[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 20 (Monday, May 19, 1997)]
[Page 698]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Address to the People of Central and South America

May 10, 1997

    Good morning. I'm speaking to you today from Bridgetown, Barbados. 
I'm proud to be the first American President to meet with Caribbean 
leaders in the heart of the Caribbean. This was not a meeting between 
Caribbean nations and the United States, it was a meeting among 
Caribbean nations including the United States.
    We are charting a roadmap for how we can work together for the 
benefit of all of our people as we move into a new century. Today, every 
nation in the Americas but one has embraced free elections and open 
markets. This hopeful moment gives us real opportunities to improve the 
lives of all our people. But it also demands that we work together to 
bring the benefit of change to all our citizens and to band together to 
meet the transnational threats that respect no borders.
    That's what the Partnership for Prosperity and Security in the 
Caribbean that we signed today is all about. It lays out an ambitious 
action plan to expand trade with the Caribbean; to launch the Caribbean 
clean energy initiative to better protect the environment; to create a 
Caribbean scholars program so students have access to specialized 
training; to support the banks that make low-interest loans readily 
available to workers, farmers, and women's groups; and to deepen our 
cooperation to fight drugs and organized crime.
    Working as partners, we can help build a future of peace and 
prosperity for all our children to enjoy. That's what we've committed to 
do at our summit in Barbados; that's what we'll continue to do as 
neighbors, friends, and partners.

Note: The address was recorded at approximately 3 p.m. on May 9 aboard 
Air Force One for later broadcast by Voice of America to Latin American 
outlets.