 Good morning. And thank you so much for joining us. Very, very important conversation that we're about to have. I am honored as US Ambassador to Costa Rica to accompany President Rodrigo Chavez-Robles and his wonderful members of his cabinet, his delegation here to Washington and more specifically to our conference this morning. So I want to first mention that we are again very grateful to Institute of Peace for having hosted this event. It is a venerable wonderful institution that is a model really for the world in terms of seeking solutions to conflict, to global conflict. So thank you again for doing this. We're grateful to President Elise Grande and the USIP team for facilitating again this conversation for what is really for the leader of one of the hemisphere's most dynamic and most committed democracies. And those of you who have studied international relations and history over time, I'm sure, can attest to the fact and I certainly do, that Costa Rica arguably has been the United States most reliable and constant ally across many decades. As you study Latin American history, you will see kind of the vicissitudes there are relationships with many countries. The Costa Rica has been constant in this regard. And for that reason, I think that it's critically important first to focus on friends of Costa Rica who have been incredibly important allies and who will be increasingly important as we see the evolving situation in Latin America. I need not, I think, point out, but I will, that we are seeing some very disturbing trends in Latin America, which I'm sure you're aware of, that threaten democracy, a whole variety from a convergence of factors. And it has to do in part with the influence of formal line actors who would seek to undermine democracy and to impose a more authoritarian regime. It has to do even with a huge surge of narcotics trafficking, which also is permeating many institutions, including governmental institutions, and that in fact also because of the impact on corruption threatens democracy. So we have significant challenges and we have challenges all over the world clearly in Ukraine and many other places. My concern is, as kind of a student of Latin American history and also someone who grew up in Costa Rica, I'll tell you in a minute, my concern is for way too long Latin America has been the subject of benign neglect. Fortunately, President Biden has a keen interest in Latin America. He's visited the region like 18 times more than any other president, mostly during the time that he was vice president. So we are seeing now a turn in our policy and our interests or our focus in Latin America. But I would like to ask all of you who are leaders in your own right to make sure that we maintain this very critically important focus now more than ever, not only because there are neighbors who will support, many who have supported us across many difficult times, but because as we enter into an increasingly challenging world, it is critically important at this inflection point that we extend our hand and work closely and support our neighbors. So I just wanted to start with, it was not part of my remarks, but I thought I really wanted to make that point to you. But anyway, it has been my pleasure since May of last year to work very closely with President Chavez and with his team, and it has been an incredible experience. I have found them to be, again, very reliable and honest partners, and something that has been, can you hear me? No, okay, great. His team has continued, Costa Rica's tradition of partnering with the United States to promote democracy, human rights, rule of law, economic opportunity throughout the Western hemisphere. Our shared agenda is broad and deep. We've worked on so many different issues together, whether it's advancing economic prosperity and opportunities, which is critically important to the region, in order to maintain political stability. We are working to facilitate an orderly migration, and that has been challenging given that, as you know, there's been enormous surge. And even recently, just in the last few weeks, we have another increasing number of migrants coming through the Darien Gap, and very, very concerning because of the very treacherous journey that they're embarking. We're also strengthening regional security through our strong law enforcement and judicial cooperation, and very importantly, also working together to ensure cybersecurity for Costa Rica. You may know Costa Rica hosted the second Summit for Democracy earlier this year. Again, a demonstration of our shared values. Again, and it's an essential partner in terms of human rights. You may know that Costa Rica has over and over again. It's always punching above its weight. And whether it's in international organizations like the United Nations or OAS, it calls out other governments for not having free and fair elections, for imprisonment of political persons, and on and on. And even President Chavez has specifically called out Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, and soon thereafter, coincidentally, they had some cyber attacks. But what I wanted to mention here, and I think it's quite important, is not only that this government has been an important ally to us, they have been steadfast again in their support of democracy. And it's not easy right now, guys. If you look at the what's going on in Latin America, you will see some very troubling trends, things shifting in the wrong direction all over Latin America. Whether it's Central America, or South America, very, very concerning. Costa Rica, again, as tradition of democracy, has been steadfast in its support. And what I would like to mention also is President Chavez, who we're very honored to have here today, has been a hero as far as I'm concerned in this regard. He has, it has taken, in order to really push