[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 44 (Monday, November 7, 2005)]
[Pages 1636-1642]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Interview With Foreign Print Journalists

November 1, 2005

    The President. A couple of comments, and then I'll answer some 
questions, two apiece. Then I've got to go back to work.
    I've always felt that good foreign policy starts in your 
neighborhood. So this trip is a continuation of the United States 
working with different countries and me working with leaders to have a 
good relationship in the neighborhood. I remember the first Summit of 
the Americas I went to, which was in Canada. And in the opening 
comments, it struck me that it's an amazing neighborhood when there's 
only--every country is a democracy except for one.
    And so part of the reason, to me, and part of the reasons to have 
multilateral diplomacy, which this is, coupled with a lot of bilateral 
action, is to continue to foster democracy. Democracy is the best hope 
of all. Democracy is the form of government that can best respond to the 
demands of the people.
    I also strongly believe that we have a great opportunity to deal 
with job creation or poverty by putting a system in place that 
encourages economic growth and entrepreneurship. At the first Summit of 
the Americas we talked about the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, 
which basically says that a trading hemisphere is one that is more 
likely to be able to address the needs of people, more likely to be able 
to address poverty, more likely to be able to help countries' balance 
sheets be firmed up.
    Since then, we've entered into bilateral trading agreements with 
Chile, multilateral trading agreements with--through CAFTA-DR, and we'll 
continue to pursue trading agreements bilaterally, multilaterally, as 
well as worldwide. And I'm looking forward to speaking to all my fellow 
friends and leaders down there about the Doha round, particularly 
President Lula. And we can talk about that, if you like, later on. But 
he's played a very constructive role and can continue to play a 
constructive role in getting the Doha round up and running. The United 
States has an obligation to make sure that we put forth policies that 
encourage the process to move on, and we've done so, particularly on 
agriculture, which is--people who follow this very closely understand 
this is a very difficult issue for some. And we took a leadership 
position on that.
    But I'm looking forward to talking about that. And the reason why 
trade is so vital is because, particularly when addressing poverty, 
that, you know, grants and loans and--pale in comparison to the amount 
of good that can be done as commerce develops at all levels of 
government--at all levels of society, as a result of trade. The World 
Bank estimates that 300 million people will be eliminated from the 
poverty rolls as the result of a successful Doha round. And so that's 
going to be an important subject.
    And finally, good governance is an important subject. One of the 
most interesting policy initiatives that this administration has put 
forward is called the Millennium Challenge Account, which basically says 
that if you're a poor country, that we want to participate in helping 
you, so long as you're honest and

[[Page 1637]]

invest in the people through health and education. It's a good 
governance initiative that goes hand in hand with job creation, 
eliminating poverty, and democracy.
    And so those are important subjects. So I'm looking forward to 
going. It's going to be a--I've never been to Argentina. I'm looking 
forward to going to Argentina. I hear it's a spectacular country. I've 
never been to Brazil. I'm looking forward to going to Brazil. And I've 
never been to Panama. So this will be a great experience for me to 
continue visiting these magnificent countries in our neighborhood.
    With that, we'll start. Jorge [Jorge Elias, La Nacion], como yo?

Argentina-U.S. Relations/International Monetary Fund

    Q. Mr. President, in Argentina, you will have a bilateral meeting 
with President Kirchner.
    The President. Si.
    Q. What I want to know--sources of the government told me that they 
would ask you about more cooperation on support for Argentina, you know, 
in the IMF fund----
    The President. IMF.
    Q. Exactly.
    The President. Please don't tell me that the government leaks 
secrets about conversations to the----
    Q. Well, I have my sources in the government.
    The President. You do? Okay, well, I'm not going to ask you who they 
are, of course. [Laughter]
    Q. No, please.
    The President. Inside joke here, for my team. [Laughter] First of 
all, I was more than happy and my government was more than happy to help 
Argentina with the IMF crisis. We became involved with the government in 
trying to get the issue resolved. I think any objective observer would 
say that the U.S. participation was helpful. And we were more than 
pleased to do so. And by the way, our help was justified by the economic 
recovery of the country. It's been noteworthy for those who were 
skeptical about U.S. involvement in the IMF to see that the economy is 
growing robustly and that the government is stewards of the people's 
money and that Kirchner and his government did a good job of negotiating 
on behalf of the people of Argentina. So we've got a record of 
involvement.
    Secondly, since he has proven himself to be capable of performing, 
it seems like to me that the best policy ought to be for the Argentina--
Argentine Government to deal directly with the IMF, without the U.S. 
having to be a middleman. And so that's what I'll tell--I guess I just 
told him what's going to happen in the private meeting--[laughter]--is 
that--no, we will, of course, listen to any request from a friend. But 
it seems like to me that President Kirchner and his economic team, his 
financial team, has laid the groundwork for being plenty capable of 
dealing with the IMF directly.
    Paulo [Paulo Sotero, O Estado de San Paulo].

