[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[February 27, 1992]
[Pages 324-333]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



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The President's News Conference With the Drug Summit Participants in San 
Antonio

February 27, 1992
    President Bush. As the President of the host country, I will give a 
brief statement, and then we will respond under the plan for responding 
to questions.
    First, let me just say that it has been a privilege and a pleasure 
to welcome six strong democratic leaders to San Antonio: President 
Gaviria of Colombia, President Fujimori of Peru, President Paz Zamora of 
Bolivia, President Borja of Ecuador, President Salinas of Mexico, and 
then Foreign Minister Duran of Venezuela.
    The United States is indeed fortunate to have these leaders as 
allies in a cooperative fight against drugs. And this cooperative 
venture is reflected as well in the cooperation that permeates our 
bilateral relationships, for example, the recent agreement between Peru 
and Bolivia on access to the sea, a wonderful agreement; growing rapport 
between Ecuador and Peru, another good sign.
    Drug traffickers corrupt our young people. They bring violence to 
our democracies and destroy our hemisphere's natural environment. This 
is a new kind of transnational enemy, well-financed, ruthless, well-
organized, and well-armed, a foe who respects no nation's sovereignty or 
borders. The struggle to defeat the narco-traffickers requires 
cooperation, commitment, and it will not be won overnight. But make no 
mistake, defeat the traffickers we will.
    Two years ago at Cartagena we formed a regional alliance with Peru, 
Bolivia, and Colombia to confront the narco-trafficking cartels. Today 
three new allies joined us, Mexico, Ecuador, and Venezuela. In the past 
2 years we've made significant progress. First and most importantly, 
today in the United States there are one million fewer cocaine users and 
two million fewer marijuana users today than in 1988. Drug use among our 
young people is down 25 percent, a very good sign for the future.
    And second, the so-called kings of cocaine, the leaders of the 
Medellin cartel, are now in prison or in their graves. And also, last 
year, 203 tons of cocaine were seized in Latin America, a dramatic 
increase. We've shown law enforcement can work in the drug fight.
    Third, we are making progress in creating economic alternatives to 
the coca trade. Farmers who once grew coca in Bolivia are exporting 
pineapples and bananas. Peru's economy is beginning to grow again, and 
the Andean States will expand trade with the United States under this 
new Andean trade preference initiative that I signed into law last 
December. We will expand our economic development efforts so that people 
in the coca growing regions can earn a livelihood growing legal crops. 
And I hope the U.S. Congress will do its part by fully funding my 
Enterprise for the Americas Initiative.
    Let me highlight the most important elements of this joint 
declaration that is about to be issued, if it hasn't already been passed 
out. One, drug control and strengthening the administration of justice, 
includes programs to interdict trafficker aircraft in the air and on the 
ground, to control essential chemicals and money laundering, and to 
increase judicial cooperation.
    Number two, economic and financial areas, focuses on investment, 
trade, debt, alternative development, and for the first time, the 
environmental destruction that is caused by drug trafficking.
    And three, prevention and demand reduction, a critical area, 
involves programs for prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation, 
scientific research and training.
    We agree that the laws of all signatory countries will criminalize 
all activities that permit the laundering of drug money. And we will 
exchange more financial information to investigate and to prosecute 
money launderers and seize their illegal profits. We will negotiate 
agreements that allow our countries to share the assets that we seize 
from the drug traffickers. And finally, we will deny traffickers the 
chemicals they need to produce their deadly drugs. We

