[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 41 (Monday, October 16, 1995)]
[Pages 1811-1812]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Luncheon Honoring President Zedillo

October 11, 1995

    Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Vice President, for the 
introduction and for your leadership in these important endeavors. 
President Zedillo, Secretary General Gaviria, World Bank President 
Wolfensohn, the IMF's Managing Director Camdessus, President Iglesias, 
members of the United States and American Cabinets, Ambassador Babbitt, 
and the other OAS Ambassadors; to the very important members of our 
business communities in the United States and throughout Latin America; 
to all of our distinguished guests:
    Just 9 months ago I had the honor of hosting all the democratically 
elected leaders in our hemisphere at the Summit of the Americas in 
Miami. Together we laid out a bold and broad vision for the future of 
the region we all share. We imagined a community of nations committed to 
freedom and prosperity. And we set out a plan of action to realize that 
vision, to create a free trade area throughout our hemisphere, to 
strengthen the remarkable trend toward democracy, to improve the quality 
of life for all our people.
    What all of us in Miami recognized is that increasingly our values 
and our interests co- 

[[Page 1812]]

incide. Our futures are joined. As each of us prospers, all of us 
benefit.
    For 45 years, the Organization for American States has worked 
tirelessly to strengthen the ties that bind us together. Now, its 
members have challenged us to implement many of the summit's 
initiatives, especially in the area of democracy and human rights. And 
in turn, we have asked the OAS to help turn our goal of a free trade 
area of the Americas into a concrete reality.
    Under Secretary General Gaviria's dynamic guidance, I am confident 
the OAS will meet the responsibilities of its mandate and help to build 
a new era of democratic progress throughout the Americas.
    Nowhere is the potential for progress clearer than in our 
relationship with Mexico. The stronger our trade, the greater the well-
being of all of our people. The deeper our cooperation, the better we 
will be able to fight together our common problems like drugs and crime 
and pollution. The more effective our partnership, the stronger an 
example we will be able to set for all the nations of our hemisphere.
    That's why when the peso collapsed, the United States stepped 
forward. The international support package we assembled, with the IMF, 
the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, helped Mexico to 
get back on the path of stability and growth. It also protected hundreds 
of thousands of American jobs, and it prevented the crisis from 
spreading throughout our region and, indeed, to other emerging markets 
throughout the world. To put it mildly, the action the United States 
took was not popular here at home at the time it was taken. But it was 
the right thing to do.
    In the months since the crisis, Mexico has demonstrated more 
strongly than ever that it is not only our neighbor, it is a very good 
neighbor. The Mexican people, led by President Zedillo, have 
courageously stayed on the road to reform.
    Mr. President, the tough steps you took required courage and the 
ability to convince the Mexican people of the need for short-term pain 
in return for long-term gain. But now your resolve is paying off. Mexico 
has turned the corner toward recovery. And all of your partners in our 
region applaud your leadership and your success and the basic character 
and vision of the people of Mexico who have supported your direction.
    During his visit to Washington, President Zedillo and I discussed 
how we can move our partnership forward, not only to benefit our two 
nations but the entire hemisphere. By spreading the success of NAFTA, 
leading the fight against crime and corruption and drugs, clearing our 
air and cleaning our water, modernizing our educational systems for the 
21st century, we hope to inspire the efforts of our neighbors throughout 
the Americas.
    All of us in the Americas have an extraordinary opportunity, if we 
work together. We can build a future where our borders serve as bridges, 
where open societies and open markets flourish, where ordinary citizens, 
their families, and their communities see the benefits of a free-market 
economy without being swept away by its excesses, where our horizons 
know no limits and we prove the promise of our common commitment to 
democracy and human dignity.
    If we achieve that vision, it will be thanks in no small measure to 
the steady hand and the clear-sightedness of my friend and partner, who 
is here, the distinguished President of Mexico, President Zedillo.
    Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

Note: The President spoke at 12:13 p.m. in the Hall of the Americas at 
the Organization of American States. In his remarks, he referred to 
Cesar Gaviria, Secretary General, Organization of American States, and 
Enrique V. Iglesias, President, Inter-American Development Bank.