[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 48 (Monday, December 6, 1993)]
[Pages 2472-2477]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's News Conference With President Ramiro De Leon of 
Guatemala

 November 30, 1993

    President Clinton. Good morning. This morning it was my great honor 
to welcome seven outstanding Central American leaders to the White 
House: President Cristiani of El Salvador, President Endara of Panama, 
President Callejas of Honduras, President Calderon of Costa Rica, 
President Chamorro of Nicaragua, President De Leon of Guatemala, and 
Prime Minister Esquivel of Belize.
    These leaders have made an historic contribution to our hemisphere 
by helping to build democracy and peace in a region that until very 
recently was riven by civil strife. I'm grateful that they were able to 
break away from the Miami conference on the Caribbean, which they are 
attending with leaders from the private sector, from throughout the 
Caribbean Basin, to discuss ways to advance regional prosperity.
    President De Leon has struggled heroically on behalf of democracy 
and human rights in Guatemala. And he's just achieved an important 
political accord that will bring more accountable government to his 
nation. President Cristiani played a central role in ending El 
Salvador's civil war and has been critical to the success of the peace 
accords. President Chamorro has worked hard to bring reconciliation and 
democracy to Nicaragua. I want to acknowledge President Callejas for his 
leadership in consolidating democracy in Honduras and President Calderon 
for advancing Costa Rica's traditions of social justice and the rule of 
law. President Endara has safeguarded Panama's return to democracy. And 
Prime Minister Esquivel has earned praise for his government's sound 
economic policies and his own personal integrity.
    For years, few regions of our world endured more suffering than 
Central America. But today, few regions are better poised to reap the 
benefits of the end of the cold war. This is the first time in the 20th 
century that all of these nations have come here to the White House to 
meet the President of the United States, every one of them being headed 
by democratically elected leaders. It is an historic and very important 
moment.
    The people of Central America are clearly dedicated to the harvest 
of reconstruction and renewal. They're healing divided societies, 
reviving stalled economies, and working toward closer integration among 
themselves and their other neighbors. My message today to these 
distinguished leaders and to the millions whom they represent is simple: 
The United States will be there as your partner to help. We will not 
make the mistake of abandoning this region when its dramatic recovery is 
not yet complete. We will remain engaged to help Central America attain 
peace, consolidate democracy, protect human rights, and achieve 
sustainable development. Our Nation has a direct stake in Central 
America's stability and prosperity.

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The United States exports $6 billion in goods to these countries, 
supporting over 100,000 American jobs.
    Today we discussed steps that Central America's nations can take to 
strengthen our economic ties, including further trade liberalization and 
better protection of worker rights, intellectual property, and the 
environment. We also discussed the impact of the North American Free 
Trade Agreement, which all of these leaders strongly supported. The Vice 
President is leaving this afternoon for Mexico where he will deliver a 
major address on American engagement in Latin America. This morning we 
agreed that NAFTA's historic passage can serve as a catalyst for the 
expansion of free trade to other market democracies throughout the 
hemisphere, something I have long supported. And we shared concerns 
about NAFTA's potential short-term effects on the flow of trade and 
investment to Central America. I pledged that my administration will 
work with Congress and Central American governments to design 
affirmative strategies to stimulate regional trade.
    As our economic relationship evolves, so must the nature of the 
United States support for economic development in Central America. We 
will continue bilateral aid programs. At the same time, the region's 
rising creditworthiness has allowed international financial institutions 
to increase their role, and we strongly support that. We will work to 
develop a new, more mature economic partnership with Central America 
based on trade expansion, multilateral support for economic reforms, and 
better coordination of bilateral and multilateral aid programs.
    These leaders today have told us that they seek to work together to 
become a model region for sustainable development. And we are prepared 
to work with them in that enterprise. I can think of no more important 
common endeavor.
    With the elections of the last several years, democracy has taken 
root in Central America's rugged terrain. Now the challenge facing this 
region is to build democratic institutions that endure, that are honest, 
that are responsive, that are effective. We are prepared to work closely 
with Central America to promote reform in the judiciary, the civil 
service, education, and health care. Good governance will advance our 
mutual objectives to bolster democracy, promote social opportunity, and 
clear the path for freer trade.
    Just a few years ago, this morning's meeting would have been 
literally unthinkable. Now, in the midst of this great progress, it 
would be unthinkable for us not to meet. The prosperity and security of 
this hemisphere which we share depends more than ever on our continued 
cooperation.
    It is now my honor to introduce President De Leon, who will also 
speak for his fellow Central American leaders.
    Mr. President.
    President De Leon. Thank you very much. Good morning. At this time 
of great and transcendental changes in the world order, in Central 
America, in the United States, and especially in our reciprocal 
relations, today we just had a Presidential meeting which we consider 
not only a very pleasant one but an extremely constructive one. We were 
able to exchange with President Clinton, whom we would like to thank for 
his invitation, our points of view on issues and problems of great 
importance having to do with our bilateral relationship as well as 
recent events in Central America on the one hand and in the United 
States on the other hand.
    I would like to summarize what we have discussed as follows. As far 
as democracy and governance, first of all we underscored the efforts 
made in our region for the consolidation of pluralistic and 
participatory systems, giving special priority to respect for 
individual, civil, and political human rights, which has allowed great 
progress in the recent years in the solution of the great conflicts we 
have.
    We showed that we Central American countries continue to work to 
achieve true participatory democracy involving growth with social 
justice and without confrontation and that solidarity and dialog are 
essential principles to which we are giving priority as the 
underpinnings of the strengthening of our democracies.
    As to economic and social development and the fight against poverty, 
on these points we said to President Clinton that the magnitude of the 
problem of poverty in our countries is of great importance. It is a 
problem