Brazil-U.S. Relations/Trade

    Q. Mr. President, you have been very positive, sometimes even 
effusive about your relationship or your dialog with President Lula, and 
Brazil-U.S. relationship in general. But not much has come out of this, 
in terms of concrete initiatives. For instance, our main joint project, 
FTAA-ALCA has gone sort of backwards; it's stalled. So why is that so? 
Why is this dialog that superficially seems so good, doesn't produce 
more in terms of complete results?
    The President. Well, first of all, we do have a good relationship, 
and I think that started with a lot of the observers. I'm not suggesting 
it started with you, Paulo, but nevertheless, I think people had this 
vision about George W. one way, and Lula the other, and that there's no 
way that these two men could possibly find common ground. I think 
that's--at least I sense that, particularly coming out of some of the 
South American press.
    And yet our first meeting in the Oval Office was very warm and 
cordial. We shared the same deep concern to help alleviate hunger and 
poverty. We may have a different kind of political sense of things 
initially, but nevertheless, we share the same goals, and therefore have 
established a good, cordial, frank relationship.
    Secondly, trade between Brazil and the United States is growing. 
That's important.

[[Page 1638]]

That's not a given. Secondly, Doha--you're right, the FTAA has stalled; 
I agree. On the other hand, at this point in time, the Doha round really 
trumps the FTAA as a priority, because the Doha round not only involves 
our neighborhood, it involves the whole world. And I spoke to President 
Lula yesterday, and I thanked him for the spirit of cooperation on the 
Doha round. Brazil is a very important player in Doha. It commands the 
respect of not only the United States and the EU but also other 
countries which may or may not follow its lead. But nevertheless, when 
Brazil speaks, people listen carefully.
    And one of the parts of the strategy has been to make sure that--
and, obviously, the Brazilian agriculture is an important issue for 
President Lula, as it is for the Brazilian people. And he has expressed 
concern in the past that the United States would be unwilling to make a 
subsidy--a statement on subsidies that is profound, which I just did. He 
appreciated it. Both of us were somewhat disappointed in the EU 
response, because the whole theory has been the EU and the United States 
show good faith on agriculture, the rest of the world will show good 
faith on services and intellectual property rights and the other issues 
that are important to get Doha moving.
    But my only point is, there's been good cooperation. I mean, this--
Doha hasn't finished yet, but it's important for the world, not only 
Brazil and America but for everybody else that Doha move forward, and 
there is a spirit of cooperation between Brazil and the United States to 
see if that can't get done. As a matter of fact, the previous 
ministerial on WTO--I remember speaking to President Lula about getting 
our trade ministers together. He agreed; I agreed, and so the process 
moved forward.
    Thirdly, in our own hemisphere, we have issues such as Haiti. Brazil 
has been the leader of the peacekeeping force, has done very good work 
through the U.N.--through the United Nations. The United States is 
supportive of that process. As you know, we've got a lot of equity in 
Haiti, as does Brazil. It's important for us to work closely together, 
and we will. And we're involved with the democracy movement there, as is 
Brazil. So in other words, there's a collaborative effort to promote 
democracy in the neighborhood. So whether it be trade, or potential of 
even further trade, or whether it be working together on the science and 
technology, sharing of science and technology, or whether it be in 
promoting democracy in the neighborhood, the relationship is vital and 
important.
    Brazil is a big, big, important country in this world, and the 
United States recognizes that.
    Betty [Betty Brannan], La Prensa.