back on these incredible forces, whether it's the drug trafficking, which is, again, really taking over and permeating, and whether it's foreign malign actors, whether it's protecting this country in terms of cybersecurity, and also trying to ensure that they are able to engage with a trusted provider. Whatever that is, he has been steadfast. This is a man who not only is committed to his values, but who has integrity and very important great courage. It takes a lot of courage these days, guys, to be able to deal with these forces. So I want you to give him a very, very warm welcome. We are so honored to have President Rodrigo Chavez Robles. Thank you very much. You are very kind. Cynthia, my dear friend, Cynthia Tejes, Costa Rica can not only brag about or ask bragging rights about being one of the strongholds of democracy, but we also brag we have the best U.S. ambassador anywhere in the world. It's a great, great honor for the people of Costa Rica, whom I have the blessing of representing, to be able to share with you today what does it take to be a successful member or kind of the worst form of government except for others. I think somebody that you may remember, Mr. Churchill said that. That thing that we love, those rules of the game, because that's what democracy is, is not the score. It's the rules of the game that we love. He said it's the worst form of government except for others. And by God, it is. And we need to continue improving it. So I'm here at the U.S. Institute of Peace, where the United States and Costa Rica share joint aspirations that a world without violent conflict is possible, practical, and in fact essential for global security, but for the quality of life of people. I would like to congratulate the U.S. Institute of Peace for your work with governments and civil societies in the world to build local capacities and handle conflict peacefully as well to fertilize and promote democracy in the world. Democracy is indispensable, I believe, and my people believe for human security. It's part of living in the good life, living in prosperity. Democracy will design an inclusive with political institutions that do what those famous immortal words remind us every day, the government of the people for the people and by the people, not unknown to all of you, but resonating throughout the world. That democracy, the processes in the rules of the game that prevent violence, that manage conflict constructively, that respect human rights and allow for public participation are essential, indispensable for meeting humanity's highest objectives. What's the thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word democracy, the brand name of democracy, the first thing that shows into your mind? Well, the power of the people coming all the way from the Greeks, the act of holding free and fair elections in which a system in which people have a say in how they are governed, who governs them. Democracy is not only choosing who governs. Democracy now in the 21st century has additional responsibilities. We have principles. You have them in your country, in the United States, in the democracies of Europe, in Costa Rica. We have numerous principles that support the foundations to keep democracy stable and functioning, including protecting and promoting peace, human rights, economic progress, healthcare, education, fundamental freedoms and security among others, each contributing to democracy. What does economic prosperity have to do with democracy? Somebody may say, well, in order for democracy to survive in a world where ideas are subject to contest, where there is an epistemological evolution of ideas, of forms of government, of alternative political institutions. If democracy does not deliver a minimum quality of life, a minimum standard of living, believe me, I don't need to tell you democracy will be replaced. It is easy to understand how monarchies moved from an on democratic system to another on democratic system. May you remind me 1918, and now I'm getting off my speaking notes. That's easy to understand, from monarchy to the monarchy of a party. But we see and have seen constantly in Latin America movements from democracy to non-democratic regimes. How could it be if democracy was the worst form of government, except that one to which those countries moved is because democracies have been taken over. By groups that do not pursue the happiness and the well-being of the majority, that they wear a mask of democratic values to take advantage through corruption, to be negligent in the provision of public services. Having we seen protests in Latin America, massive protests as to why in certain cities in South America, I don't want to mention the country, I love them. We're not collecting garbage, and we have seen movements from democracy to non-democratic regimes. So we need to keep that in mind. Democracy has to be profitable to the people that hold it, all society on their shoulders. And if they were to shrug, it would collapse. Yet there have been governments, as I said, who have wasted public resources, who haven't reached their members illegally and corruptly, and who have not attended the needs of the people, because those governments were not in Lincoln's words for the people. So Costa Rica has been a democracy, one of the oldest democracies in the region. And a democracy that has promoted negotiation over confrontation, social development over military spending, and tolerance over hostility. 