[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 16 (Monday, April 20, 1998)]
[Pages 653-655]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Joint Declaration Signing Ceremony With President Frei in 
Santiago

April 16, 1998

    President Frei. Good afternoon. I would first like to emphasize that 
it has been a great pleasure to welcome President Clinton to our 
country, together with Mrs. Clinton and the distinguished delegation 
accompanying them.
    In February '97, I had the honor of paying an extremely satisfying 
and productive state visit to the United States. I was given a 
particularly warm welcome in that country, demonstrating the 
appreciation and respect felt there for Chile. Today I'm gratified to be 
able to return that invitation and to receive you in La Moneda, the 
place, the house that belongs to all Chileans.
    This exchange of visits reflects the new level of maturity that 
relations between our two countries have achieved. We share a common 
democratic vocation. Both the Chilean and U.S. economies are enjoying 
strong growth rates and are successfully confronting the challenges of 
globalization. Both countries are undertaking important reforms aimed at 
achieving greater social equity and equality of opportunity for our 
people. We belong to the same continent, and we are engaged in working 
together towards the establishment of a new hemispheric community.
    I would like to recall here that it fell to our two countries to 
lead the preparatory efforts for the second Summit of the Americas, 
which will be inaugurated this Saturday in Santiago. We have achieved 
optimal coordination, facilitated by the support that we have obtained 
from many of our sister countries in the hemisphere.
    This morning our Ministers signed an agreement between our two 
international cooperation agencies to support the fulfillment of some of 
the initiatives established in the summit plan of action.
    I have to say that this morning we have had a long and productive 
meeting with President Clinton. It was a very frank, open, and candid 
meeting. We reviewed all the issues involved in bilateral relations. 
Each item of our bilateral relations, we discussed. And also, it is with 
great pleasure that

I say that we found several common issues for the whole hemisphere, a 
commonality of ideas that allow us to work ever stronger together.

    As well, we have signed a joint declaration. And this joint 
declaration summarizes everything we have discussed and all the issues 
in common. At the same time, in parallel, the Ministers held a meeting 
in which they signed seven agreements: one on education, on trade, 
investments, environment--protection of the environment, protection 
against disasters, information promotion--seven documents which embody 
our bilateral relations. And these documents involve very concrete, very 
specific subjects which affect and impact our common ordinary citizen in 
everyday life.

[[Page 654]]

    It has not been a meeting dealing with abstract issues, not at all. 
These issues are targeting an improvement of the quality of their lives, 
a struggle against drug traffic, and a series of promotion of 
information and exchange.
    The visit of President Clinton is just beginning. In a short while, 
we will be visiting a district, at Comuna, where we will talk and have 
dialog with the citizens. Later on, there will be an evening with 
businessmen. Then, tonight, a state dinner, and tomorrow, President 
Clinton will visit Congress. After that, also, we will meet in Vina del 
Mar. And this visit is absolute proof of the consolidation of our 
relations, this that will be projected into the future that will make 
fluent our dialog and our interchanges.
    Finally, I would like to say that Chile and the United States both, 
we are preparing together the road to the 21st century, a century in 
which we will be faced with enormous challenges; we will be faced with 
the globalization of markets, and thus we will be working for peace, for 
democracy, and for the dignity of man.
    It is these values and these realities that bring us together. And 
it is that which will make the relations between both of us one of the 
present, but not so much of this present day, but rather a relation 
working for the future. And it is in this environment that we will open 
the second Summit of the Americas. It will be how the whole continent, 
how America will be facing next century.
    Welcome once again, President Clinton, to this country, to this 
house, the home of the President. Your historic visit is a point of 
tremendous inflection in our relations from here into the future.
    Thank you.
    President Clinton. Mr. President, members of the Chilean Government, 
members of our American delegation, ladies and

gentlemen. Just over a year ago, it was my great honor to host President 
Frei at the White House. Now I come to Chile to build on our friendship, to 
deepen our progress in creating a better future for all our people.