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will regulate sales of chemicals. We will press producing nations to 
adopt strong controls. And we will increase our own enforcement.
    We call upon other nations in the Americas, in Europe, and in Asia, 
as well as international organizations and financial institutions, to 
cooperate and to participate. To continue our efforts, we're going to 
hold a high-level follow-on meeting annually to review progress and plan 
for the future.
    The declaration of San Antonio, building on the declaration of 
Cartagena, establishes an aggressive agenda for the rest of the century. 
We believe it will be an important milestone in the struggle against 
drug use and drug trafficking. We believe it will contribute to 
democracy and economic stability in the Americas.
    It's been a great pleasure to have these leaders here. And may I 
take this opportunity to thank our hosts in San Antonio, in the museum, 
in the theater, and all across this great city; the mayor and the other 
leaders of this community that have made all of us feel so at home in 
wonderful San Antonio.
    And now I understand that Marlin has indicated, so I guess we just 
go. Chris [Chris Connell, Associated Press], do you want to go first, 
sir?

Tax Legislation

    Q. Mr. President, while you attending the summit, the House voted 
down your recovery program, passed the Democrats' tax bill with 
Republican support. You've lost a third of the GOP votes in the first 
two primaries. How do you plan to resurrect your recovery plan, and how 
will you shore up your standing with American voters?
    President Bush. Well, let's hope that the Senate is a little more--a 
little wiser than the House. The American people want stimulation to our 
economy. They're unhappy with the economy, and that affects all 
politicians. I have won all three efforts so far, Maine and New 
Hampshire and South Dakota, and I will win this nomination.
    But this is an international drug meeting; it has very little to do 
with the primary system. But I think something that does have something 
to do with what we are able to do is the American economy. And I would 
just ask the United States Senate now to correct the tax-and-spend 
policies of the House of Representatives that went in almost on straight 
party lines. It was a predictable, sad, sorry performance, when I said, 
``Let's set politics aside, go for these specific growth initiatives, 
and then get on with all of this politics later on.'' But the House 
decided not to do that, and so I will just go forward and urge the 
Senate to take better action. But I am not going to sign a bill like the 
one that came out of the House. It won't become law. I won't sign it. 
But secondly, the next hurdle is the Senate, and I don't believe the 
Senate will go for the same kind of legislation.

War on Drugs

    Q. Mr. President, following up on the drug summit, you say that 
occasional drug use of cocaine is down by a million. Hardcore use hasn't 
changed at all, and drugs are still pouring into this country.
    President Bush. I think the progress--we've said----
    Q. If I can just say, how will this summit make any difference to 
that?
    President Bush. Well, the summit will make a difference to that 
because we talked about, at lunch, the difference between the spirit of 
Cartagena and the spirit of San Antonio. One, we have more countries 
involved; secondly, there is a new optimism. A lot of the talk was about 
the progress made by Colombia in jailing some of these criminal 
elements. The spirit of cooperation in terms of judicial reform and in 
terms of the approaches that I mentioned in this declaration was 
outstanding.
    You don't solve it overnight. When I say young people in this 
country are using drugs substantially less, down by 60 percent, that is 
very encouraging to every family in this country. But yes, problems 
still remain here, and the demand in this country has inflicted serious 
problems on the economies of the countries represented by these 
Presidents here.
    So the purpose of this meeting is to maximize cooperation, and I 
think each leader--and they can speak to it themselves--will agree that 
that's exactly what happened as a result of our discussions here. Now we 
go

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on to the next challenge, and that is making more headway on 
interdiction, making more headway on reduction of demand.
    Now, I believe from Ecuador, the second--he's plugged into a 
different star there.

Andean Economic Development

    Q. Television Bolivia. This is a question for the President of the 
United States. We have the impression that the U.S. position is much 
more emphatic in the sense of interdiction than for alternative 
development. In the case of Bolivia and Peru, this is a very delicate 
subject. And the Peruvian position indicated that Peru produces 60 
percent of the coca used for producing cocaine later, whereas the United 
States only invests 5 percent of the antidrug budget in programs for 
these countries, in this case, Peru. Why is it that the United States 
continues to insist so strongly on the case of interdiction, and it has 
to be the pressure of the Andean countries that attempt to balance this 
situation through alternative development?
    President Bush. One of the themes that I heard here today was trade, 
the importance of trade. And one of the things we've tried to do in the 
United States is facilitate trade with these Andean countries. Therein 
lies a lot of the answer.
    We did have a good discussion here about interdiction, and we did 
have a good discussion about alternative crops. And I think it is for us 
to assign our own budgetary priorities, but I'll tell you one thing that 
I learned out of this is the need to work more cooperatively in 
alternative cropping.
    So I'll just leave it very generally there, but we are doing our 
level-best. And everybody knows that these are not easy financial times 
for the United States. Spending is up tremendously in terms of our 
efforts, and I think there's more we can do to be of assistance on 
alternative cropping. And we had some good suggestions here today from 
the leaders.
    So we will do our level-best, and we will continue to listen to 
those who say the best answer to the economies down there and to giving 
hope to the peasants who are locked into the coca growing is expanded 
trade in other areas. And so, we'll keep trying.

Mexico-U.S. Relations and NAFTA

    Q. Mr. President, I am from Mexico, from the Herald in Mexico.
    President Bush. I know, but who do you want to ask the question to? 
I'm over my quota already, but go ahead.
    Q. I wanted to ask this of the President of the United States and of 
the President of Mexico. Mr. President, don't you think that the 
certification statement made by the United States is a way of having 
intervention in another country, because nobody is carrying out 
certification of consumption in the U.S.? Secondly, what guarantee do we 
have that the sovereignty of Mexico will not be impinged upon in the 
fight against drugs, as in the case we had in--[inaudible]. And third, I 
would like to have your impressions of this morning's breakfast. How 
about the NAFTA and your commitment made last night to get NAFTA, to 
bring forward the North American free trade agreement and sending it on 
to Congress?
    President Bush. Is the last question for me or for President 
Salinas?
    Q. The question is for you and President Salinas.
    President Bush. I just wanted to be sure.
    The guarantee about our overstepping the bounds of the sovereignty 
of Mexico is twofold: One, I wouldn't permit that to happen; and 
secondly, Mexico has a very strong, respected President who would not 
permit that to happen. So there is no danger. The relationship between 
Mexico and the United States has never been better. And it is built on 
mutual respect and respect for each other's sovereignty.
    What was the first part of your question? I'm sorry, I wrote down 
interdiction, but I'm not sure that----
    Q. Certification that the United States carries out annually on the 
progress made, because nobody is doing the same thing to the United 
States.
    President Bush. Well, we try to level with our partners here on the 
progress or lack of progress we're making in every area. We presented to 
the leaders here today a thorough presentation as to the progress that 
we're making on the demand. It is very important that these leaders know 
that we

