    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [August 30, 1993]
    [Pages 1407-1412]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's News Conference With Caribbean Leaders
    August 30, 1993

        President Clinton. Good afternoon. Today I had the great honor of
    welcoming five outstanding leaders from the English-speaking Caribbean
    to the White House: President Cheddi Jagan of Guyana, Prime Minister
    Erskine Sandiford of Barbados, Prime Minister Patrick Manning of
    Trinidad and Tobago--Tobago, excuse me; I'm still hoarse from our
    luncheon--Prime Minister P.J. Patterson of Jamaica, and Prime Minister
    Hubert Ingraham of the Bahamas. I'm impressed by the intelligence, the
    dynamism, and the dedication of the Caribbean leadership.
        The end of the cold war has altered the nature but not the depth of
    our interest in the Caribbean. Our concern for the region is firmly
    rooted in geographic proximity, the resultant flows of people, of
    commodities and culture, and in our shared interest in fighting drug
    trafficking and projecting our economic interests and in protecting
    fragile ecosystems.
        As with U.S.-Mexican relations, U.S.-Caribbean relations
    dramatically demonstrate the absolute inseparability of foreign and
    domestic issues. More than ever before, our Nation is a Caribbean
    nation. In our discussions, we recognize the concerns that NAFTA may
    adversely affect the Caribbean and Central American nations by diverting
    trade and investment flows to Mexico. Therefore, I want to announce
    today that I have asked Ambassador Mickey Kantor to study the impact of
    NAFTA on these small economies and to consult with them on new measures
    to increase regional trade.
        American workers have a direct interest in the prosperity of the
    English-speaking Caribbean. The $2 billion in United States exports to
    those countries creates at least 40,000 American jobs. Our warm and
    productive luncheon meeting covered many other areas as well. These
    nations are all vibrant democracies striving to adapt their economies to
    new global realities while maintaining a full respect for individual
    freedoms and human rights.
        In the Organization of American States and in the United Nations,
    they consistently take strong stands in favor of the collective defense
    of democracy. They have all been firm supporters of multilateral efforts
    to restore President Aristide in Haiti. And we discussed cooperative
    security and economic measures to assist Haitian democracies. I thank
    them for their support of the restoration of President Aristide and, of
    course, we all enjoyed a recounting of President Aristide's swearing-in
    of his new Prime Minister today.
        The Caribbean community will be an important building block of a
    hemispheric community of democracies linked by growing economic ties and
    common political beliefs. That will happen, I believe, in no small
    measure because of the leadership of the five people who are here with
    us today. And I'd like now to ask them each in turn to come to the
    microphone and say a few remarks.
        And I think President Jagan is going first. He was here first in
    1961. Is that right? The microphone is yours, sir.
        President Jagan. Thank you, Mr. President. As you just pointed out,
    I was here in 1961. Those were difficult, different times. I'm happy to
    be here now with my colleagues jointly at this invitation of the
    President and to say that we definitely have problems, you in the United
    States and we in the Caribbean. Your problems are big; ours are
    critical. And I think it will be necessary for us to work closely
    together

