MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US Secretary of State arrive to Chile

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that it is the historic duty of democrats ''to tell the world that tyranny is a crime of man, not a fact of nature.''

Addressing representatives of 100 nations at a conference on democracy, Rice said, ''Our goal must always be the elimination of tyranny in our world.''

Following stops in Brazil and Colombia, Rice spoke at a ministerial meeting of the Community of Democracies, which was founded in 2000 to improve democratic governance and to help others to achieve democracy.

At a news conference with Chile's president, Ricardo Lagos, the secretary said the hemisphere ''has no better example'' than Chile of a government that is providing opportunities for its people.

Promoting democracy has been a recurring them of her five-day tour, with El Salvador the final stop on Friday.

Lagos, a Socialist and staunch opponent of Chile's military dictatorship, is one of a number of left-of-center leaders in South America. Rice has said the political tendencies of governments around the hemisphere are of little importance to the United States so long as they respect democratic principles.

Lagos praised the ''modern, mature'' U.S.-Chilean relationship and noted that two-way trade has grown sharply since a free trade agreement took effect.

During her travels, Rice repeatedly has been asked about the perceived erosion of democratic principles in Venezuela under the leadership of the country's anti-American, pro-Cuban president, Hugo Chavez.

She has made a point of playing down U.S. concerns about Chavez, saying she wants to stress the administration's ''positive agenda'' for the hemisphere. Rice's visit to Chile coincided with a visit by Chavez to Cuba.

At the start of her speech, Rice said all Community of Democracy members ''declare our deep conviction that freedom is the universal longing of every soul, and democracy is the ideal path for every nation.''

Since the last high-level meeting of the group, in South Korea in 2002, Rice noted that free elections have been held in Afghanistan and Iraq and that ''tremendous developments'' have taken place in Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon.