    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [November 18, 1993]
    [Pages 2011-2012]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement by the Press Secretary on the President's Message on NAFTA to
    Latin American Heads of State
    November 18, 1993

        Following passage of the NAFTA implementing legislation by the House
    of Representatives on November 17 the President sent the following
    message to heads of state and government of Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil,
    Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Suriname, Guyana,
    Bolivia, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Dominican Republic,
    Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Haiti, Barbados, The Bahamas, St. Lucia,
    St. Vincent and The Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and
    Barbuda, Jamaica, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Grenada:
        ``I am pleased to inform you that the implementing legislation for
    the North American Free Trade Agreement was passed on November 17 by the
    United States House of Representatives. This represents the first
    critical step on the road to U.S. implementation of the Agreement. I
    hope to win approval of the implementing legislation next week by the
    United States Senate. The other signatory parties, Canada and Mexico,
    are completing their ratification procedures.
        ``This is an historic occasion. The NAFTA will benefit all the
    people of our hemisphere. It manifests the confidence and optimism with
    which the United States and our immediate neighbors face the future. It
    epitomizes our dedication to the development of a cooperative and
    prosperous post-Cold War world based on open and dynamic economies, a
    clean environment, protection of workers' rights and expansion of
    democracy.
        ``The NAFTA will capitalize on the tremendous opportunities which
    reforms in Mexico and elsewhere in the Americas have given us to open
    the way to trade liberalization throughout the hemisphere. As we link
    our economies we not only will increase the efficiency of production in
    each country but also will create new, better quality jobs and improve
    the entire hemisphere's competitiveness in the global marketplace. The
    NAFTA will set the stage for freer trade and sustainable, more equitable
    economic develop-

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    ment throughout Latin America and the Caribbean for the benefit of our
    combined populations of 700 million. It will also give an enormous boost
    to our efforts to complete the GATT Uruguay Round so we can continue to
    expand the global economy.
        ``I am grateful for the hemisphere-wide backing the NAFTA enjoys.
    Your expressions of support, both individual and issued collectively
    through the Organization of American States, the Rio Group, the
    Caribbean Community and the Meeting of Central American Presidents have
    helped me convey to the people of the United States the commitment of
    Latin American and Caribbean nations to opening their markets so that
    freer trade may benefit all. I am proud to have your support in this
    historic endeavor and I look forward to working with you to make freer
    trade throughout this hemisphere a reality.''