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    to solve these problems because at one time Caribbean was described as a
    third border of United States, and some have said it's the Achilles'
    heel. And I believe 10 years ago, the Caribbean was described as one of
    the world circles of crisis.
        We have deteriorated somewhat; our economies are in trouble. But
    nevertheless we are optimistic that if we work together with the United
    States in a feeling, in a spirit of genuine partnership and
    interdependence, we can together resolve these problems. We have to,
    because increasingly we see developments taking place around the world
    in megablocs, and we in this hemisphere have to chart out our own
    destiny and work together in order to alleviate the problems of our
    people--they are many--and to bring about economic progress and human
    development.
        Thank you.
        Prime Minister Sandiford. We in Barbados and the rest of the
    Caribbean believe that we in this region have great opportunities to
    deal with the problems facing our region. We see these problems as
    relating to the achievement of greater levels of growth, providing more
    jobs for our people, keeping inflation low, and also dealing with the
    issues of competitiveness and productivity in our economies. Within this
    framework we believe that the United States, the Caribbean, and all
    other countries of our region have an opportunity to work through a new
    conceptualization of our region based on what I am calling a twin
    continent concept, involving the countries of North America, the
    countries of South America, linked on the one side by the countries of
    Central America and on the other side by that string of lovely tropical
    islands called the Caribbean, of which Barbados, forgive me, is the most
    beautiful. And then there are all the countries that are in between.
    [Laughter.]
        The opportunity of discussing with the President and his high-level
    delegation the issues involved and how we can do this, I think, is a
    most welcome one. And we believe that we can do it on a sustainable
    basis, sustainable in the sense that we have to provide an acceptable
    standard of living for our people, taking into account that those who
    are disadvantaged or deprived are not left to waste away and taking into
    account also that we have to make provision for our children and our
    children's children so that they, too, can live in an environment that
    can enable them to achieve adequate standards of living. We believe that
    we must now sit down and work as partners in order to achieve these
    objectives. And that is what we have been discussing, and that is what
    we will be working for.
        Prime Minister Manning. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
    We were very pleased today to have a chance to talk with the U.S.
    President and a team of his closest advisers. The CARICOM countries are
    situated on the doorstep of the United States of America. And it would
    be a great error to conclude that now that communism has come virtually
    to an end, that the CARICOM countries and the Caribbean territories on
    the whole are no longer of significance to the United States of America.
    That would be a great mistake, indeed.
        All of these countries are going through a structural adjustment,
    and in that context, we are all experiencing relatively high--relative
    on absolute terms--high levels of unemployment. It will be a great
    tragedy if in seeking to pursue sustainable development for our
    countries, it takes place at such a rate that the domestic populations
    begin to see as one of the options available to them a greater
    involvement in drug and drug-related activities. That's an option,
    ladies and gentlemen, that we are trying our best to avoid already.
    There's a drug problem in the Caribbean, and many of our countries have
    been transshipment points for the transfer of cocaine from South America
    to the United States and Canada and to the north.
        And so there is an urgency in the way we deal with development, and
    there's an urgency in the strategies that we pursue, the urgency in
    identifying these strategies and pursuing them as expeditiously as
    possible to ensure that we satisfy the aspirations of our populations.
        That is a point that was discussed at length today. And in
    particular we discussed with the President and his advisers this whole
    question of access to aid in the transition period, as our economies go
    from one state to the next, and in particular the use of per capita
    income as an indicator, a trigger indicator, an indicator for accessing
    concessional rates of funding and of assistance. Really, the populations
    of countries don't see per capita income. What they see is the change in
    per capita income. So no matter where you are, as long as there's a
    significant change downwards in the per capita income of any country,
    then it results in social problems

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    in that particular country. And that is a point of view that we
    advocated today as perhaps an alternative for mechanisms for giving aid
    to countries and for allowing countries to access concessional funding.
    I think that the point was taken. And our discussions were in fact very
    pleasant and, I believe, very fruitful.
        Thank you.
        Prime Minister Patterson. When I heard the Prime Minister of
    Barbados asserting the claims of his country, I thought of making a
    simple rejoinder and then reflected that it ran the risk of being
    misunderstood here. I had intended to say, good wine needs no bush.
    [Laughter]
        May I, Mr. President, thank you on behalf of the Government and
    people of Jamaica, and indeed on behalf of all the governments and
    people of the CARICOM member countries, for having invited us to
    participate in a timely discussion with you as your administration seeks
    to chart a relevant Caribbean policy in the context of the developments
    in the world and the hemisphere to which we belong.
        I think out of our discussions has emerged a recognition of the need
    to take that further step in forging a closer and more effective working
    partnership. As has been mentioned, the United States, Canada, and
    Mexico are on the verge of completing the signatories for the NAFTA
    agreement. For us in the Caribbean, we note that the whole world is
    moving towards larger and larger trading blocs. And we envisage a time
    when eventually there is going to be a free trade that extends
    throughout the hemisphere to which we belong.
        We in the Caribbean, particularly in CARICOM, have already started
    to prepare for that process. But we recognize that there is going to be
    the need for special transitional arrangements, taking into account
    certain products and exports which are very sensitive to us and certain
    areas of industrial activity that are so important to ensuring that
    employment levels are maintained, indeed, that unemployment is reduced
    so that social stability is maintained in all our respective countries.
        To these objectives, the strengthening of democracy, the enhancement
    of social mobility, and for economic progress in our region, all of us
    are firmly committed. And we are very happy that we are agreed to work
    in a collaborative exercise to make the dreams of all us as proud,
    independent people in this hemisphere a reality in our times.
        Prime Minister Ingraham. Mr. President, colleagues, ladies and
    gentlemen. When I heard the Prime Minister of Barbados and Jamaica--
    [laughter]--and I speak for the Bahamas, the undisputed leader in
    tourism in the entire region. [Laughter]
        We are delighted to have the opportunity to be in Washington, DC, at
    the White House and to have been so warmly welcomed by President Clinton
    and his administration. And in my capacity as Chairman of CARICOM and as
    Prime Minister of the Bahamas, let me say thank you very much for the
    opportunity to exchange views, which we found most useful.
        We had the opportunity to talk about the further steps which we may
    take as a group of nations to strengthen democracy in our region and to
    ensure that there is great accountability to our citizens and
    transparency in the governance of our respective countries. We were able
    to share views on Haiti and the progress which is being made in relation
    to the restoration of democracy to that country and to express our
    appreciation to the United States of America for the work which it is
    doing in that regard. We were also able to discuss our desire to do all
    we can to assist in helping to create an atmosphere in this region where
    all countries in the region will be democratic countries in the not too
    distant future, including Cuba.
        We were able to put before the administration of the United States
    the items of highest priority for the Caribbean region, and they are the
    inclusion in NAFTA, provisions to preserve and enhance CBI benefits to
    small CARICOM countries, the convention tax deduction benefits, and
    tourism development, which is most important to countries in the region
    like the Bahamas and elsewhere. We were able to point out the need for
    continual support for agriculture and banana, particularly for the
    countries of St. Vincent, Dominica, and St. Lucia.
        We were also able to focus on the joint cooperation in the antidrug
    effort and to point to the fact that one of the most successful, if not
    the most successful, drug interdiction program which has taken place
    anywhere takes place between the United States of America and in the
    Bahamas where some 26 percent of all cocaine seizures are captured.
        And lastly and finally, we were able to focus upon the need for the
    continuing promotion of democracy in our region.
        We all leave Washington, DC, reinvigorated