Panama

    Q. Yes, Mr. President. Do you see parallels between the U.S. 
invasion of Panama and the invasion now of Iraq? And does that--has that 
motivated your choice to go to Panama at this time?
    The President. They're totally different circumstances, in that, 
obviously, one happened in our own neighborhood, one happened far away; 
one happened after fair warning, one happened after a long stay in the 
United Nations. Both actions, hopefully, will lead to democracies and a 
better world for the citizens in those countries in which they live.
    And, no, I'm not going to Panama for that reason. I'm going to 
Panama because Panama is a friend. I'm going to Panama because I want to 
see the canal and thank the government and the Panamanian people for 
being such good stewards of the canal, of being smart on security 
matters, recognizing the importance of the canal for trade, and for 
doing a fine job. And I want to see the canal firsthand, which I've 
never seen.
    I told the President when he was here, that I would consider coming. 
He's a good Texas A&M graduate, as you might know. We had a very cordial 
discussion, and I thought it would be a good thing to go there. I'm 
looking forward to it.
    Secondly, I want to talk about trade. Panama is not a part of CAFTA. 
It makes sense for Panama to be a part of the trading process that's 
going on. CAFTA is very important. It's important for countries south of 
the CAFTA region. It's important for countries north of the CAFTA 
region. It's important that these young democracies have a--you know, 
have the opportunity to sell products into our market, and we have an 
opportunity

[[Page 1639]]

to sell products into their market on a level playing field, so as to 
create opportunities for people. Opening markets creates more markets. 
It could be markets for Argentina, markets for Brazil. The more 
available customers there are to businesses large and small, the more 
commerce will flow. And so CAFTA is important, and it makes sense for 
Panama to be considered to be a part of these trading agreements that 
are growing. And so I'm going for a lot of reasons. Thank you.
    Macarena [Macarena Vidal Liy, EFE News Services].

U.S. Relations With Latin America

    Q. Like the song.
    The President. Si. Where do you live, Macarena?
    Q. I live here.
    The President. Oh, good. Where are you from?
    Q. From Spain, but I ran away from that song 15 years ago. 
[Laughter] It's following me all over the world.
    You have talked about the importance of having good relationships 
within the neighborhood, and yet there seem to be worrying signs for the 
U.S. and Latin America. The polls trend to growing anti-Americanism 
feeling in the region; the Secretary General in the OAS is not the man 
you backed at the beginning; either American summit that took place 
recently finished with a declaration that was not fully to the taste of 
the United States. Is the United States at risk of losing its influence 
in Latin America?
    The President. Well, one reason why we have summits such as this is 
to remind people that we want to be good neighbors and good friends. And 
we share a lot of values, common values together. I mean, I'm going to a 
country, Argentina, that's a proud democracy. I'm going to a country, 
Brazil, which is--which has had a peaceful election, which was a very 
important step. I'm going to Panama, which wasn't always a democracy and 
now is a flourishing democracy.
    And it's a chance to say to people in the neighborhood, ``We share 
values, rule of law, justice, human rights, human dignity, the right for 
women to participate equally in society.'' These are very powerful 
messages. I will come and say to the people, the leadership, and whoever 
is listening down there, that our markets are open, so long as you open 
your markets. In other words, ``Let's have open markets.'' The United 
States has got a strong economy, and it makes sense for countries to 
want to trade with us. And we want to trade with them.
    And so the message is one of jobs and democracy and honesty and open 
government. Look, I understand not everybody agrees with the decisions 
I've made, but that's not unique to Central or South America. Truth of 
the matter is, there's people who disagree with the decisions I've made 
all over the world. And I understand that, but that's what happens when 
you make decisions.
    And so I feel like relations are good. I think just so long as 
America never abandons her principles, that are universal in 
application, that this country will be fine. And listen, politicians 
come and go, but what doesn't change is the importance of standing on 
principle and working with our friends in Central and South America that 
agree with the same principles.
    As I repeat, I'm going to three countries that stand squarely on the 
principles. We may not agree on every issue. I understand that. And I 
don't expect people down there to--first of all, I don't think good 
relations necessarily mean somebody has to agree with America 100 
percent of the time. That's not the definition of good relations. Good 
relations is mutual respect and a desire to work together to solve 
common problems and, most importantly, though, adherence to common 
values. I keep saying that.
    Democracy is not an American value; it's a universal value. Human 
rights and human dignity is not uniquely American; it's important. It's 
important in Argentina as the history of your country has shown. It's 
very important in Brazil. It's been equally important in Panama, the 
notion of human rights and human dignity. There was a period of time in 
your country, just like there was a period of time in my country, where 
there wasn't a great adherence to human rights universally.
    And so, the concept of democracy, as working through these issues, 
sharing experiences, and working together to continue the

[[Page 1640]]

march of decency and freedom, is a very important part of this agenda.
    Jorge, uno mas.