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are trying on the demand side.
    I don't know that it has a meat stamp of certification, but these 
figures will be looked at and reviewed by the United States Congress. 
And I would be open for any suggestions that President Salinas would 
make if he feels he needs more information. But the relationship is so 
cooperative now in this field that I haven't heard any requests for more 
certification from the United States.
    In terms of the free trade agreement, I will simply say what I said 
this morning: We want it done. We are not going to be dissuaded by 
political pressures in the United States. I remain convinced that a good 
NAFTA agreement is in the interest of the worker and of everybody in my 
country. And I believe President Salinas is convinced it is in the 
interest of the Mexican people as well. And already the very 
negotiations that we're having are leading to agreements, such as our 
recent environmental agreement on the border. So there's nothing but 
cooperation here. There's some problems that remain in bringing this to 
conclusion, but we both agreed today that we would press our able 
negotiators to get this agreement closed as quickly as possible.
    And to those in Mexico who listened to some of the peculiar 
reporting that flows across the border on politics, please let me 
reassure them that we will press for an agreement. If we get an 
agreement, we're not going to hang back because of some special interest 
that may be making a lot of noise as to whether this is in the interest 
of the United States or not. It is in the United States'. We won't take 
to the Congress a bad agreement. And when we get a good one, I'm 
confident that it will be ratified. So, we will push forward on that.
    Now, please, Mr. President.
    President Salinas. The responsibility of the fight against drugs in 
Mexico will be left exclusively in the hands of Mexicans. It is our 
responsibility. Therefore, there will be no hot pursuit and no other 
modality that will go against what I have just stated. We are going to 
strengthen and reinforce our fight against drugs because it is in our 
own interest. It is in the interest and for the benefit of all Mexicans 
to fight decisively, frankly, and openly drug traffickers because they 
go against the health of our families. They affect the health of our 
families, of our relatives. And they also have the money to corrupt 
anywhere and in any country. Therefore, we are going to continue waging 
this war against drug traffickers.
    And you have there the results and the evidence. Last year we 
increased seizure of cocaine, 50 tons of pure cocaine seized in one 
single year with an equivalent value, street value, of twice as much the 
total external debt of Mexico. And at the same time we had the highest 
rates of eradication, the highest levels of eradication in the world in 
1990 and 1991 to destroy marijuana and poppy crops. We are going to 
strengthen this because even though a lot of progress has been made, we 
have to continue waging a war energetically.
    And at the same time we are convinced in Mexico that no country on 
its own is going to defeat drug traffickers. Therefore international 
cooperation is ever more important. Since we're going to intensify our 
domestic action, we are also going to strengthen international 
cooperation with dialog, through communication, through the level of 
communication and dialog that was attained at this meeting.
    And finally, on the free trade agreement, negotiations are going 
well, very well.
    President Bush. I think we'll finish this, and then we'll try to get 
you in the next round, sir, if that's agreeable.

Money Laundering

    Q. My question is, are any possibilities that the United States, 
within the framework of this agreement, will lift the bank reserve to 
investigate drug traffickers at the request of Latin American countries 
which may ask for that in order to investigate cases of money 
laundering?
    President Bush. I'm embarrassed to say I don't quite know how to 
answer your question. We did have a good discussion of money laundering 
and pledged total cooperation. But beyond that, I'm just not sure of the 
technical aspects of that question.
    Q. Within the strategies put forth at this meeting, did any 
initiative arise to lift that bank security act?
    President Bush. There was no discussion

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of that. There was a lot of discussion of maximizing cooperation on 
money laundering. But the technical part was not raised with me. Now, 
maybe it came up in the working groups.

Andean Economic Development

    Q. I am from Peru, and my question is for President George Bush. The 
optimistic tone that you express when speaking of the reduction of 
consumption of various drugs in the U.S., up to 25 percent. 
Unfortunately I think that this is not shared by the producing 
countries, and they cannot say the same thing as far as results are 
concerned because there is a very wide gap.
    While the United States invests billions of dollars on the drug war 
within the United States, it only devotes a small amount to Peru for 
alternative development to combat drugs, et cetera. How can you explain 
this, Mr. President? Can't you offer anything better now? Do you plan to 
do something in the future? If you have the security of being reelected, 
what will economic cooperation be like, and what assistance are you 
going to give to Peru and Bolivia who need help in alternative 
development?
    President Bush. I think it's fair to say that the responsibility of 
the President of the United States first is the people in the United 
States. I mean, I don't want to be here under any false colors. We are 
spending a considerable amount of money. Drug spending overall, 
antinarcotic spending in one way or another, is up tremendously, I 
think, close to 100 percent, 60-some percent since I've been President. 
So, I would say I have to look at it that way. I hope it's not overly 
selfish.
    We do have very strong aid programs and, hopefully, antinarcotics 
programs that are effective with Peru. We are dealing, and I think most 
people here that know our economy would tell you, at a time of rather 
sparse resources. We are operating at enormous deficits that concern the 
American people enormously. I mean, they are really concerned about the 
size of the deficit. So we don't have all the money to spend on all the 
programs that we think are worthwhile and that we would like to spend it 
on.
    I am determined to do everything I can in terms of setting 
priorities to help Peru, to help Bolivia with this alternate cropping 
and also with their own economies. And I think we've got a fairly, maybe 
some there wouldn't think generous, but a fairly generous allocation of 
funds in terms of our overall expenditures to these countries. And I 
expect that others wish there were more.
    I've had a very frank discussion with the President of Peru, who was 
working hard and has made some wonderful financial changes in that 
country. Progress has been rather dramatic. And there's no question that 
he could use more funds, and we respect that. But I have to tell him, I 
have to set the priorities, and I have to say, this is what we think we 
can do right now. So that's the way I'd explain it.
    Having said that, I don't want to end on a negative note because I 
think the general feeling at this meeting was one of great cooperation 
and understanding and frankness--say, ``Lay it out there; what do you 
think you ought to have? You tell us whether we're cooperating with your 
judicial system.'' And they'd tell us. And that's the way it's got to 
be. It is a two-way street. And I think that, you can't put a price tag 
on it, but that was one of the things that I found the most productive 
out of this summit.
    Does anybody want to ask anybody else a question, because this--I'll 
take this row, and then everybody else has to ask someone else a 
question. I thought each one was to get two. Go ahead. I don't want to 
censor the press, though. I've learned----[laughter]