1948, our nation abolished the military, all forms of military, except in situations of national emergency. It's in our constitution. The country then assigned considerable resources towards health and education, which have been fundamental in the successful story of our democracy. What does it take to be a successful democracy? Costa Rica's answer from the top of our lungs, we scream. We say hard work and absolute commitment. Democracy is not a bad weed that you just let it grow and would overtake all other forms of government. On the contrary, democracy needs constant work, constant improvement, constant inclusion. It has to be profitable for the majority of people in the good sense, in the sense of being able, as those famous words, every person has the right to pursue its own happiness. But not only to pursue it in a way in today's world, they need to also achieve it. And if we don't provide that space, that opportunity, at least the quality of opportunities, not the quality of outcomes, that's something else. But at least the quality of opportunities our democracies will be on their attack and will be vulnerable. Attacks on democracy? There are people who don't like those rules of the game. There are people who like to capture those rules of the game, maybe bribe the referees, maybe commit foul without being caught. And that's not democracy anymore. That's a manipulated set of rules of the game. And that's something that we, the people who love those rules of the game, may not like the outcome sometimes. We may not like this course sometimes, but we have to commit to the rules of the game. That's something that we have to keep in mind. We do have a responsibility to protect those. What does it take to be a successful democracy? To realize that the rules of the game have to be maintained. They have to be fair. They have to be implemented. They have to be monitored. That we good peoples of the world will not let anybody in our own countries and overseas or elsewhere violate those rules. You need to stand. The first thing that you need to be a successful democracy is to maintain it in its essential, in its chemical purity. In this room, I am honored that there are representatives of civil society, academics, media, policy makers, diplomats, politicians, and other important stakeholders. I tell you, our responsibility is to defend and promote democratic principles within our surroundings. We may not agree about what does it mean exactly. I have very good friends who think that part of democracy is a quality of outcomes. That's a position that I respect. I do believe that nobody would challenge the notion that certainly a quality of opportunities should be part of democracy, but some people also challenge that. How come we spend money educating those or protecting the children of those who were not wise and hardworking enough to provide for them? Well, my country says democracy, our system of government, knows there are externalities. Thou shalt not inherit thy father's sin, and that society has to come provide healthcare and education for the unprotected. Those are debatable, reasonable, debatable points, and that's fine. But among that diversity of opinions, we all have something in common. We want the best for our people and our country, and we must continue working for the improvement of the quality of life, the transparency, and the fairness of our societies. As I told you, I don't need to tell this enlightened crowd of good people that democracy cannot be taken for granted. We have seen it stolen, distorted, manipulated in countries. We are seeing recent, very recent threats that we need to investigate in my neighborhood of the world that keeps us very concerned, but we are competing. There are people who are authoritarian, who don't like the rule of the game that we have to be participative and to inclusive and to make decisions by majority. There is a populism, organized crime, corruption, corruption, corruption in terms of public contracts, but corruption also using media to promote business interests and distort realities. Corruption has many ugly faces. We know it. So we have to stand for truth, regardless of where it comes. And when you challenge a media outlet, it's okay. As long as they are able to continue saying what they think, but contestability should be part of the equation. And that's what we try to do in our country. There are human rights violations everywhere in the world. My country, we are so proud. For the first time in history, we passed a law that requires that majors, 84 majors in my country, they will be half women and half men by law. We have parity in our congress by law. And by choice, I'm very proud to say that my cabinet has also parity. That's democracy in our mind where action is more eloquent than words. 2024, Costa Rica is going to elect. Half the majors of the country are going to be female and half the majors of the country are going to be male. And believe me, there's plenty of supply of talent on both sides of that equation. We have put our people first. We have many challenges. We have many challenges, but we have learned from our past, at least my government has tried, and the realities around us. So we can try to best defend and protect the legacy that we have had since 1821, when by the grace of God, contrary to this country, independence came from a letter, in the form of a letter from Guatemala. We were not expecting it. Somebody didn't want it actually. Some people didn't want to be independent. We didn't have to fight and spill blood to get what Americans did. But we embraced that independence and that democracy since 1821. We know that people vote with their feet. We know that. We see it every day, which is sad. People fleeing the country in which they were born, the country where they developed ties, friendships, family, language, culture. And they vote with their feet and live their country for a better life. Costa Rica has one of the highest reception rates of migrants in the continent. We face many challenges doing that. We are under an IMF program. You know very well what does that mean? Yet we provide health, education, security to every person living in the country. That's very expensive. When you have