[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
[May 8, 1997]
[Pages 581-582]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the Central American Summit Dinner in San Jose
May 8, 1997

    President Reina, President and Mrs. Figueres, to my colleagues and 
friends at this table, and to all of you at this wonderful dinner: The 
day has been long and the hour is late, and most of what needs to be 
said has been said. I would like to begin briefly by simply thanking 
President and Mrs. Figueres and all the people of Costa Rica for their 
wonderful reception, including the magnificent music we heard this 
evening. Thank you very much, Mr. President.
    I think you could tell by the remarks of President Reina and 
President Figueres that there was a wonderful spirit in our meeting 
today, a real desire to meet each other on terms of equality and 
respect, an understanding that we should seize the future together. And 
it left us all feeling larger and better than we came. I believe in 
Costa Rica you say that is pura vida. [Laughter]
    As we rejoice tonight in the new hope and opportunity that is 
sweeping across the Americas, it would be wrong of us not to also 
remember and applaud the brave struggles of countless Central Americans 
in forging the peace we now celebrate. Because of the price they paid, 
today we find former guerrillas and ex-officers sitting side by side in 
legislatures. Central America's jaguars are second only to Asia's tigers 
in their rates of growth. Our nations are working together no longer to 
strip and exploit the land but instead to use our resources wisely, with 
future generations in mind.
    Tonight I would like to especially salute President Arzu for all he 
has done to end four decades of conflict in Guatemala.
    We are among the 34 democracies that committed in Miami 3 years ago 
to build a free trade area of the Americas by the year 2005. Today we 
issued the San Jose Declaration in that same spirit. Both are based on a 
fundamental conviction that we cannot build the future we seek unless we 
build it together.
    I also want all of you to know that we resolve to actually work 
together to make these words real. We have had specific discussions 
about what we do next to expand trade, what we do next to improve 
education, what we do next to advance the environmental agenda. And just 
before I left the hotel to come here tonight, when Hillary and I were 
talking about the

[[Page 582]]

evening and the day, I received a call from General McCaffrey, who heads 
our efforts against illegal narcotics. He was full of excitement because 
he had been meeting with all of his counterparts from the countries here 
represented. He said, ``Mr. President, this is the best meeting I ever 
had. These people really care about their children getting involved with 
drugs. They really want to defeat this. They're going to help us. We're 
going to work together. I feel better about this than I did the first 
day I took office.'' That is the spirit we intend to bring to every one 
of our endeavors.
    Perhaps most important, we leave here with deeper ties as friends 
and partners. President Franklin Roosevelt said this 60 years ago in a 
speech to the Pan American Union; it's still true today: ``Your 
Americanism and mine must be a structure built of confidence, cemented 
by a sympathy which recognizes only equality and fraternity.'' My fellow 
citizens of the Americas, we stand on the edge of a bright new century. 
Let us bring that spirit to its work, and let us live with a dream that 
is worthy of our children.
    I ask you now to join me in a toast of salute and gratitude to 
President and Mrs. Figueres for bringing us together here in Costa Rica.

Note: The President spoke at 10:15 p.m. in the Hotel Herradura. In his 
remarks, he referred to President Carlos Roberto Reina of Honduras; 
President Jose Maria Figueres of Costa Rica and his wife, Josette 
Altmann de Figueres; and President Alvaro Arzu of Guatemala. A tape was 
not available for verification of the content of these remarks.