Venezuela-U.S. Relations

    Q. My question is for President Bush. Venezuela has been unfairly 
excluded from tariff benefits which have been granted to other 
countries. What specific economic measures is your Government planning 
to take to correct this?
    President Bush. Well, we did not discuss today bilateral 
difficulties, for the most part. That subject was not raised by the 
Venezuelan Foreign Minister who was here. And I just can't give you an 
answer to it as to how we're going to treat it in the future.
    Having said that, let me just simply express my determination to 
give full support

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to Venezuela. We think of Carlos Andres Perez, frankly, as one of the 
great democrats in this hemisphere, a man who has stood for democracy. 
And they are having some difficult economic times. And so in a very 
general sense I say I would like the United States to be as cooperative 
as possible with Venezuela. It is essential that this relationship, 
which I consider good, grow and be even better. But I want to keep it on 
a very general basis.
    Now--oh, you've got one for--you're not from the foreign press 
corps. You don't look----
    Q. We get two questions.
    President Bush. Oh, you do? You're the second American? All right, 
we're working down this row. This gentleman, and then you're next, okay? 
Is that fair?
    Where's Marlin to do all this? [Laughter]

Peru

    Q. My question is for the President of Peru. Yesterday you, Mr. 
Fujimori, were very clear in indicating that U.S. aid in the fight 
against drugs, especially in Peru, has not been sufficient. Peru is not 
asking for money to solve its problem, but rather to solve the problem 
of drugs which affects the population of the entire world.
    You said that you will not accept a timetable as long as there is no 
financing for that schedule. We cannot speak of objectives unless we 
speak of financing first. Are you satisfied with the results of the 
summit meeting? Are you satisfied with the figures? Are you willing to 
accept a schedule or a timetable?
    President Fujimori. Precisely I have made comments to this effect 
regarding the drug traffic in Peru. And that is how--regarding financing 
for the reduction of this activity in Peru, there have been serious 
problems, perhaps not so much regarding the amounts which the U.S. 
Government has generously allocated to us but above all because of the 
long time it has taken and the cuts there have been for reasons set 
forth by congressional committees to the effect that there are 
violations of human rights in my country, according to them, or because 
of the activity of the armed forces.
    Therefore, that long time that it has taken to make these 
disbursements has led to the problems. Although these disbursements 
cannot cover all the areas of the fight against drug trafficking, when 
there is a reduction, when there are cutbacks, this generates even more 
problems.
    Today we did not speak of timetables, specific schedules 
establishing dates and deadlines. But I think that in that sense there 
is agreement among all the countries and among the Presidents for this 
reduction in drug traffic to be carried out as soon as possible. But 
obviously, we all understand that this is related to the size of 
financial support in every sense and the tools that every country has 
within its sphere of problems. That is why this is the position 
reflected in the declaration which has been signed today.
    Up to now there has been great emphasis made on the subject of 
interdiction, and this is one of the concerns for producing countries, 
above all for those which, like Peru, have a high number of farmers and 
peasants working in the drug traffic.
    But today, too, similar emphasis has been placed on alternative 
development. International cooperation and specifically that of the 
United States and President Bush particularly, I think, is extremely 
important. Alternative development which will allow us to have the 
support of 250,000 farmer peasants as allies, not as enemies, and this 
will allow us to fight much more intensively.
    The bilateral agreement that we have signed with the United States 
precisely points in that direction. And that agreement now stands, and 
fortunately, we have the full support of President Bush. And I am sure 
that along the path of such development we will be able to achieve 
important results.
    President Bush. May I say to Marlin--desperately signing ``two 
questions''--but four of the leaders have not had questions. So I would 
like to address questions, one each, to the remaining four leaders here. 
And then, since the departures are scheduled very tightly, we're going 
to have to conclude this press conference.
    Local question to one of these four. Yes, do you have a question to 
the Colombian President?

