[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 7 (Monday, February 22, 1999)]
[Pages 231-233]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to Business Leaders in Merida

February 15, 1999

    Mr. President, Mrs. Zedillo, distinguished Mexican officials, 
members of the Mexican Congress, the Governor and First Lady of the 
Yucatan, the mayor and the people of Merida: Let me begin by thanking 
all of you for the wonderful reception you have given to me and to 
Hillary, to the members of our Cabinet, the Members of Congress, our 
entire American delegation.
    Hillary and I came to Mexico 24 years ago for what I believe you 
call our luna de miel--our honeymoon. And your country has been close to 
our hearts ever since. I want to especially thank President Zedillo for 
joining me in building the closest, most candid, most comprehensive 
relationship in the long history of our two nations.
    Merida faces the Caribbean and the interior. It looks north and 
south. It combines Old World architecture with a thriving indigenous 
culture. In many ways, therefore, this city symbolizes the new, 
inclusive community of the Americas, a community of shared values and 
genuine cooperation. I thank the Members of the American Congress of 
both parties whose presence here with me today is evidence of America's 
commitment for the common future we will make together.
    Nothing better symbolizes the sea change in our sense of hemispheric 
community than the partnership between the United States and Mexico. Not 
so long ago the great Mexican writer, Octavio Paz, said, ``The North 
Americans are outstanding in the art of the monolog.'' I'm glad to say 
we have turned the monolog into a dialog--a dialog of mutual respect and 
interdependence. Today, we speak with each other, not at each other. 
From different starting points, our courses are converging in our common 
commitment to democracy and in the absolute certainty that we will share 
the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.
    We honor President Zedillo and all the people of Mexico for the 
steps you have taken and are taking to deepen your democracy. Now, as 
your people deliver their votes for democracy, we must all do what we 
can to make sure democracy delivers for them, for democracy will only 
endure if we can build the quality of life it promises.
    That is the challenge we are addressing here today. I start with the 
good news: As President Zedillo has said, our economic relationship is 
strong, and we are making it even stronger. Our decision to let Mexican 
and U.S. airlines engage in joint sales and marketing will generate many 
millions of dollars in new revenues, not only for the airlines but for 
the travel and investment potential of our countries. It will benefit 
especially tourism regions like the Yucatan. We also agreed today to 
enable the Ex-Im Bank to provide up to $4 billion to keep U.S. exports 
such as aircraft and construction equipment flowing into Mexico and to 
maintain Mexico's position as Ex-Im's top market.
    This year we celebrate 5 years since NAFTA entered into force. There 
were many doubters then. But look at the facts now: Since 1993, our 
exports to each other have roughly doubled. In the United States alone, 
a million jobs depend on this trade; that is up 43 percent since 1993. 
Of course, we still have work to do on labor, environmental, and other 
issues. But NAFTA has taught us that we have far more to gain by working 
together.
    We learned that lesson again 4 years ago when the United States was 
proud to assist Mexico in restoring confidence in the peso. President 
Zedillo acted decisively and courageously. The Mexican people made tough 
sacrifices to speed recovery. The United States was right to support 
you, and you have followed the right course.
    More recently, we all agree that our trade relationship has helped 
to insulate both countries from the global financial crisis that has 
caused such hardship elsewhere. In 1998, while U.S. exports to the 
Pacific Rim dropped 19 percent, our exports to each other went up about 
10 percent. We must