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    and determined to continue our efforts in this region to work together
    as partners to ensure better quality of life for all of our citizens. We
    are most hopeful of the benefits that will come to our region through
    the administration of President Clinton, and we thank you very much.
        President Clinton. Thank you. Let me also say, before you ask the
    question, if there are people here representing your nations, I want to
    make sure that I give them a chance to ask their questions also, but
    we'll start with Helen [Helen Thomas, United Press International].

    NAFTA

        Q. Mr. President, since you have a better chance of passing NAFTA in
    the Senate, will you push for the Senate consideration first? And did it
    come as a surprise to you that the Caribbean would feel adversely
    affected by NAFTA? I mean, was it news?
        President Clinton. No. Well, let me answer the first question first.
    I haven't made a decision on that yet, and I don't think I should until
    I consult with the supporters of the agreement. It can't pass in either
    House until the legislation is developed, which is now going on to
    embody the agreement. But I'm certainly open to that. I just simply
    haven't had the opportunity to sit down and visit with the supporters
    and see what they want to do. I have no objection to going that way.
        With regard to the Caribbean, it didn't come as a surprise to me. I
    think in general what these leaders said was that they thought it was a
    good idea but that it shouldn't adversely affect existing relationships.
    Our administration has worked hard to have a positive mutually
    beneficial relationship with the CARICOM nations to faithfully carry out
    the laws of Congress, including one that was passed late last year
    designed to stop a previous problem with our efforts there. And I said,
    as I said today, I asked the Ambassador for Trade, Mickey Kantor, to
    look into this and see whether we can provide some assurances that there
    will not be a disadvantage to the Caribbean nations.

    Cuba

        Q. Mr. President, can you be more specific about what the dialog was
    on Cuba and bringing it into a more democratic society?
        President Clinton. Actually, we had a general conversation about it.
    As you know, the position of CARICOM and the position of the United
    States with regard to trade with Cuba is different. I just simply
    reiterated that the Cuban democracy act does not sanction any trade with
    Cuba unless it is somehow subsidized by governments. That is not
    contemplated, so the difficulty issue we just got off the table, and
    then we talked a little bit about what the prospects were for economic
    and political reform in Cuba, something that is devoutly to be hoped for
    by the peoples of all the nations here represented. But there was
    nothing more specific than that.