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Colombia

    Q. There is a very controversial issue that has been talked about 
very loudly during the San Antonio summit, and that is your government 
has been very lenient and has come up with treaties with the narco-
traffickers. If they give themselves up, they get a very lenient 
sentence. What kind of example are you setting for these people that are 
involved in this business?
    President Gaviria. You can be sure the men who have submitted to 
justice, which were the leaders of the Medellin cartel, are going to 
have stiff sentences. I mean, there are some worries in the media about 
the sentences they will get, but we have the commitment with the 
international community. We have a new judicial system. We have 
transformed the judicial system, fortified, and we have received a lot 
of judicial cooperation from many countries, including the United 
States. And we are building strong cases against the narco-traffickers, 
and we can be sure that these men will get sentences that are 
proportionate to the kind of criminal activity they developed before 
they were submitted to the Colombian judicial system.
    President Bush. This is for one of the three remainders, please.
    Q. Actually, it's to you, President Bush. The question I have to ask 
is, over the last----
    President Bush. Well thank you, I'm not going to take any more 
questions. I just told you. You didn't understand it.
    Q. Well, over the last few days----
    President Bush. Yes, this lady over here. Yes, please. I'm very 
sorry. You're dealing with somebody who has made up his mind. And we're 
trying to be courteous to everybody here. Now, if you have a question 
for one of the other three, ask it. Otherwise, sit down.
    Q. I'll be happy to ask it to one of the other three; I would like 
for you to answer it as well. I'll ask it of the President of Mexico.
    President Bush. He's already had a question. Sorry.
    Q. Well, he's only had one.
    President Bush. Okay, you go ahead. We're not used to this, but 
anyway, go ahead.

Mexico

    Q. Since the Harrison Narcotics Act was passed in the United States, 
God knows at the beginning of this century, and since the United States 
and Mexico have cooperated on drug interdiction efforts for countless 
times since then, I spent some time with narcotics agents over the last 
few days who made busts who tell us that they're tired. They don't 
believe the war on drugs can be won. They consider this summit a joke, 
and they consider the Presidents cooperating in this summit to be a joke 
as well. What do you tell your people in the trenches, the people that 
are fighting it every day, what do you give them as a morale booster to 
tell them it's not a joke?
    President Salinas. The most important thing is not to have impunity, 
for those who are acting as drug traffickers to know that in Mexico we 
are going to punish them with all the energy as is provided for in our 
law; and also with the conviction that by punishing them we are 
protecting our families; and also by acknowledging and being very much 
aware of the risk they're involved, how much their lives are at stake. 
Our action is completely determined, and we will completely maintain it 
with full energy. This is a true war in times of peace that we have 
decided to win against drug traffickers.