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expand this oasis of confidence and growth in our hemisphere by creating 
a free-trade area of the Americas. And we must stand by our friends in 
the hemisphere when they face the difficulties of the moment--
particularly President Cardoso of Brazil, whose reforms ultimately will 
help the Brazilian people, and all the rest of us as well.
    Today we did good work to deepen our partnership beyond economics. 
As the President said, we are joining together to help our Central 
American neighbors. We're improving public health along our border. 
We're working hard to protect the natural resources we share. As we 
learn more about pollution problems along the border, we're better able 
to respond to them, including through the institutions created by NAFTA.
    Today we've agreed to strengthen our cooperation in fighting forest 
fires and air pollution, in cleaning our water, and in moving against 
climate change, the greatest global environmental challenge of the next 
century.
    We have also made progress in areas today where, to be charitable, 
we have not always agreed. Not long ago, we could not have had a 
conversation about drugs without falling into an unwinnable argument 
about who is to blame. That has changed. The American people recognize 
we must reduce our demand for drugs; the Mexican people recognize that 
ending the drug trade is a national security and public health 
imperative for you.
    We can talk candidly about this now because we have started to speak 
the same language: the language of parents who love their children; the 
language of citizens who want to live in communities where streets are 
safe and laws are respected; the language of leaders who recognize that 
our responsibility is to protect our people from violence and our 
democracy from corrosion.
    In 1997 President Zedillo and I committed our countries to an 
alliance against drugs. Alliance is not a word to be used lightly. It 
means that what threatens one country threatens the other, and that we 
cannot meet the threat alone. If a town in Mexico lives in fear of 
traffickers who enrich themselves by selling to our citizens and 
terrorizing Mexican citizens, that is a problem we have a moral duty to 
solve together.
    We have increased our cooperation. I welcome the plan Mexico 
announced 2 weeks ago to invest an additional $500 million in the fight 
against drugs. The United States is ready to do all we can to support 
you. I offered our support to Mexico's newly established Federal 
preventive police force. We will expand consultation on cross-border law 
enforcement. We agreed to important new benchmarks that will actually 
measure our mutual success in the war on drugs.
    We must also tackle the problem of corruption that bedevils every 
nation fighting drugs. I want to acknowledge President Zedillo's efforts 
in Mexico's interests to root out this scourge. Much has been said in my 
country about the extent of the problem you face. But let us not forget 
that what we know in America comes largely from Mexico's brave efforts 
to get to the truth and air it. Mexico should not be penalized for 
having the courage to confront its problems.
    Another sensitive issue that has divided us all too often is 
immigration. The United States is a nation of immigrants, built by the 
courage and optimism of those who came to our shores to begin life anew. 
We continue to accept large numbers of legal immigrants, and we continue 
to have our borders crossed every year by large numbers of illegal 
immigrants.
    As we welcome new immigrants we must also strive to manage our 
borders. I say to you that we will do so with justice, fairness, and 
sensitivity. We will also work to promote safety and human rights at the 
border. And as we agreed today, we must work together to stop the deadly 
traffic in human beings into and through our nations.
    Ten years ago our relationship was marred by mistrust. Today, we 
recognize that any complex relationship will have its ups and downs, but 
we know our differences cannot divide us. President Zedillo and I have 
invested a great deal in our partnership. We intend to lay the 
groundwork for the next generation of leaders to follow, people who will 
build on the legacy all of us have worked hard to create. The way we 
approach our problems now will define how our successors--not just our 
leaders but ordinary citizens--in Mexico and the United States will live 
their lives for decades to come.

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    Mexico is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. Before 
long, the United States will be the second largest Spanish-speaking 
country in the world. Almost 15 million United States citizens trace 
their ancestry to Mexico. Twenty-eight percent of our foreign-born 
population come from here. Every year our border is legally crossed 
about 250 million times. With each crossing, we move beyond mere 
diplomacy, closer to genuine friendship, a human friendship between two 
peoples who share the same continent, the same air, the same ancestors, 
the same future.
    We are more than neighbors. More and more, we belong to the same 
American family. Like any family, we will have our differences born of 
history, experience, instinct, honest opinion. But like any family, we 
know that what binds us together is far, far more important than what 
divides us.
    Not long after Merida was founded, a Mexican poet described the 
renewal that comes every year at this time to those who wisely till 
their fields and plant ahead, in these words: ``Here, by the Supreme 
Giver, one and all, in stintless grace and beauty, are bestowed. This is 
their dwelling. These, their native fields. And this, the tide of spring 
in Mexico.''
    This tide of spring has brought a new season of friendship between 
Mexico and the United States. President Zedillo, people of Merida and 
Yucatan, I wish you a happy Carnival. For all of us, I pray that we will 
reap the full harvest of the season. Agradezco a los Mexicanos de todo 
corazon. Thank you, Mexico.

Note: The President spoke at 1:45 p.m. in the Teatro Peon Contreras. In 
his remarks, he referred to President Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and his 
wife, Nilda; Gov. Victor M. Cervera of Yucatan and his wife, Amira; 
Mayor Xavier Abreu of Merida; and President Fernando Cardoso of Brazil. 
A tape was not available for verification of the content of these 
remarks.