about 12 percent of people living in our country are migrants. The majority illegally and more than 4 percent of the people currently living in our country. Imagine that. That will be 12 million people in this country about, right? Being refugees and asylum seekers. That's a very heavy burden for a democracy that has limited fiscal resources. Yet we do it. So we are trying to help migrants. We are trying to regularize them. We are giving them access to social security. We allow them to become formal, join the formal employment. And we allow them to be entrepreneurs. We ensure the opportunity of their education. I don't know if it is a right. That's a big debate in my country. Is it a right for a foreigner to be educated by the public penny? Well, as you say, we provide them the opportunity because we need them to be educated as they are very likely to incorporate it into our society. And we are working in providing them the other half of human capital, which is health. A healthy and educated society is a society of high human capital. And that's what makes for high incomes and productivity. So we do it out of the goodness of our hearts. But thank God there is a coincidence of interest between the goodness of our hearts and the prosperity of our economy. I keep telling you, and I'm going to use that grammar, if it ain't profitable for society, it's not going to be good for democracy. Apologies for that. We have accomplished our task. We have accomplished our task. We limited economic resources. Costa Rica is appealing to the international community to advance the technical and financial support within a framework of international solidarity and chair responsibility alongside other governments to better manage migratory flows. And we need international cooperation for this matter because it's a problem of the whole hemisphere and frankly of the whole world. And it's a problem that is likely to grow with climate change, with this location, with potential conflict in other countries. I said democracy is the rules of the game and not the score. Some people in my country don't like the score today, and they attack us very much because we are very fortunate to have, I believe, an Ironman to Bragg, the highest level of support from the people in recorded history since there are polls in my country. But they don't like the score and they keep attacking us. They don't like that score. We think we are doing it within the rules of the game. But the rule of law, legal predictability and certainty are fundamental. And we are facing challenges in Costa Rica in that sense. We're working on that. We have a big backlog of unresolved cases in our court systems that diminish the credibility of prompt justice because delayed justice is not justice. I believe you say that in English as well, right? So we are working to strengthen that dimension of our democracy and society and our foreign policy. Costa Rica is a country like all countries that has, in theory, no friends or enemies, but interests. That's the maxim that came from, I believe, well, it's an old maxim of foreign policy. But do we have a soft heart, not withstanding our interests, for countries that share our values? Why? Because we believe that it's not only about economics. We know of extremely rich societies where one does not know if the additional GDP per capita may compensate for the contamination of the environment for these somewhat limited freedoms. We believe it's a package. It's a package that cannot be disentangled where the trade-offs are not easily understood and when, frankly, there are no trade-offs between democracy, between protecting the environment and economic growth. That's a false dichotomy. In the 11, well, in the one year and four months or so that we have been in government, Costa Rica has grown at rates we haven't seen in years. And we brought down the public debt ratio, listen to this, from 74, 73%, to about 60%. We are generating the first surpluses in our fiscal balances in generations, not accumulating debt. Yet we continue protecting the environment, protecting our natural resources. We are carbon neutral in the generation of electricity. And we dropped the prices 30% by the way. So that's the problem. You cannot choose. Oh, I'm going to choose environment over growth or growth over environment. Let's contaminate and cut our trees because it's going, no. Those are false dichotomies in the current world. We need to do everything. Elections must be safe. Borders must be confident. They should be able to express their ideas, notwithstanding how different they may be or how disruptive they may be. For democracies to thrive, you need the conviction of the people. You need to have it as a core political system that their voices will be heard. We continue aspiring. The same as the United States, the same as other European democracies and the great democracies of the world to build the future of democracy at the future of the world based on democracy. All essential principles must be there. There is no set of conditions that are sufficient unless all necessary conditions are there. You cannot have democracy. I keep telling you, the rule of law holding periodic free fair elections based on universal and secret suffrage as the expression of the sovereignty of the people, the pluralistic regime of political parties and organizations who was Rodrigo Chavez two years ago, an unknown person in my country who had lived 36 years away in many places of the world with no money to run a campaign and no political party. In Costa Rica, I believe the notion that I would be standing in front of you would have been a reality. The fitting, and I have nothing in them, the oldest party with the largest number of resources and so on in the history of this country in a ballotage, in a second round election, only if the rules of the game are