Political Quotes

“To most Americans coffee is nothing more than a morning pick-me-up, a drink over which to socialize, or an excuse to reacquaint ourselves with old friends or even to make new ones. But to Latin America, our neighbors down there, coffee is a way of life, a key to survival, and a hope for the future. As many of my colleagues may know, coffee prices are at a record low. Latin American families who once made a good living at farming coffee are now being forced to leave the farm to find other work. Oftentimes, that means risking life and limb to emigrate to the United States or to engage in the illegal production and trafficking of narcotics just to survive. As a businessman, I fully comprehend the ebbs and flows of commodity trading and the effects that oversupply can have on a market. But there is much more to the current coffee situation than profit margins. Latin Americans produce the highest-quality coffee anywhere in the world, but they cannot make a living from it. Without immediate action, the consequences will be felt well beyond the coffee fields. It is important to remember that democracy is still young and fragile in Latin America. Growing poverty and an increasing lack of real economic opportunities are now threatening the very democracy that thousands of Latin Americans have risked, and sometimes lost, their lives to establish.”