[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 16 (Monday, April 22, 2002)]
[Pages 646-649]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With President Andres Pastrana of Colombia 
and an Exchange With Reporters

April 18, 2002

    President Bush. Before the President and I will answer a couple of 
questions from both the U.S. side and the Colombian side, I do want to 
welcome my friend Andres Pastrana back to the White House.
    President Pastrana is a--has taken on a huge task in his country. 
One is to defend democracy and the institutions of democracy, and he's 
done a great job at that. Secondly, is to fight--is to fight 
narcotrafficking. He has led a valiant effort at eradicating coca 
fields, standing strong against the narcotraffickers.
    And as well, he fights terrorism in his country. He fights well-
organized, well-funded groups that are out to destroy democracy in 
Colombia. And he has been strong in his support for democracy not only 
in his own country but in the region. We had a good discussion about a 
variety of issues about how to change the focus of our strategy from 
counternarcotics to include counter-
terrorism. I explained to him that a supplemental I sent up to the 
United States Congress would do just that.
    As well, we talked about the need to get the Andean Trade Preference 
Act passed out of United States Senate, reconciled if there's any 
differences with the House of Representatives, and to my desk as quickly 
as possible. I am a strong supporter of trade with the Andean--with our 
Andean friends. The President knows first hand how important that trade 
is, not only for commercial reasons but also as a way to help fight 
against narcotrafficking, provide opportunities for people in his 
country.
    This is a good friend, and it's my honor to welcome him back to the 
White House.
    Mr. President.
    President Pastrana. Thank you very much, President Bush. Once again, 
thank you for having us here in the Oval Office. I think you've said 
everything.
    The only thing that I wanted to say is, first of all, thank you for 
your help, for your leadership in helping Colombia and helping the

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world. At the end, we are fighting a common enemy that is 
narcotrafficking and narcoterrorism. We have full support of President 
Bush and the Government, first in trying to, as you said, Mr. President, 
in change of authorities--the use of the military equipment sent by the 
United States to 
Colombia to be used against also narcoterrorism, not only against narco-
trafficking.
    Secondly, as you said, you have been a big supporter of ATPA. The 
Andean preference act is fundamental for us. It's commerce. As we said, 
we don't want aid; we want commerce. And that's what we need in 
Colombia, also, as one of the big components of the social side of Plan 
Colombia; that is, social investment. And social investment is jobs, 
better jobs and well-paid jobs.
    So I think that with the help of the Government, but the most 
important, with the help of the U.S. Congress, we will have ATPA before 
the end of May. And that's going to be fundamental to continue our fight 
on drugs.
    So thank you very much, Mr. President, for all your help.
    President Bush. De la AP, Senor Fournier [Ron Fournier, Associated 
Press].
    Q. I think that's you, Ron. [Laughter]

Venezuela

    Q. Mr. President, if I could ask you about another Latin American 
issue. Your administration was slow to condemn the Venezuelan coup. How 
does that square with your war on terrorism rhetoric, that America will 
always stand up for democratic values?
    President Bush. My administration was very clear, when there were 
troubles on the streets in Venezuela, that we support democracy and did 
not support any extraconstitutional action. My administration spoke with 
a very clear voice about our strong support of democracy.
    It is very important for President Chavez to do what he said he was 
going to do, to address the reasons why there was so much turmoil on the 
streets. And it's very important for him to embrace those institutions 
which are fundamental to democracy, including freedom of press and 
freedom for--the ability for the opposition to speak out.
    And if there's lessons to be learned, it's important that he learn 
them.
    Mr. President, care to comment on that?
    President Pastrana. Yes. First of all, I think there's no doubt in 
Latin America of the support and promotion of President Bush on 
democracy in the region. I think that's something that nobody could put 
in doubt of your support in promotion of democracy in the whole region.
    As you said, what we're expecting is that President Chavez said in 
his speech that he's going to be a--try to look for a reconciliation 
inside Venezuela, that he is going to correct many mistakes. And we hope 
that what he's going to correct is toward strengthening democracy, 
respect, as you said Mr. President, civil laws, give guarantees to the 
opposition, the freedom of the press, respect of human rights. And 
that's what all Latin America are supporting and what we want in the 
case of President Chavez.
    In our case, for example, I think one of the mistakes was regarding 
the presence of the guerilla groups in Venezuela. Yesterday, 
unfortunately, Mr. President, the media, national and international, we 
had information that Mexico closed the office of the narcoterrorist 
group in Mexico. And the first information is that they could be in 
Venezuela.
    So that's why today, Mr. President, I'm sending a letter through my 
Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of 
Venezuela, asking if there is the FARC, these members of the FARC are 
present in Venezuela or not; that we need that information. We approved 
a very clear resolution in the Group Rio meeting in Costa Rica last 
week, supporting what you promote in the Security Council, ban any 
presence of terrorists in any countries. And that's what we want to do 
in Latin America.

Northern Command

    Q. Mr. President, how do you respond to the reaction of Canada and 
Mexico to participate with troops in the Northern Command that was 
announced yesterday by Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld? Do you think 
Mexico

[[Page 648]]

and Canada will, in the future, participate with troops in the Northern 
Command?
    President Bush. Well, I think that the restructuring of our command 
structure really represents that we're in a new world and that we face 
new threats. Our relationships with Canada and Mexico will not change as 
a result of restructuring. It's a better way for us to organize against 
an enemy that is willing to strike at America and our neighborhood. And 
that's what this reflects. It reflects the ability to coordinate a 
possible response against an enemy that's fearless.
    And these are killers. They're coldblooded killers. And they've hit 
us before, and they want to hit us again. And so the unified command 
structure now is going to reflect the true threats that we face.
    We used to not face these threats in the past. We thought two oceans 
would keep us safe. We thought there's no way that an enemy could 
possibly strike America again after Pearl Harbor. And were we wrong. We 
were really wrong.
    And so that----
    Q. Mr. President----
    President Bush. Excuse me for a second, please. And so therefore, it 
is very important for us to make sure that we prepare our military, as 
well as our respective homeland securities, against attacks. So not only 
are we looking at how--for a new command structure for military, we're 
also working very closely with Canada, y tambien Mexico--on making sure 
that our border is more secure, on making sure that we've got better 
intelligence sharing, on making sure that cooperation at all levels is 
as good as it can possibly be.
    And it is as good as it can possibly be. I'm real pleased with the 
efforts we're making with our neighbors.

