[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 23 (Monday, June 12, 2000)]
[Pages 1316-1317]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With President Ernesto 
Zedillo of Mexico

June 9, 2000

Mexican Economy

    Q.  President Clinton, do you want to say something about the 
Mexican economy? How do you see the development of the last 5\1/2\ years 
under President Zedillo?
    President Clinton.  I think President Zedillo has done a truly 
remarkable job. Mexico has had 5 years of growth, in excess of 5 percent 
a year, after the very difficult financial crisis in '94. And I think 
it's a real tribute to him and to the people he put on his team, as well 
as to the hard work and industry of the people of Mexico.
    But I hope the partnership that we have enjoyed together after NAFTA 
and through the crisis has played some role. But I think the great 
credit goes to the President and his team and the people of Mexico.

Mexican Election

    Q.  What do you think about the Mexican election?
    President Clinton.  I think the Mexican people will vote and make 
their own decision. It's interesting to observe. It's just like this 
election. I'm just an observer now. I'm not running for anything.

 [At this point, a question was asked and answered in Spanish, and no 
translation was provided.]

Organization of American States

    Q.  [Inaudible]--just failed to get the support of the Latin 
American countries to get the OAS as a mediator in Peru. What do you 
think could be the role of the OAS supervising elections in Latin 
America without the support of key countries like Mexico?
    President Clinton.  Well, I think the real question that we all have 
to come to terms with is, what is the right thing to do now? And that's 
what we've been discussing. But over the long run, I think that the OAS 
still has a good future and a critical future. And I don't think there's 
any difference between the United States and Mexico in our determination 
to do whatever we can to keep democracy strong throughout the region.
    And so we talked about it today, and it's a difficult problem. But I 
think the trend is good. You can't look back on the last 20 years and 
not believe that. And so we'll need some mechanism to monitor these 
elections and to be involved in an ongoing basis, and I think the OAS 
still has a pretty good future.
    Thank you.

 Note:  The exchange began at 2:45 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of this 
exchange.

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