clear and do not limit the contestability of power to exert public policies, that would have been possible. And by all or against all odds, it became possible. We cannot give up. The United States shouldn't give up. Costa Rica will not give up. God willing. The democratic countries of the world need to look over what's happening in the world. That's why I was taken to court when being president-elect. I said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was an unwarranted illegal military action of a country on a democracy. And my fellow Costa Rican, one of them, I don't know whom, actually took me to court to say that I should be punished somehow because I was violating the Costa Rica's principle of perpetual neutrality by claiming to the world that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was a criminal act. Thank God the court decided that our neutrality was military. And since we don't have an army, I could have never violated that. But friends, it's a great honor. I think that what we have been bestowed as historical inheritance and gift of being able to criticize, to be criticized, to challenge each other with total peace and rationality, no matter the noise, no matter the fake news, of course there are fake news. But that is something that if we don't protect and make profitable for the people, might be taken away from us or from the future generations to whom we owe the destiny of our nations. Thank you very much. May God bless you all. Wonderful speech. Thank you. Mr. President, thank you for your important deeply thoughtful, riveting set of comments. With your permission, we would like to, in the next few minutes, explore many of the themes that you set before us. We would like to start with your reflections on democracy in the region. If we look back in the last 50 years, we see that in the 1970s, 17 of Latin America's 20 countries at that stage were governed by a dictator or single party rule and there were 11 violent insurgencies. By 2000, the picture was completely different. Yes. All countries were democratic except for Cuba. And there was one insurgency in Colombia. As you pointed out in your comments, there's a lot to worry about now. We're seeing across the hemisphere that democracy is losing its appeal as many turn to more immediate answers through authoritarian populism or opting out of politics altogether and yet and yet your country has remained steady in its support and adherence, democratic norms throughout. Why is Costa Rica so different and how has it avoided the ups and the downs of the democratic journey in the last 50 years? Thank you very much. That's a very interesting question. Comparative democracy is not one of my comparing democracies. It's an interesting challenge. I do believe that Costa Rica's democracy was at risk and that's why Margaret Mead famously said, never doubt that a small group of people may change the world. In fact, that's the only thing that has changed the world. I believe the world. A group of people, very small, we decided our democracy is being challenged because we saw yearly signs of lack of trust of the people on the traditional parties, on the traditional media, with three outlets. They are free, believe me. They continue reporting that use their influence naturally to pursue certain ideas that may not have been at least in our minds in the interest of the majority of the people, in the shared prosperity of the people, and we came. Again, this is not bragging rights. The last few presidents in the last 50 years had popularities or support that were very low. We were seeing increasingly these appointed people or increasingly large numbers of disappointment of people with the democratic system. We believe and hope that we have reversed that, where the support to the government is, as I said, at unprecedented levels and the support for democracies. Democracy is also increasing. Why? Why has Costa Rica been able to deal with that? Because the system, if the rules, are implemented self-adjust. And as long as the political power understood in the sense of formulating and implementing public policies remains contestable, the market, the political market works, we can keep the hope that the system will converge again equilibrium. When you see countries such as Venezuela, the system was not robust enough to sustain what happened. And then it went away from stability, what we see. So the rules of the game are very important. I keep insisting. And that's why I think Costa Rica, with an institution called the Supreme Tribunal of Elections, that has great reputation. They have the credibility that they are a fair referee. The ability to say what one thinks, including fake news. The ability of the people to discern somehow what makes sense, what doesn't make sense. And the ability to challenge a few media outlets today through social media. Made, has made that Costa Rica remain democratic and will remain democratic, I believe, in the near future. And the other thing I want to say, different to other countries. And regardless that we did it very inefficiently, very expensively, we were effective in achieving certain social development outcomes at excessive cost, but we delivered them. So again, Costa Rica's democracy was most more profitable than the democracy of other countries for the people. Mr. President, you spoke in your comments about the costs, as you just described them, of maintaining democracy, a democracy that works for the people who vote for their leaders. Most of that cost has been borne by your people, your government. Is there more that the international financial institutions could do to support? Is there more that the countries of the region and that your friendly allies could do to help you in that? Of course, there is more. This is a global problem. We just happened to be now with the migration issues