Bolivia

    Q. I want to ask the President of Bolivia what are his impressions 
about the summit and what are they expecting for the country.
    President Paz Zamora. What I take with me from this summit? I think 
that what part of the press felt that the summit might be before coming 
here, in the sense that from here we would have a multinational 
interventionist force going out, moving into our countries, impinging on 
our sovereignty, I think has been fully cast aside by fact, by what has 
happened here. And rather, what we find here is a fraternal 
multinational effort of cooperation among brethren to combat the same 
evil in a fully independent way, respecting our rights and respect-

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ing our revindications, both individual as well as national.
    In that sense, I want to tell you that it's a summit meeting in 
which I was satisfied, for example, to hear the report that I needed to 
hear as far as reduction in consumption in the United States is 
concerned. It's a summit that has satisfied me in the sense that I have 
been able to statistically witness that there has been a reduction in 
the crops of excess coca leaf in the area, a decrease which, by the way, 
coincides with what Bolivia has been able to obtain in the last 2 years, 
which is precisely 12,000 hectares.
    Moreover, I believe that in this summit, the ideas put forth in 
Cartagena are better defined. And today, we see more clearly how one 
thing is the cocaine-drug traffic duo, and the other is the coca leaf-
farmer peasant duo, and we must never, ever confuse the two in our 
strategies.
    And finally, one impression that I want to give you: As always, 
President Bush has impressed us with his profound understanding of the 
problem. At this summit, too, I believe we have included concrete, 
practical elements, mechanisms that did not exist at Cartagena. And we 
have specifically insisted on what investment should play, what role it 
should have, both public and private, but noting that here we are not 
trying to place a drain on the U.S. taxpayers' pocket. We want to tell 
U.S. businessmen and industrialized countries' businessmen that we can 
contribute to this fight by investing money in producing countries and 
investing and establishing alternative development thus for the farmer 
peasants. I think this is a very important step for this summit meeting.
    And something specific to conclude: We have all taken on the 
commitment, along with President Bush, to make an international 
offensive, an offensive we will carry out in Europe, in Japan, in 
Canada. And we've appointed a special group that will travel to get in 
touch with all of these countries so that they will also become involved 
in the efforts of Cartagena, one, and San Antonio, two, so that our 
efforts are truly global.

Peru

    Q. President Fujimori, you yesterday suggested that you're concerned 
that the drug war may be headed towards a total failure, and also noted 
that since Cartagena, the amount of drugs, the supply of drugs, has not 
been diminished at all. As a result of the agreements reached today, are 
you at all confident or at all assured that the drug war may turn around 
towards victory? And do you believe in 2 years from now that the supply 
of drugs in the world will reduce, or do you think it will stay the same 
or even increase? Thank you. And if the President of Ecuador could 
comment, too, I'd appreciate it.
    President Fujimori. Today's meeting has been characterized by the 
total honesty with which we have faced the various subjects. And thus, 
when we spoke about reduction, this was studied based on statistical 
charts, for example, the subject of demand and how that demand in the 
United States had been reduced significantly.
    As far as supply is concerned, the production of coca leaf, as far 
as the amount of hectares is concerned, we see a reduction of 
approximately 5 percent to 8 percent from 1989 to 1991. Carrying out an 
even clearer analysis, this reduction is due basically to what has been 
obtained in Bolivia, 6,000 hectares. In other words, in Peru there has 
not been any reduction as far as the amount of hectares devoted to the 
cultivation of coca leaf. Therefore, if we speak honestly, this program 
has not been as successful in reducing the production of coca leaf.
    Therefore, last year Peru presented a project which finally was 
turned into a bilateral agreement to carry this out in a different way. 
Unfortunately, the resources available are scarce. I have stated and I 
insist that this is a global problem. It involves not only the countries 
that produce the coca leaf, the commercializing countries, the consuming 
countries; it involves absolutely the whole world. And what our 
financing is devoted is not simply for Peru. Therefore, too, we must 
point out the need for more allocations. For example, in the case of 
Peru, I'm not talking about allocations for the Peruvian Government, no. 
This is an allocation for the struggle against drugs which would be 
applied in the battlefield which happens to be Peru. This is a