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which will have to be solved with political will and solidarity. The 
fight against poverty, we said, is not just a matter of supporting 
social welfare investment, but it is a matter of supporting productive 
investment through private investment, supporting the productive sector, 
and supporting the insertion of our economies into the world market. We 
have to fight the scourge of poverty through consistent management of 
our economic and our social policies. We told the President that we are 
emerging with great difficulty and with degrees of difference from one 
country to the other, emerging from a deep and prolonged recession which 
punished those least able to defend themselves especially, badly. I am 
talking here about the poorest of the poor.
    As far as economic adjustment is concerned, with great optimism we 
said to the President that we Central Americans are now looking toward 
the future with a positive vision. We are transforming antiquated 
schemes. And now the societies realize that they have to assume costs 
but in an attitude of solidarity in order to achieve peace, development, 
democracy, and especially the respect for human rights, both individual 
and economic, social and cultural rights.
    We emphasize that governments must become more efficient as 
administrators and public servants, allowing the state to act where it 
must and generate conditions so that the private sector can act in a 
more decentralized and participatory manner. Regarding self-effort and 
external assistance, we discussed how happy we Central Americans are to 
be making our own efforts and advancing toward positive results, a 
demonstration of which is the recent signing of the protocol to the 
Treaty of Central American Economic Integration. At the same time 
though, we recalled that these internal efforts must be supported as 
they have been by external cooperation. And here the support offered by 
the United States has had, has, and will continue to have great 
importance. We also said to President Clinton that we feel that this 
particular historic moment is the very worst one to be cutting back on 
cooperation, external cooperation. It is the best time to maintain it 
and increase it, convinced that democracy is more than the simple and 
mere holding of regular elections.
    Finally, on the NAFTA and the Caribbean Basin Initiative, the 
Central American Presidents said in this Presidential summit meeting, 
that our bilateral agenda with the United States is going to be very 
strongly influenced not only by the changes in Central America but also 
by the historic decision of Canada, the United States, and Mexico to 
form an expanded free trade area. We said that we applaud this decision, 
which marks a fundamental and positive change in inter-American 
relations, and that we feel that this does constitute a creative answer 
to the emerging international reordering. We also considered, we said, 
that NAFTA implies the need for the Central American region to redouble 
its efforts and to become stronger so that we can expand to serve more 
competitive markets.
    We made two proposals to President Clinton. First of all, we 
expressed to him our great interest in initiating consultations to 
incorporate the Central American countries into the North American Free 
Trade Agreement and, at the same time, that the real possibilities be 
considered to make the CBI benefits be equal to the NAFTA benefits. We 
said that we felt that this should be done within the framework of 
respect for the environment. And we had a very favorable response to our 
suggestion that Central America should become a model area of 
sustainable development in the environmental framework. We have taken 
the political decision to suggest this, and President Clinton has 
decided to give this idea his backing.
    We also said that we would be very appreciative for any support and 
backing that the U.S. Government could give to the negotiations within 
the framework of the Uruguay round to expand liberalization of world 
trade for products of interest to us. We are grateful for the efforts 
that the United States has made to increase our access to the European 
Common Market, and we are hoping that there will be a negotiated 
solution with the EC.
    Finally, and given the welcome and the interest which was so 
emphatically shown by President Clinton to the regional proposals we 
made, the Presidents of the Central