from Colombia through the Darien jungle, through Costa Rica, through Nicaragua, coming all the way to the United States. We are a place of passage, many a state, but most move north. And that puts pressure. I have had, we have had to deal with people in the southern town saying, we're going to stop trade unless you take care of this, because it's becoming a nuisance to our life. Of course, the country should look at this as a collaborative solution rather than say, you deal with it. And we could always use more. But at the same time, we are taking responsibility ourselves, paying for it, and asking the world, well, look at what we are doing. It's time that we all join efforts. That's a natural question. But as long as we can, we are going to continue doing it because it's a matter of humanity. Very difficult, but a matter of humanity. Mr. President, you are seeing our President, President Biden, very shortly after this event. We would be very interested if you can share with us a sense of some of the issues that you'll be discussing. Well, I think that the United States and Costa Rica have a lot of issues of common interests, among them migration, regional and global security. We are a non-armed country. We rely on the rule of international law. So that's a matter that we need to touch, United States being what the United States is. We also want to bring foreign investment to our country. We do believe that we are a trusted country. That's why the CHIPS Act for us was very important, particularly the fact that we were chosen as one of the trusted countries in the supply chains. And we are going to discuss all issues of common interest. As I said, there are many. It's a great honor for me to come discuss with President Biden the joint future of a country of 55,000 square kilometers and 5.2 million people and this little country you have here, right? Mr. President, if President Biden says to you democracy is under attack, you mentioned this in your comments. And Mr. President says to you, what more should America be doing? What should America do to support the alliance of democracies around the world that we're not doing now? What will you say to the President? I will tell him Mr. President, democracy has always been under attack because there has always been contestability. And I would say there are times where our system is stronger than others. There have been times you mentioned in the 1970s and today the United States has been a beacon of values. We hold these truths to be self-evident. Very few people in the very few educated people in the world have not listened to those words and felt identified with them. Please continue being what you are. Use your influence in the world positively and reward in which is an interesting, I would like to make a elaboration on that. Reward, not bribe, reward those who adopt those values. The CHIPS Act and the selection of Costa Rica is a very strong signal. You have been behaving well, to use the word, you have been a country of law, of principles, of freedom and we think you are a trusted location for the production of semi-conductors which are fundamental for the national security of the United States. That happened exposed. We didn't behave in expectation of the CHIPS Act. We didn't know what's going to happen. But the United States has that ability to say you share values with us, we work with you, not that you're not going to work and do diplomacy with countries that may not share values, but to indicate that democracy, these values are profitable. In the most noble way, in the most noble form of the word profitable. Mr. President, many countries are complaining that they feel caught between the United States and China. Costa Rica has managed to maintain a good relationship with both countries and has never seen this competition as zero sum. How do you manage relations between these two very large countries with their very different agendas? There is a joke about porcupines and the answer is very carefully, right? And I think you know the joke. We have clear what are our objectives. When elephants fight, you better move away, be open to discussion with every power in the world, remain neutral on the things that we feel is important to where we can remain neutral. However, we also have expressed our opinions and voices on things that one of those big powers may not like as much. Crane, what's happening in other countries in the region, we haven't taken a lot of actually practically nothing from the Belt and Road initiative. Our debt to China is negligible. We are trading, we have a free trade agreement with them, so that we have a trade agreement with in the CAFTA context, the Central American Free Trade Agreement, and we will walk our path respecting each power and doing the right thing in our self-interest. It's not United States or China, but if you look at the balance, you see where we are leaning in this situation. In Washington, across America, there are a lot of people that look at the shift in the balance of power in the world and they see that China's influence is growing. If you were giving advice to U.S. policymakers on how to address that influence in the hemisphere, what would you tell us? Me giving advice to U.S. policymakers, that's an interesting, particularly to state department, right? Einstein used to say a thought experiment. Look, I will not give, I don't think I will be there, so it's a hypothetical question. I think again, it is not a zero sum game. Some people are trying to make it a zero sum game between China and the U.S. We know that for all my sense, I studied economics and my dissertation was on game theory. We know by, almost by definition, that the collaborative equilibria and to be more profitable, they have higher payoffs than competitive equilibria, but they are hard to enforce. That gentleman is studying