Venezuela/War on Terrorism

    Q. Mr. President, do you believe, as President Pastrana said, that 
Colombian guerrillas are operating from Venezuelan territory? Is there 
anything that the United States can do to help him fight that?
    And you mentioned freedom of the press when you were talking about 
things President Chavez should do. What other specific things do you 
think he should do following this coup?
    President Bush. Well, first, the reason I mentioned freedom of the 
press is because when things got hot in Venezuela, he shut the press 
down. I want you all--I've never thought about doing that, no matter 
how--what kind of questions these guys ask here. [Laughter]
    Mr. President, I've always believed in a free press. I don't care 
how tough the questions are, or as significantly, how they editorialize 
in their news stories, but nevertheless--because I respect the press, 
and so should President Chavez. It's essential he do that.
    And so there's a good example of what I'm talking about. When the 
pressure gets on, leaders should not compromise those institutions that 
are so important for democracy. The right for opponents to speak out is 
essential. There is--one of the things that is essential is that people 
be given the liberty of expressing their opinion without fear of 
reprisal.
    The first part of your question was whether or not FARC is utilizing 
Venezuela to strike our friend. I'll let our friend speak to that. He's 
a man who has to live with this problem. We discussed this very issue. I 
am--and by the way, it's not just FARC basing in Venezuela to strike 
Colombia; it's as well FARC striking Venezuelan ranchers that aren't 
protected by the Venezuelan Government.
    But why don't you speak to that, Mr. President?
    President Pastrana. Thank you, Mr. President. I think that, as you 
remember some weeks ago, there was--announced that FARC was using the 
Venezuelan territory to attack the Colombian militaries. And these were, 
as you remember, 2 or 3 days before all the crises in Venezuela. The 
chief commander of the army, General Vasquez, personally said to 
President Chavez that FARC was using Venezuelan territory to attack 
Colombia.
    So that's why we had a meeting last week, the 10th of April, between 
the Foreign Minister of Colombia and the Foreign Minister of Venezuela, 
because we are asking questions and we want answers of what was 
happening. And we proposed the creation of a

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binational commission between Colombia and Venezuela to study all these 
reports that were putting on the press and on the media by journalists 
of Colombia and Venezuela, of the presence of the FARC on Venezuelan 
territory.
    That's why we sent the letter yesterday, asking the Venezuelan 
Government if it's true that members of the FARC that were turned away 
from Mexico--the office of the FARC was closed in Mexico--we were 
asking, and we want answers, if these guys are or not in Venezuela. 
That's what we're expecting of the answer of the Foreign Minister of 
Venezuela.
    Q. Mr. President, what will be your message, then, for countries--in 
this case, Venezuela--or other countries that might open their doors to 
so-called terrorists?
    President Bush. Well, we've spent a lot of time talking about--these 
aren't ``so-called'' terrorists; these are terrorists in Colombia. And 
the reason they're terrorists is because they're using murder to try to 
achieve political ends. They tried to blow up the recent--recently tried 
to blow up the man running for President. They've captured people. 
They're after Andres.
    And so my message is that we will work with you to rout out terror. 
We've put FARC, AUC, on our terrorist list. We've called them for what 
they are. These are killers who use killing and intimidation to foster 
political means. And we want to join, with Plan Colombia's billions of 
dollars, to not only fight the--and by fighting narcotrafficking, by the 
way, we're fighting the funding source for these political terrorists. 
And sometimes they're interchangeable.
    And we've got to be strong in the fight against terror. And the 
United States--listen, my biggest job now is to defend our security and 
to help our friends defend their security against terror. That's what I 
spend a lot of my time doing. And each area of the world requires a 
different response--that in some parts of the world, we'll do it 
militarily; in some parts of the world, we'll help our friends to deal 
militarily; in some parts of the world, perhaps, we can rout out terror 
through just simply cutting off money; in other parts of the world, 
diplomacy seems to have an effect. We're working with our friends in 
Europe to use their law enforcement officials to arrest known Al Qaida 
killers hiding in their country, or plotters.
    We've been at this now for 7 months. Colombia has been at this for a 
lot longer period of time. And we're beginning to make a lot of 
progress. They key to success is not to grow tired in the fight against 
terror. And I can assure you I won't. I know this good President is 
dedicated to fighting terror.
    And it's essential for Colombia to succeed in this war against 
terror in order for her people to realize the vast potential of a great, 
democratic country. Colombia is an essential part of a peaceful South 
America. Colombia has got a fantastic tradition, a noble tradition of 
democracy. It's led the way. And I'm confident that with the right 
leadership and the right help from America, the kind of leadership 
Andres is providing now, that Colombia can succeed. And it's in 
everybody's interests that she does succeed.
    Listen, thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 9:50 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to President Hugo Chavez of 
Venezuela; FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia; and AUC, 
the United Self-Defense Forces/Group of Colombia. President Pastrana 
referred to Foreign Minister Guillermo Fernandez of Colombia and Foreign 
Minister Luis Alfonso Davila of Venezuela.