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Fulbright Association
1100 G Street, N.W.
Suite 525
Washington, D.C. 20005
Phone: (202) 347-5543
Fax: (202) 347-6540 |
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Council on Foreign Relations President
Richard Haass Gives Tribute to
Fernando Henrique Cardoso |
| I
want to begin by thanking all you Fulbrighters for your tolerance and
generosity to allow a non-Fulbright scholar, but even worse, a Rhodes
scholar, to be here to speak this afternoon. It is a true tribute to be asked to give a tribute to Dr. Fernando
Henrique Cardoso, who, as I expect you may know, for eight years held the
job of president of
Brazil. But it is particularly
fitting, I would argue, that the tribute be the J. William Fulbright Prize
for International Understanding.
|
| I
first met Senator Fulbright nearly 30 years ago. It was my first job in
Washington
when I came here—and he exemplified a scholar practitioner, someone also
who had gone through
Oxford
and then came to
Washington
and truly made a difference, a positive difference.
|
| And
today we honor a man who is also a scholar practitioner—or as we like to
call them in this country, an “in and outer,” and, again, someone who
has made a difference both in and out. |
| Let
me begin, though, with the man, the scholar. Professor Cardoso has written with authority and sensitivity about an
extraordinary range of subjects—about race, about development, about
Brazil’s relationship to the region and the world. In so doing, he has shown a willingness to tackle controversial and
complex subjects, and he has done so in a manner that built bridges rather
than barriers, which, again, is what international understanding, what this
tribute is all about. But we
also honor a man today, and I speak of the same man, by the way, who was and
remains a stout defender of democracy, of the rule of law, of elections, of
civil society. He did all of
this when he was outside of government and outside of power. He created a think tank. He
helped to draft a constitution. He
helped to found a political party. |
| But,
perhaps, no less important—indeed, arguably more important—President
Cardoso’s commitment to democracy continued when he held power. Democracy at its core, I would suggest, is about limits on the
concentration of power, both within a government and between a government
and society. It is one thing to
show a commitment to democracy when you do not hold power—both important
and impressive—but to me, it is in some ways more impressive to show a
commitment to the true spirit of democracy and the limits of power when you
do enjoy it. And, again, such
ideas are central to the idea of international understanding. |
| And
let me just for a second return to what this gentleman did when he did enjoy
power, as foreign minister, as finance minister, and as president. More than anyone else, and I have checked with a good number of
economists on this, more than anyone else he deserves credit for bringing an
end to the hyper-inflation that for so long characterized and ultimately
threatened
Brazil. |
| Also
in the area of economics, in the area of privatization, he was responsible
for privatizing more than $90 billion worth of government-owned enterprises
across the economic spectrum. |
| And
land reform. More than 600,000
families were resettled during the administration of President Cardoso,
three times as many as had been resettled in the previous three decades. He created a ministry of defense headed by a civilian—something we
take for granted in this country but, again, a tremendous innovation in the context of Brazil and Latin America. |
| And
in the area of education, he placed a special emphasis on primary school
enrollments, which during his tenure rose by something on the order of 100
percent. In foreign policy,
President Cardoso convened the first ever summit of South American
presidents and created connections between
Brazil and other countries of the hemisphere. |
| But
returning to something that I mentioned before, I actually think in some
ways his most impressive accomplishment came at the end of his tenure—at
the end of eight years, at the end of being a two-term president and what he
did for the first time in something like four decades in Brazil. He handed over power peacefully, voluntarily, and lawfully to his
successor—again, something we tend to take for granted in this country,
but something I have learned not to take for granted here or anywhere else
in the world. |
| I
would like to add one more thing, which overlaps with my recent tenure in
the State Department.What I saw
was the growth in consultations between our two countries. And what we have seen is the gradual maturation and improvement in
our bilateral relationship so now that we discuss not simply bilateral
issues but also regional issues and global issues, and we discuss them in a
serious way that, I would believe, is for the betterment of both governments
and beyond. |
| But
also, on those awful days after 9/11, it was in large part thanks to
President Cardoso and his government that the reaction in this hemisphere
was as robust as it was—there was the invocation of the Rio Treaty. And we saw a coming together of governments and peoples in
Latin America around and in defense of the United States, against the idea of terrorism. And,
again, I think what we all realized, yet again, was that this was an
individual who is a true friend of the
United States. |
For
all these reasons, it is my honor here this afternoon to compliment the
Fulbright Association for its very good judgment and to compliment
President Cardoso for all of his good judgment and for translating this good
judgment over the years into deeds that have done so much for so many. |
| See also: |
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