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American region wish to repeat here our satisfaction at the fruitfulness 
and constructive nature of this meeting. And we have decided to set up a 
high-level commission among us to follow up the process of incorporation 
of Central America into the North American Free Trade Agreement. This 
constitutes a very important way to combat poverty in Central America 
and thus achieve peace and consolidate democracy and development with 
social equity for the entire Central American isthmus.
    Thank you.

Nicaragua and El Salvador

    Q. Could you discuss the loosening aid to Nicaragua? And also did 
you discuss the emergence of death squads in El Salvador?
    President Clinton. We discussed the aid to Nicaragua issue very 
briefly. I have decided just in the last couple of days to approve the 
release of the aid from FY '93 because of the significant progress made 
in Nicaragua in asserting civilian control over the military and in 
trying to resolve some American property claims and on a number of other 
issues there. So I feel good about that.
    With regard to El Salvador, what we basically discussed was the 
continuation of the democratic process and the upcoming elections and 
the hope that the recent violence there would not in any way interrupt 
that. And I feel comfortable that they are proceeding along that path.
    What I'd like to do is to try to alternate questions and take a 
question from people representing Central American press and then go 
back to the American press and go back and forth, if I could.
    Yes, in the back.

Central America and NAFTA

    Q. Mr. President, as the President of Guatemala has said Central 
American countries are interested in having that parity with NAFTA 
because they feel that they are going to start feeling the impact of 
NAFTA in about 5 years. What was your response? Are you willing to give 
them that parity?
    President Clinton. Let me say specifically what we talked--we talked 
about two different issues. One is the question of involving Central 
America in the process that produced NAFTA, that is, an expansion of a 
free trade area to the rest of Latin America. That's something, as I 
think all of you know, I have long been interested in and have talked 
about it when I was running for President. And I told him that I had 
asked Ambassador Kantor to basically, when we conclude our GATT 
efforts--we're preoccupied, as you know, with the GATT agreement now--
after we conclude our GATT agreements and if NAFTA goes through with the 
proclamation of Canada which has to be done by the first of the year, 
shortly after the first of the year, to begin a study and come up with a 
recommendation to me about how to proceed with reference to the rest of 
Latin America in the free trade process.
    Now secondly, the other issue we discussed was a narrower one, and 
that is, how can we make sure that the NAFTA agreement, as it begins to 
be implemented, does not hurt the Caribbean countries who are in the 
Caribbean Basin Initiative? That is, neither Mexico nor the United 
States and certainly not Canada ever intended for there to be a transfer 
of investment from the Caribbean to Mexico, just a simple shift. That 
would defeat the whole purpose of what we're trying to do here in 
growing the area. So we are looking into now what we can do on a shorter 
term basis to just make sure that doesn't happen. As I said, that was 
never any part of Mexico's strategy or interest, never any part of the 
United States. So I think we'll have a more near-term recommendation on 
that regard.

Salman Rushdie

    Q. Mr. President, many Muslims, including some who support the 
United States, are upset about your meeting with author Salman Rushdie. 
Was there any advice from the State Department or others that there were 
risks involved in this meeting? And do you think that it might undercut 
support for the Middle East peace process?
    President Clinton. To be frank, there was some division among our 
people about whether I should see Mr. Rushdie when he was here. He met 
with Mr. Lake, and then I was over in the Old Executive Office Building, 
and Mr. Lake brought him over there so I could see him and shake hands 
with him.

