Hillary Clinton told an audience at the University of Miami Wednesday night that all countries, including the U.S., must allow “full participation” for girls and women.
The former secretary of state addressed women’s rights and human rights in her speech before an estimated crowd of 6,100 at the university in Coral Gables.
“I believe strongly that the more we can get people to participate, to have a stake in the future, the better off we will all be,” she said.
Clinton praised the Arizona governor’s veto of a bill that would have let businesses refuse to serve gays and lesbians on religious grounds. Students cheered loudly when they heard Clinton’s comments on that issue.
Clinton spent several minutes talking about the unrest in Venezuela.
“It is a country that is not being well-governed, and it’s a democracy, no one would argue that it isn’t. But a democracy doesn’t just mean an election. A democracy means a free press, protecting the rights of opponents, protecting a free economy,” Clinton said to applause.
The loudest and longest applause of the night came when someone mentioned a presidential run for Clinton, who vied with Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination in 2008. She told the crowd she is pondering the notion.