Venezuela/Energy

    Q. Okay. Mr. President, President Chavez asked the Argentine 
Government to build a nuclear reactor for energy in Venezuela. Is that a 
danger for the region? Is that a danger for the United States?
    The President. Repeat that again. Asked the Argentine Government to 
build a nuclear reactor?
    Q. The Argentine Government to build a nuclear reactor for energy in 
Venezuela?
    The President. Well, it's--my view is, is that there are 
international safeguards that are very important that all nations adhere 
to, that there must be total transparency. I have proposed that we think 
of an international concept of sharing highly enriched uranium necessary 
for the running of a nuclear powerplant, for power, with countries, and 
that--collecting that material and disposing of it in a reasonable and a 
sound way. It's--I guess if I were a taxpayer in Venezuela, I would 
wonder about the energy supply that Venezuela has.
    But maybe it makes sense; I haven't really studied the proposal. And 
I look forward to--hope President Kirchner shares with me the concept, 
the notion, the idea.
    Q. You will talk with him about this?
    The President. If he wants to talk about it, I'd be curious to know. 
It's the first I've heard of it, and it's an interesting question.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil

    Q. Mr. President, about relations, the building of democracy in our 
hemisphere, and for ideological--apart to the ideological reasons, apart 
for reasons relating to Brazil's own interest, President Lula has very 
close, friendly relationships with leaders that are considered enemies 
of the United States--Fidel Castro, Chavez, Evo Morales in Bolivia, that 
may become a President. But the U.S., and you reiterated that, continues 
to view Brazil as spark of the construction of democracy in our 
hemisphere. Could you explain to us how this dynamic works between you 
and President Lula, of having those different partners?
    The President. Well, first of all, it's certainly not the role of 
the United States, nor me, to say to President Lula, ``Here's your list 
of friends. You can't talk to somebody.'' He's the duly elected leader 
of a great country, and he can make decisions to discuss matters with 
whomever he chooses. And frankly, it may make sense, in his position as 
a giant country in South America to have relations with every leader on 
the--in South America or the Caribbean.
    And so I've never really discussed with him who all his friends are. 
I never had that discussion. On the other hand, I do think it's useful 
at times if I've got concerns about matters in the hemisphere, to be 
able to pick up the phone to President Lula and say, ``I've got a 
concern with so-and-so. I've got a concern about this. Would you mind 
looking into that,'' or, ``Is there a chance we can work together to 
resolve a problem?''
    Q. ----would have done it.
    The President. I've talked in general about my concerns about people 
eroding democratic institutions--I will never reveal a private 
conversation with another leader--but I have. And frankly, it's--he's in 
a unique position, let's put it that way, and I respect that. And I 
think it's important that he be in a position of influence with a lot of 
countries in the hemisphere to promote the common values that we agree 
in.
    No, I've got respect for President Lula. He's an interesting man. 
Obviously, we've come from different backgrounds and different 
perspectives, obviously different countries. And yet, he's--again I 
repeat to you my first--I'm kind of getting way off base here, but just 
to share some color. One of my most important initiatives is this Faith-
Based and Community-Based Initiative here in the United States. I 
believe that oftentimes government is limited in its capacity to help 
save lives. And I know that there are grassroots programs that are more 
likely to be able to go into some of the most hopeless neighborhoods and 
to corners of despair and be able to help save lives by, first of all, 
being motivated by love, and it's sometimes helpful to have people 
motivated by love have access

[[Page 1641]]

to money in order to be able to solve problems. And I felt like we ought 
to open up government funding to competitive bidding by faith-based 
organizations.
    And I shared this with President Lula. And the reason--I shared this 
vision and this concept as a way to deal with some of society's 
intractable problems. And he was sharing with me his vision about 
dealing with his hunger initiative, for example. And so I was impressed 
by a person who is willing to take on some of these tough issues in 
order to make his respective country a better place, as I'm trying to do 
in mine.
    Yes, Betty.

Panama-U.S. Relations

    Q. My question is about security, Mr. President, in the region. 
Panama is a strategic location, which has been both a strength and a 
vulnerability. And whenever Panamanians hear talk about canal security 
and frontier--border security with Colombia, there is the suspicion that 
perhaps the United States would like to reestablish a military presence 
on the isthmus, or at least recreate a military out of the police force 
we have, because we eliminated the army after the fall of the 
dictatorship. Could you address those concerns, please?
    The President. We have no plans for a base, and sovereign 
governments are just that, they're sovereign. And if they say, ``We'd 
like to work on some kind of security arrangement,'' that's not the case 
with Panama right now, but if that were the case, we'd be openminded. 
But we have no specific plans at all for a base. And let me ask my 
National Security Adviser to make sure I don't get out on a limb that 
you would then immediately saw off. [Laughter]
    Q. Not I.
    The President. Good. But, no, I mean, one reason why you have good, 
strong diplomatic relations is that you're able just to share thoughts 
and talk about issues that matter. But no, there's no plans for that.
    Q. Or for some kind of military presence that is less than a base, 
or forward operating location or something?
    The President. I'm not aware of that, if that's the case. I presume 
the President, if he is interested in discussing that with me, like a 
forward operating base, would be--will bring it up to me. Let me just 
say, it hasn't made it to the Oval Office yet, and so if there's any 
rumors to that effect, I would chalk them up as rumors.
    Q. Thank you.
    The President. But I'm confident that if this is on his mind, he'll 
bring it up. I don't recall he brought it up the last time he was in the 
Oval Office. Again, violating the principle of telling private 
conversations to journalists.
    Macarena.