    As the tides of change have swept over our hemisphere over the past 
15 years, Chile has set an impressive standard in strengthening its 
democracy, opening its economy, lifting its people from poverty. As 
Chile's stability and prosperity have grown, it has become a leader in 
our hemisphere and an even stronger partner and friend for the United 
States.
    Today we resolved to strengthen the ties that bind us together and 
to harness the powerful forces of change to benefit all our citizens in 
the new century. We have created a new, broader Joint Trade and 
Investment Commission to keep our economic relations on a mutually 
beneficial path, by boosting prosperity and jobs in both our countries, 
addressing new areas such as electronic commerce, and resolving disputes 
when they arise. We look forward to concluding, as soon as possible, a 
new open skies agreement to help our trade literally take off, with 
better services, more flights, lower prices for passengers and shippers 
alike.
    We addressed the crucial importance of strong financial safeguards 
and openness, a shield against the shock of market volatility. Our 
banking officials will be strengthening their cooperation and regulating 
banks that do business across our borders, which will improve financial 
security and increase the confidence of investors.
    We resolved to work harder to extend the practical benefits of open 
markets and free trade to all of our people. In that regard, nothing is 
more important than education. I want to applaud you, Mr. President, for 
your commitment to education, both here at home and across the Americas. 
Building on the Fulbright agreement we signed last year, the United 
States and Chile will deepen our cooperation in education, increasing 
exchanges of students and teachers, developing high standards for 
learning and teacher training, bringing technology to every classroom, 
so that every child, no matter where he or she may live, can explore the 
world of information now available with the stroke of a computer 
keyboard.
    And we have resolved to work together, through the Summit of the 
Americas, to help other nations advance their own reforms. This is truly 
a laudable agenda for which you, Mr. President, will long be remembered.
    We have also signed a GLOBE agreement to help our children learn 
more about our environment. Through this program, Chilean students will 
be linked through the Internet

[[Page 655]]

to tens of thousands of other young people in 65 nations. Together, they 
will share information about science and ecology and learn how to help 
build a healthier planet.
    We have also agreed to work together to create a pan-American 
climate forecasting system. We know from the last year that is more 
important than ever. By using the latest technology and skills, we can 
better predict and better prepare for disruptive weather systems like El 
Nino. We also agreed to work together to meet the challenge of climate 
change and global warming caused by growing emissions of greenhouse 
gases.
    I applaud President Frei for affirming today that all countries have 
an important role to play. Developed countries must lead the way in 
reducing our emissions. Developing countries should participate 
meaningfully, also taking on emissions targets whenever possible. 
Together, we can chart an energy course for the future that allows both 
strong economic growth and strong environmental safeguards to go forward 
hand in hand.
    I know this is a matter of some controversy throughout Latin 
America, and, indeed, throughout many developing nations. But I can tell 
you from America's own experience, for 30 years, every time we have 
sought to improve our environment someone has said, ``Oh, this is going 
to slow the growth of the economy.'' And every time we have improved our 
environment, it has speeded up the growth of the American economy by 
creating new jobs in new areas, so that we see clearly that the steps we 
take to preserve and, indeed, to enhance our environment will, in fact, 
lead to broader, stronger, deeper economic growth. That is the path I 
hope and pray the United States and Chile will chart together into the 
future.
    Mr. President, our increasing cooperation in all these areas and all 
the things that you mentioned is a real testament to the astonishing 
record established by Chile in the last few years in economic and in 
political terms. The leadership you are showing now in the hemisphere 
for peace and prosperity and freedom is a natural outgrowth of the 
leadership you have demonstrated and that the Chilean people have 
demonstrated within your own borders. It is altogether fitting that the 
spirit of hemispheric cooperation and the future orientation of our 
cooperation, which was established 4 years ago at Miami, should be 
carried on under your leadership here at Santiago.
    It is clear to anyone who imagines the way the future should be that 
our burdens will be lighter and our strides will be longer if we move 
forward together. That is the promise of our growing partnership. And 
you have the thanks, the respect, and the admiration of the American 
people for your role in it.
    Thank you, sir.

Note: President Clinton spoke at approximately 12:30 p.m. in La Moneda 
Palace. A portion of these remarks could not be verified because the 
tape was incomplete.