas indígenas foi um dos mais abordados no encontro, que contou com a participação do Secretário de Geologia, Mineração e Transformação Mineral do MME, Alexandre Vidigal, que fez aos embaixadores e demais representantes diplomáticos longa e oportuna explanação sobre o tema.

Na ocasião, Vidigal apresentou alguns projetos e programas do Ministério, mostrando o propósito do governo Bolsonaro de ampliar a exploração mineral no país. De acordo com o Secretário, 40% do território brasileiro possui hoje algumas barreiras que impedem o avanço da mineração, como a faixa de fronteira, as áreas indígenas, as Unidades de Conservação e áreas com cavernas.

“Neste tema há muita desinformação, e é importante que a comunidade internacional ouça o que o Governo tem a dizer e não se prenda à informações externas equivocadas”, enfatizou Vidigal, acrescentando que, ao final do encontro, a impressão manifestada pelos representantes foi extremamente positiva.

“Ficaram todos muito bem impressionados com o que temos a dizer e a fazer enquanto Governo. E mostramos, nesta ocasião, que queremos, sim, fazer mineração no Brasil, porém, não a qualquer preço, mas de forma sustentável e com responsabilidade. E é importante afirmar que temos mecanismos para isso e é nessa linha que iremos atuar”, concluiu Vidigal.

A intenção do Ministro Bento Albuquerque é que esta seja apenas a primeira de tantas outras reuniões que pretende realizar junto aos blocos latino, africano, asiático e assim por diante.

ENERGIA

MME. REUTERS. 22 DE JANEIRO DE 2020. Brasil começa discussão sobre adesão à Opep em julho, diz ministro de Minas e Energia
Por Nidhi Verma

NOVA DÉLHI (Reuters) - O Brasil começará discussões sobre adesão à Organização dos Países Exportadores de Petróleo (Opep) durante uma visita à Arábia Saudita em julho, disse o ministro de Minas e Energia, Bento Albuquerque, nesta quarta-feira.

“Eu tenho uma visita à Arábia Saudita no meio do ano, e então nós poderemos começar a discussão”, disse Albuquerque à Reuters, acrescentando que a entrada do país no grupo não aconteceria neste ano.

O presidente Jair Bolsonaro insinuou a ideia de uma adesão à Opep em outubro passado, mas a possível entrada no cartel não foi bem recebida pelo setor de petróleo, uma vez que produtores temem que nesse caso o Brasil tenha que aderir a cortes de produção acertados entre a Opep e outros produtores.

Questionado sobre se o país iria restringir sua produção em linha com termos da Opep, Albuquerque afirmou: “É uma questão de negociação, nós temos que começar discussões.”

“A Arábia Saudita está na presidência do G20. Eu estarei lá em julho, e então nós podemos começar a discutir... nós temos que começar discussões sobre uma associação à Opep.”

Tanto a produção quanto as exportações de petróleo do Brasil estão em alta no momento.

O ministro afirmou também que 2020 será um ano melhor para o Brasil, com a produção estimada em 3,5 milhões de barris por dia (bpd), contra 3,1 milhões de bpd em 2019.

Já as exportações devem chegar a 1,4 milhão de bpd de petróleo em 2020, ante 1,1 milhão de bpd em 2019.

Em geral, o Brasil quer produzir 4,3 milhões de barris de óleo equivalente por dia (boedp) em 2020, ou 13% a mais que em 2019, segundo Albuquerque.

“Nós vamos também aumentar nossa exploração de petróleo e gás. Nós continuaremos com nossos leilões, temos planejados três leilões para 2020”, afirmou.

Ele também disse que o Brasil está confortável com os atuais preços do petróleo, com o Brent, referência internacional, em cerca de 64 dólares o barril, valor apontado como “justo” por Albuquerque.

PETROBRAS. 22/01/2020. Petrobras sobre oferta pública de ações do BNDES

A Petrobras informa que o Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social – BNDES protocolou, junto à CVM, o pedido de registro da oferta pública secundária de até 734.202.699 ações ordinárias de emissão da Petrobras e de titularidade do BNDES. A Petrobras informa, ainda, que foram disponibilizados, na presente data, o Aviso ao Mercado e o Prospecto Preliminar da oferta.