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We visited probably for a couple of minutes. And there was some--because 
our view of the first amendment and free speech is different from that 
held by many Muslims throughout the world, including many who are our 
friends. I understand that.
    I did it to make the point not that I agree with the attacks on 
Islam in the book that Mr. Rushdie wrote but that in our country and in 
the countries who respect freedom of speech, freedom of speech includes 
especially the willingness to respect without threatening the life of or 
the rights of people who write things that we do not agree with. Indeed, 
for a Westerner, I have tried for more than 20 years now to study and 
have an appreciation of Islam. And I respect the religion, and I respect 
the culture enormously. So I mean no disrespect to the people who have 
that religious faith. But I do think it's important that here in the 
United States we reaffirm our commitment to protect the physical well-
being and the right to speak of those with whom we may intensely 
disagree. That's what our Constitution does. So I hope that I will not 
be misunderstood. I believe I made the right decision.
    Yes, ma'am.

Aid to Central America

    Q. Mr. President, you mentioned that one of the programs will 
include multilateral aid to Central America. However, the AID budget has 
been substantially cut and will continue to be cut in the future. What 
has been your commitment in this regard to the nations of Central 
America?
    President Clinton. First of all, let's discuss that. The AID budget 
was cut in the last budget cycle. And we are basically in a 5-year 
period now where we've committed not to increase Federal discretionary 
spending even for inflation. So there will be a cut of all spending 
relative to inflation, which means if we want to increase one area of 
our spending, we have to cut something else proportionately. And I'm 
going now into a series of meetings--I had my first one yesterday--on 
next year's budget, which will require us to make some difficult 
decisions.
    What I said to the leaders was I would do my best to maintain some 
level of bilateral assistance but that the United States would try to 
make sure that the multilateral aid offset whatever cuts we had in 
bilateral assistance, number one, and number two, that I would do my 
best to strengthen the economic relationship between the United States 
and these nations in the hope that increasing trade and investment would 
do far more than bilateral aid ever could anyway to strengthen the long-
term economic well-being of the two nations.
    Thank you very much.

Trade, Development, and Democracy

[At this point, a question was asked in Spanish, and a translation was 
not provided.]

    President De Leon. As I said, in addition to being a very pleasant 
meeting, it was an extremely fruitful one. Our proposals were welcomed 
very forthrightly by the U.S. side. And we had the hope, because of the 
interest that President Clinton showed in our presentations, that we 
would be able to do something concrete on two areas in particular: one, 
in connection with a free trade expansion to Central America, and 
secondly, that we could get the same benefits as NAFTA for the CBI 
countries.
    In addition to that, we had the suggestion which was accepted vis-a-
vis the environmental pilot projects. We think that it would be 
wonderful if that pilot project for sustainable development should be 
carried forward in Central America. This would be great not just for 
Central America but for the entire world.
    For President Clinton regarding democratization of the region and 
with respect for human rights to achieve greater cooperation with the 
United States Government, I would say that we ourselves, we the Central 
American countries, we are giving signals of this advance and progress, 
difficult in some cases, fragile in others, but we are going toward true 
democracy. We have the case of El Salvador, Honduras, Panama; democracy 
has come later in some cases, sooner in others. I never mention Costa 
Rica when we talk about this, because Costa Rica has always been a 
democracy and an example for the entire world and the case of Belize, 
which has also been a democracy.
    Guatemala has had the worst problems, and 5 months ago we had 
another break of

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our institutional and constitutional order. But we showed the world that 
we have begun to mature in our society. In Guatemala we've begun to 
learn what the democratic society is and means. This has been done 
incredibly peacefully, and I say ``incredibly'' because of the 
antecedents in our country. And we have been able to get out of a 
political crisis, which was very difficult, between the three branches 
of Government, with an agreement which was the best one possible for our 
people, because the constitutional changes for the first time have taken 
place without a coup d'etat. The interruption of the constitutional 
mandate of the Congress and the supreme court is going to be corrected 
by the purest expression of democracy, that is, a popular election. 
Therefore, I gave the example of Guatemala, excuse me for that, but I 
think our problems are the worst. And I think that the rest of the 
region also has given signs of consolidating the democratic system.
    So there was no conditionality; quite the opposite. What we had was 
total backing of a proposal and a desire for the United States to 
continue helping us consolidate our democracies, fragile in some cases, 
more consolidated in other cases, but continue to work for the sake of 
consolidating peace.
    President Clinton. Thank you.

Note: The President's 36th news conference began at 11:22 a.m. in the 
East Room at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Anthony 
Lake, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. 
President De Leon spoke in Spanish, and his remarks were translated by 
an interpreter.