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global war. Part of that war is being waged in Peru.
    Therefore, we require greater resources, which I am sure that the 
U.S. Government and also the governments of the international community 
will consider in its appropriate dimension. I insist and I repeat that 
we have had serious difficulties in this past year because we have had 
those cutbacks and those delays in the disbursements. We hope that such 
obstacles will not be repeated.
    Likewise, we should say that on the supply side, Peru specifically, 
as the producer of 60 percent of coca leaf in the world and with the 
participation of 250,000 coca-producing farmer peasants are willing to 
change lifestyle. And they can do much more. Their contribution can be 
extremely noteworthy. And that is the potential that every government of 
the international community must take full advantage of.
    Therefore, I was also concerned by the allocations made to the 
producing countries. I repeat, hopefully this can be improved. And it is 
also necessary, and I must say this also very honestly, for the good of 
the struggle against the drug war, that cases such as Peru's will not be 
slanted exclusively towards interdiction, that this will not be the 
bias, that we study the problem in an integral fashion, as we are doing 
it with aid from the United States, for example, in our air control, and 
at the same time development.
    I have criticized the activities that have been carried out in the 
last 10 years because this reduction has not come about. In other words, 
what we want is more integral treatment, less police treatment. I think 
that this is basic. And I think that in that we are in full agreement as 
well.

Ecuador

    Q. President Borja, yesterday your spokesman told us that you and 
Ecuador do not have sufficient resources from the United States to fight 
drugs. Since now there are no specific timetables as far as money is 
concerned, what do you take back to your country in concrete terms?
    President Borja. I think that it should be made very clear that, 
fortunately, Ecuador--I repeat, it should be made very clear that 
Ecuador is an underdeveloped country as far as drug trafficking is 
concerned. We do not have coca cultivation. We do not refine cocaine. 
Drugs are not part of our exports, nor is it part of our economy. But 
naturally, that does not excuse us from our responsibility of agreeing 
to efforts with other countries in fighting in a united way against this 
modern scourge of drug trafficking and drug consumption, behind which 
there is enormous economic power. It is a plague that goes beyond any 
national borders. And therefore, as a response, it must receive 
concerted bilateral and multilateral action for that struggle to be 
successful.
    I have spoken to President Bush bilaterally with regard to the need 
to finance certain defensive actions, now that we have the time to do 
it, to keep my country from becoming a drug producer. Up to now, all our 
struggles against the drug traffic basically have been financed with 
Ecuadorean capital. But this financing is not sufficient. The task to be 
carried out is very large. In fact, people have spoken of a war on the 
drug traffic. That implies a multiplicity of battles that must be won in 
order to win the war. That requires a lot of money. It requires great 
efforts. That is why we are here.
    As President Salinas was saying, we are here to defend the things 
necessary for our countries in this battle against drugs. We must 
concert our battle against the drug traffic. And that struggle must be 
the result of an international response to a crime of international 
nature.
    President Bush. May I apologize for any violation of the Fitzwater 
ground rules. I wasn't able to control it quite the way I would like to. 
And I apologize to the fellow Presidents here because we had a little 
divergence there where it got a little out of the plan that we agreed 
upon. But I hope you understand. And I hope those journalists from 
abroad who were denied a question or two would understand, too.
    Thank you very, very much.

                    Note: The President's 122d news conference

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                        began at 3 p.m. on the lawn of the McNay Art 
                        Museum. The other Presidents and foreign 
                        journalists spoke in Spanish, and their remarks 
                        were translated by an interpreter.