As ações serão distribuídas simultaneamente, por meio de uma oferta pública de distribuição secundária:

(i)    no Brasil (Oferta Brasileira), realizada nos termos da Instrução CVM nº 400 e demais disposições legais aplicáveis, bem como do contrato de distribuição da Oferta Brasileira (Contrato de Distribuição da Oferta Brasileira), com esforços de colocação das ações no exterior; e

(ii)    no exterior (Oferta Internacional), sob a forma de American Depositary Shares (ADSs), representados por American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), realizada nos termos do U.S. Securities Act of 1933, conforme alterado e do Contrato de Distribuição da Oferta Internacional (Oferta Internacional e, em conjunto com a Oferta Brasileira, a Oferta Global).

Este fato relevante não deve ser considerado como anúncio de oferta, cuja realização dependerá de aprovação da CVM e da SEC, bem como de condições favoráveis dos mercados de capitais nacional e internacional.

Os demais termos e condições da Oferta Global estão devidamente descritos e detalhados no Aviso ao Mercado e no Prospecto Preliminar da Oferta Global, disponíveis no site da companhia (www.petrobras.com.br/ri).

INDÚSTRIA

FGV. IBRE. 22/01/20. Sondagens e Índices de Confiança. Prévia da Sondagem da Indústria. Prévia da Sondagem da Indústria sinaliza alta em janeiro

A prévia da Sondagem da Indústria de janeiro de 2020 sinaliza alta de 1,1 ponto do Índice de Confiança da Indústria (ICI) em relação ao número final de dezembro de 2019, para 100,5 pontos, o mesmo valor de abril de 2018.

O aumento da confiança nesse mês seria em decorrência da melhora das expectativas dos empresários em relação aos próximos três e seis meses. O Índice de Expectativas indica crescimento de 2,4 pontos, para 101,6 pontos, o maior valor desde junho de 2018 (102,3 pontos). Em sentido contrário, o Índice de Situação Atual cairia 0,3 ponto, para 99,3 pontos.

O resultado preliminar de janeiro indica aumento de 0,4 ponto percentual do Nível de Utilização da Capacidade Instalada da Indústria (NUCI), para 75,5%, o mesmo valor de setembro de 2019.

DOCUMENTO: https://portalibre.fgv.br/navegacao-superior/noticias/previa-da-sondagem-da-industria-sinaliza-alta-em-janeiro.htm

MEconomia. 21/01/2020. ECONOMIA. Brasil terá primeiro centro afiliado ao Fórum Econômico Mundial focado na indústria 4.0. Objetivo é preparar as empresas do País para a quarta revolução industrial

O secretário especial de Produtividade, Emprego e Competitividade do Ministério da Economia (Sepec/ME), Carlos Da Costa, anuncia nesta quarta-feira (22/1), em Davos, na Suíça, a instalação do primeiro centro afiliado ao Fórum Econômico Mundial focado na indústria 4.0 (C4IR) no Brasil.

O Centro deverá entrar em operação ainda no primeiro semestre de 2020.

As metas são estimular a adoção de novas tecnologias e melhorar a inserção do Brasil nas cadeias globais de valor, ampliando a competitividade e a produtividade das empresas brasileiras.

Esta é uma iniciativa do governo federal (Ministério da Economia – SEPEC), do Governo do Estado de São Paulo (Secretaria de Desenvolvimento Econômico) e do Fórum Econômico Mundial, que visa acelerar e escalar a adoção de tecnologias emergentes, como Internet das Coisas e Inteligência Artificial, abordando os principais desafios econômicos, sociais e de desenvolvimento.

O C4IR Brasil será uma parceria público-privada, concebida pelo Ministério da Economia e pelo Governo do Estado de São Paulo e apoiada por empresas de atuação global.

Os painelistas, por ordem de fala, serão: Marisol Argueta, Chefe da América Latina e Membro do Conselho Executivo do Fórum Econômico Mundial ; Carlos Da Costa, secretário especial de Produtividade, Emprego e Competitividade do Ministério da Economia (Sepec/ME) e o governador de São Paulo, João Doria.

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LGCJ.: