    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [March 10, 1999]
    [Page 339]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Arrival in Guatemala City, Guatemala
    March 10, 1999

        Mr. President, representatives of the
    Guatemalan Government and people, we thank you for your warm welcome. I
    am honored to have the chance to be greeted here, in a place that
    recalls both Guatemala's marvelous cultural heritage and its past of
    conflicts and pain.
        And I am especially grateful for the chance to meet you today, at a
    time when Guatemala is building a future of democracy, reconciliation,
    and peace. You have ended a cruel war. You have given your people--all
    your people--a chance to shape their destiny and to stand on their own.
    You have faced the past with candor and found the courage to move
    forward. You are teaching the world that no conflict is so bitter, no
    gulf is so wide that it cannot be overcome by the power of good
    government and by people of good will.
        In a few moments, I will have the opportunity to discuss, with a
    broad range of Guatemalan citizens, the progress of peace in your
    country. I will reaffirm America's commitment to shed light on the dark
    events of the past, so that they are never repeated, and to help you
    implement the peace accords in a way that ensures that the human rights
    of the Guatemalan people are always respected.
        Tomorrow I will meet with President Arzu,
    and we will join with the leaders of Central America in a summit in
    Antigua to continue our efforts to build in this hemisphere a community
    of true democracies in which all our nations finally can prosper
    together. That is our common goal. Lo lograremos como socios y como
    amigos.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 4:15 p.m. in the courtyard at the National
    Palace of Culture. In his remarks, he referred to President Alvaro Arzu
    of Guatemala.