international relations, he's saying, yes, yes. However, there is the problem of enforcement, of cheating, free-riding and the like, so it requires a structure to sustain that collaboration in a fair and credible manner and I think that I hope both powers realize that it is not winner text at all, that this is a long term repeated game where collaboration over time creates trust and better outcomes for everybody. When Nixon, President Nixon and Secretary Kissinger opened China as they used the word here, well, there was an enormous gain in prosperity. We had the great moderation, where China's production kept inflation low, capital markets were flooded with long-term capital at very reasonable rates. It was a time of great prosperity. The world didn't manage to distribute it in a way that sustained the stability of the system and then you saw the challenges within the United States and across Congress, but the evidence is there that collaboration could be very official to both parties. Now we are not in such a situation and hopefully for the benefit of the of both countries and the world that would be the outcome in the near future. Mr. President, two more questions if you permit. You have my time. Costa Rica will be the next president of the Central American Integration Bank. That's what we would like. We have to convince other voters too, it's a democracy. We hope that Costa Rica will soon be the president. Do you see a role for regional integration in reinforcing democracy and in reducing poverty? Of course. I mean, I know there is a big debate between free traders and non-free traders that has happened since the times of David Ricardo and Smith and the like, but we know that the size of the market matters, that specialization produces more growth, that specialization depends on the size of the market. We would like to see a more integrated world. As a matter of fact, Costa Rica is one of the few countries that instead of hunkering or going into a trench of protectionism, I have my Minister of Trade here, we are open to the alliance of the Pacific. We want to join CTPP in the East. We began negotiations with Israel for a free trade agreement and other things. We are doing everything to bring more Costa Rica to the world and more world to Costa Rica. So we are all pro-integration and I believe that as it has happened throughout history, trade has been the driver of success and growth. We did not manage the distribution of the gains well. That I give you, but that's not a problem of the instrument. It's a problem of those who used it, that we're not able to spread in a better way the gains of more liberal trade, capital flows. So I hope so. Final question, Mr. President. For those of us who work in institutions like the United States Institute of Peace, Costa Rica looms large in our collective imagination as a country who abolished the military, who has been committed to peaceful relations with your neighbors, who is committed to peace within your own country. And the environment, let me say. And the rights of minorities. And the freedom of the press. And equality. Sorry, I'm bragging. In case you had no notice. Mr. President, for those of us who believe that a world where we resolve our grievances and our disputes peacefully is possible, your country has been a force for that for many years. In your final set of comments to all of us, what should we be doing differently so that the world is more peaceful? Look, I used to be a history knot. I like to read history. I mean, this thing of conflict war fights over resources has been since we emerged as a species, right? And somehow people during the agricultural revolution realized that if you stole it, it was easier to produce. And so on. I mean, this is part of some of the things that we have to give up us in our nature, almost because of evolution. The beauty of it is that rationality says that in the long term, there are no winners of wars. United States won many wars. Didn't win others. But the wars that the United States won, second world war is the biggest, most eloquent example, was a war that had to be fought, definitely. And we will always thank the countries that opposed the Nazi attempt to take over the world. But imagine the counterfactual had not so many lives being destroyed, so many material resources destroyed. So that big gap in growth and development, where would we be today? There's no winners in war. It's impossible. I was telling Madam Ambassador on the way here that I was reading a book about the Thirty Years' War in 1618 to 1648, I believe. And there was a German saying there, a proverb. I will never forget this phrase, where somebody said in that book, all wars live behind three armies, an army of mourners, an army of cripples, and an army of thieves. That's a powerful statement. I know politically correct probably not, but it's a powerful statement. So Costa Rican's realized that we don't want war, we want prosperity, we want peace, we want harmony. Because that brings the better angels of human beings. And frankly, that's why we have been one of the happiest countries in the world for a few times. And we are getting back there. And if God allows me in two and a half years, we will be the happiest country in the world again. I would like to thank all of the ambassadors who have joined us, all of the officials who are with us, all of our colleagues who have taken time to be with us today. Madam Ambassador, Madam Ambassador, Ministers of the Cabinet, thank you. But most importantly, may we applaud the president. Thank you very much. I take this a plus for the Costa Rican people, not for Rodrigo Chavez. Thanks to the United States. Thanks, Institute for Peace. Thank you to all of you. It has been an honor and a great pleasure. Come visit. We have good tourism there. Mr. President, we'll be waiting for you. Thank you.