U.S. Relations With Latin America

    Q. I promise I won't dance.
    The President. You can dance here. You'd be the first person to 
dance on the Roosevelt table since I've been the President.
    Q. I'm not supposed to be the star. [Laughter]
    The President. Pretty good sense of humor there, Macarena. Very 
good.
    Q. Thanks. What do you think about the prospective of--in the 
Bolivian election, the victory of an overtly leftist candidate, Evo 
Morales, of his peasant movement? And in that case, are you worried 
about a possible ``axis of evil'' in Latin America--Venezuela and 
Bolivia?
    The President. Macarena, one thing is, is that I've learned not to 
make political forecasts and prognostications, whether it be here at 
home or elsewhere. The thing that we're interested in is fair elections, 
free and fair elections where people have the chance to express 
themselves at the ballot box. And that's what democracy is all about--
free from foreign influence, free from corruption, open elections, so 
that people can feel free and comfortable to vote. And that's what we 
look at. We don't--I don't speak out trying to interfere in the local 
process.
    And so, we will see how the people vote. With our Embassy, of 
course, we'll be there involved with--at least to the extent asked to be 
involved, with making sure the elections are free and fair. And that's 
all you can ask. And then the people will decide who they want, and 
that's what democracy does. Democracy--and that's what, by the way, 
differentiates democracy from other forms of government. Sometimes 
you've had different

[[Page 1642]]

forms of government in our own hemisphere and around the world, where 
the people don't decide but an elite decides, a handful of people gets 
to decide the fate of the people. And that, throughout history, has led 
to resentment and hatreds and turmoil and conflict.
    And that's why this trip is important, because it will give us a 
chance to, again, speak to these universal values and universal truths. 
And one of the universal truths is, democracies lead to peace. 
Democracies don't fight each other. Democracies are capable of having 
different types of leaders be able to work in concert to solve common 
problems. Democracies respond to--and by responding to the will of the 
people, democracy tends to be able to more likely lift up people, give 
people a chance to succeed. I strongly believe that. And I believe that 
these concepts are applicable to all peoples.
    I believe freedom is universal. It's not contained within one 
country or one religion or one type of person. There's a universality to 
freedom. I believe mothers around the world desire their children to 
grow up in freedom. It doesn't matter whether you're Muslim, Christian, 
Jew, Hindu. That's what I believe. And I believe if you speak Spanish or 
English--it doesn't matter--you want to be free--or Portuguese.
    And so these are valuable lessons that we should have--that we must 
learn around the world. And to the extent that people adhere to those 
principles, the United States of America says, the people matter. On the 
other hand, if we think that people are disrupting the normal course of 
democracy, unwinding institutions such as the free press, not allowing 
people to worship freely, we'll speak up. We'll speak up, as I hope 
others do as well.
    As I say, there's universality to freedom that's important, and 
those of us who are fortunate enough to live in free and democratic 
societies should work to encourage others to make sure they hold those 
institutions dear. There are just some institutions that are vital for a 
society to be free and open and transparent, for the good of the people, 
for the good of the people.
    Listen, thanks for coming by. Looking forward to the trip.

Note: The interview was taped at 1:18 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the 
White House. In his remarks, the President referred to President Luiz 
Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil; President Nestor Kirchner of Argentina; 
and President Martin Torrijos Espino of Panama. Journalists referred to 
Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza of the Organization of the 
American States; President Hugo Chavez Frias of Venezuela; President 
Fidel Castro of Cuba; and Evo Morales, Presidential candidate in 
Bolivia. The transcript of this interview was released by the Office of 
the Press Secretary on November 2. The Office of the Press Secretary 
also released a Spanish language transcript of this interview. A tape 
was not available for verification of the content of this interview.