I've got many close friends, but there's an awful lot about friendship that is not demonstrative in my case.

An independent and free media is essential to ensure democracy.

I'm very much in favor of focused responsibility, and so in the main areas that I'm worried about, I try to have a single person who is basically the key person in that area.

Only two countries in this hemisphere are not democratic, but many countries in both Central and South America, and in the Caribbean, are really fragile democracies.

Sometimes you have to learn how to give the right answer to the wrong question.

Environmental degradation, overpopulation, refugees, narcotics, terrorism, world crime movements, and organized crime are worldwide problems that don't stop at a nation's borders.

It's very important to always put things in their historical contexts. It teaches important lessons about the country in question.