Interview with Latin American and American Spanish language journalists

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, March 25, 2002

March 19, 2002

President's Upcoming Visit to Central and South America

The President. I'm going to give you an opening statement. But first of all, these observers are simply that.

Q. They're not going to take one question.

The President. They get no questions. They're here just to listen to your questions and my answers. They probably will like your questions and not like my answers. [Laughter]

Anyway, let me talk about the trip from my perspective and we'll kind of rotate around. Everybody will get at least one question; hopefully everybody will get two.

First, I'm looking forward to my trip. Obviously, one of the main purposes of the trip is to go speak about development, world development, in Monterrey. I will lay out there for the world leaders what--I already did so in our country--which is the Millennium Challenge Fund, of a fund that will ultimately be $5 billion a year. It starts at $1.5 billion, roughly $1.5 billion, and then will go up to about two-thirds of $5 billion, and then will be at $5 billion in year three and will remain at $5 billion.

And that fund will be used to encourage--first of all, it will say our country assumes our rightful responsibility to help developing nations, but we expect there to be rightful obligations on those who receive them, to make sure that there's an education system that works, a health care system that works, an opportunity for development of an entrepreneurial class or small businesses--foster trade between ourselves. And countries that practice good habits will get money. Now, this is on top of roughly $10 billion which we spend already in direct development aid, not including other projects, assistance to the World Bank organizations, et cetera.

Also, I'm really looking forward to seeing my friend the President of Mexico. He was my friend prior to September the 11th; he was my friend after September the 11th; he'll be my friend for a long period of time because I know him well. I respect him a lot. We've got a very good relationship, and obviously, we've got a very important bilateral relationship.

So we're going to have a--we'll have a discussion about issues that are common issues. Obviously, the border is a common issue, how to make the border work better, looking at a variety of options as to how to modernize the border between Mexico and the United States, as well as the border between Canada and the United States.

I'll discuss some ideas with him. We'll continue to talk about migration, the need to make sure that people are treated with respect when they come to this country; that I strongly believe that we need to pass what we call 245(i) here. The House has done so; the Senate hasn't done anything yet. And I'd like to get that done quickly. We're urging the Senate to move and to get this bill passed.

And we've got a lot of discussions about commercial relations and law enforcement relations. We've got great cooperation. I've been very impressed by the dialog that we've had. It was a good dialog before the attacks; it's been a good dialog after.

Then we go down to Peru. I'm looking forward to seeing President Toledo. He is a leader dedicated to democracy and reform. I'm really looking forward to being in Lima. I've never been there. It's going to be an exciting trip for me and mi esposa. And it will not only give me a chance to have a good bilateral discussion with el Presidente on a variety of subjects, not the least of which will be counternarcotics cooperation, trade. I'm very concerned about opening markets in the United States. We'll talk to him about that.

And then we'll be meeting with other leaders from the Andean trade pact. And I look forward to meeting them as well. I've known most of them before. This will be the third or fourth time I've seen President Toledo, so I've got a familiar relationship with him.

And then off to El Salvador to discuss a free trade agreement with the Central American countries and to see my friend President Flores, who is really one of the bright young leaders. I admire him a lot and respect him a lot. So I look forward to discussing--the main discussion in Central America will be trade, will be the focus on how to enhance prosperity.

The main discussions with the Andean countries will be trade plus, obviously, the issue of drugs, drogas. I will remind all countries, however, that our Nation has got to do a better job of suppressing demand. In order to make sure that we're effective in dealing with the Andean nations, with the issue of borders, safe borders with Mexico--so long as we've got people using drugs in America, somebody is going to provide them. And it's likely they're going to come from our neighbors. So we've got a big obligation at home as well. I want to make that clear to the leaders and the people as well.

So this is going to be an exciting trip. I said when I first got elected that good relations in the neighborhood, in our own neighborhood, is the cornerstone of a good foreign policy. I meant that. My first trip as President was to Mexico. I continue to stay very much involved in the neighborhood, and so I'm looking forward to the trip.