Business

September 18, 2000

U.S. official sees Hispanics
taking larger role in Americas

HispanicVista.com

MIAMI — White House Special Envoy to the Americas Kenneth “Buddy” McKay describes the economic and cultural factors drawing the United States closer to its neighbors in the Western Hemisphere as “a continuing blending of our lives, our politics, and our fortunes.”

In a September 14 speech to the Miami Herald Americas Conference, he said that “no group in the U.S. will have a greater expansion of opportunity than Hispanic Americans” as a result of this trend.

Not only will the influential Hispanic electorate have a decisive impact on the U.S. presidential election in November, he added, but “this election will be the beginning of the long-overdue shift from an exclusive East-West focus, to an emphasis on the Americas — North-South — where our future lies.”

McKay explained that the U.S. exported more to Honduras than to Russia. By 2013, U.S. trade in this hemisphere will exceed its trade with Europe and Asia combined.

“This next 54 days of the presidential campaign will sharpen the focus on the role that Latinos can and will play in the development of this country's strategies and politics regarding the Americas,” McKay said. “I personally believe our 30 million-plus Latino population will prove this country’s biggest asset.”