    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [October 13, 1997]
    [Pages 1344-1345]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Declaration of the Presidents of the United States of America and of the
    Republic of Venezuela
    October 13, 1997

        Meeting in the city of Caracas, we, William Jefferson Clinton,
    President of the United States of America, and Rafael Caldera, President
    of the Republic of Venezuela, have had a fruitful dialogue about
    developments in our bilateral relations and the shared perspective and
    objectives of both countries in the hemisphere and in the world.
        We reaffirm that our reciprocal relations are inspired by the
    highest ideals of liberty and democracy, and we express our satisfaction
    for the existence of that form of government in almost all the countries
    that make up our hemisphere.
        This meeting has also permitted us to agree on the necessity of
    promoting at the international level respect for and guarantee of human
    rights, cooperation in the struggle against corruption and terrorism,
    and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. In short, we
    reaffirm the long history of shared friendship and cooperation between
    Venezuela and the United States of America and we express our
    willingness to expand and deepen the ties in all areas of common
    interest.
        We reaffirm the commitment to continue working toward the creation
    of a Free Trade Area of the Americas by the year 2005, and in this sense
    give our support to the comprehensive negotiations which to this end
    will begin during the 1998 Summit of Santiago, Chile, on all the
    subjects related to this theme listed in the Miami Declaration. We
    reaffirm the commitment made in the Declaration of Miami that concrete
    progress toward the attainment of this objective will be made by the end
    of this century.
        We recognize the importance of the expansion of commerce and
    bilateral investment to improve the standard of living of the people of
    our countries and for this reason reaffirm our political will to sign a
    high-standards Bilateral Investment Treaty which meets the interests of
    both parties and satisfactorily resolves those issues over which
    agreement has not yet been reached. We recognize the progress reached in
    the negotiations which we have conducted, and have instructed our
    representatives to aim to conclude this treaty as quickly as possible.
    Furthermore, we express our willingness to reinitiate talks on a basis
    that leads to the signing of a treaty to avoid double taxation.
        As an expression of our close bilateral association in the field of
    energy, we note with great satisfaction the signing of the Memorandum of
    Understanding on Energy Cooperation that extends ties in petroleum
    matters to new areas such as renewable energy, energy efficiency,
    development of natural gas, and integration of energy resources that
    will promote still more reciprocal investment in the energy sector.
        In view of the importance of the strengthening of the process of
    hemispheric cooperation and integration in the area of energy, we
    support the initiative of the Government of Venezuela to convene a
    hemispheric meeting of ministers of energy in January 1998 as an
    important step prior to the Hemispheric Summit of Santiago de Chile.
        Given the active cooperation of our two countries in the struggle
    against narcotics trafficking and related crimes, we welcome the signing
    of the ``Strategic Alliance Against Drugs'' as the expression that our
    governments continue to give the highest priority to combat this scourge
    together and without quarter. Thus we reaffirm the desire to initiate
    negotiations as soon as possible to sign a new comprehensive maritime
    cooperation agreement for the struggle against drugs. We note with
    approval that the United States of America continues to cooperate with
    Venezuela in counternarcotics activities through the provision of
    equipment, training teams and other useful measures.

    [[Page 1345]]

        We salute the initiative adopted by both governments to sign a
    Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty as well as a Customs Cooperation
    Agreement that will facilitate our combating more effectively crimes of
    corruption, money laundering, and in the customs area.
        Finally, we confirm our political will to maintain and deepen the
    ties of friendship and reciprocal assistance that we have maintained at
    all times and express the conviction that our respective peoples will
    continue to benefit from those gifts conferred by our proximity and our
    common destiny.

    For the United States of America

                                                   William Jefferson Clinton

    For the Republic of Venezuela

                                                              Rafael Caldera

    Note: An original was not available for verification of the content of
    this declaration.