    Bosnia

        Q. Mr. President, if the Bosnian peace agreement is reached in
    Geneva, how many American forces would you be willing to offer to help
    enforce that agreement? How long would they be required to serve? And
    what would be the risk to those forces?
        President Clinton. Well, first of all, whether I would be prepared
    to do that or not depends on whether I'm convinced that the agreement is
    both--is fair, fully embraced by the Bosnian government, and is
    enforceable. That has been a source of concern for our military planners
    all along--about, you know, whether we could have something that would
    be enforceable.
        But I made clear last February, and I will reiterate again, the
    United States is prepared to participate in a multinational effort to
    keep the peace in Bosnia. But I want to see what the details are. I want
    to get the briefing on it. I want to know that it will be enforceable.
    But I'm certainly open to that, but I also want to know whose
    responsibility it is to stay, for how long.
        It's a little bit different than the situation in Somalia, for
    example, where you really have two problems that relate to one another.
    There needs to be a lot of nation-building in Somalia from the ground
    up, a lot of institution-building. We did go there to stop the
    starvation and the violence and the bloodshed. But it's also true that
    the absence of order gave rise to all those problems.
        And so we're still trying to fulfill our original mission in
    Somalia. This is a very different sort of thing, but I certainly think
    it can work. A multinational effort to keep the peace, if it is
    enforceable and the understandings are there, can clearly work. You can
    see that in the longstanding success we've had in our participation in
    the aftermath of the Camp David agreement.

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    Cuba

        Q. Mr. President, my question is for Prime Minister Patterson, if
    you could step to the microphone. Going back to Cuba, what is the
    position of CARICOM in regards to Cuba? And do you think you can do
    anything to bring Cuba back into the democratic fold?

        Prime Minister Patterson. First of all, what we are seeking to
    establish with Cuba is a joint commission that discusses the range of
    matters no different from those presently covered by a joint commission
    with Mexico, with Venezuela, with Colombia. It is not an agreement that
    provides for subsidized trade with Cuba and therefore does not offend
    any existing legislation in the United States or elsewhere.

        We feel that the time has come for all countries in the hemisphere
    to work towards a normalization of relationships among them. There are
    differences between the political systems in Cuba and those in the
    CARICOM countries. We remain firmly committed to the democratic
    tradition. But Cuba unquestionably is a Caribbean country. That is a
    reality which we must face, and we believe that the joint commission
    should assist in the process of inducing Cuba towards the sorts of
    policies and programs that are compatible with those of other
    independent nations in the hemisphere.

        Q. Would you like to see the U.S. do the same thing?

        Prime Minister Patterson. What the U.S. does is a matter for the
    U.S. to determine. If we can assist anywhere in the process of contact
    or mediation, we are always prepared to do so.

    Somalia

        Q. Mr. President, in Mogadishu some of the humanitarian relief
    workers say that the U.S. raid early this morning was a blunder, and in
    fact, the U.S. military is making their job more difficult. What do you
    say to those who are there to help? And will the U.S. forces remain
    there long enough to capture Aideed? Is that a target for you?

        President Clinton. Well, the United Nations operation set that as
    their objective, and they asked us for our help in that regard.

        I would remind you that I understand the problems with this, but the
    United Nations believes and has ample evidence to support the fact that
    the supporters of Aideed murdered a substantial number of Pakistani
    peacekeepers and are behind the deaths of four Americans. So we have to
    deal with that. And I am open to other suggestions. I think the United
    Nations should be open to other suggestions.

        To date, we have tried to be cooperative with the policies that have
    been jointly developed. We have not been just simply driving this. We
    have really tried to work within the framework of the U.N. to prove that
    this thing could work over the long run. We've also tried to make sure
    that everyone understood that this is not all of Somalia we're talking
    about. We're talking about one part of Mogadishu. In much of the rest of
    the country, the U.N. mission has continued unimpeded and successfully.
    I don't think anyone wants to change the fundamental character of it.

        And so, would I be willing to discuss that with our people and with
    anyone else? Of course, I would. But I think it is very important to
    point out that what provoked this was people involved with Aideed
    killing the Pakistanis first and then the four Americans.

    Caribbean-U.S. Relations

        Q. Mr. President--[inaudible]--talked about the need for--
    [inaudible]. Is there a need to ensure the dialog continues through the
    establishment perhaps of U.S.-CARICOM policy machinery? What are you
    prepared to do?

        President Clinton. Well, I think there is a need for a continuing
    dialog. One of the things that I pledged today to these leaders is that
    next year when the conference on the sustainable development in smaller
    nations is held in the Caribbean, that the United States would send a
    high level delegation there. And we didn't discuss any specific
    mechanism. But I think it is very important. You know, all these
    nations, and others not here present, in the Caribbean, are at different
    points in their history with different challenges. And I think that what
    we need to do is to make it clear that the United States is committed to
    democracy, to market economics, and to economic growth of this region
    over the long run. Here even at home we find great difficulty in
    predicting with precision what's going to happen economically, because
    we're in a period of real profound eco-

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    nomic change. And I think it's important that we make these commitments
    over the long run and that we keep the doors of communication open, and
    that's exactly what we intend to do.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President's 24th news conference began at 2:09 p.m. in the
    East Room at the White House.