[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 41 (Monday, October 16, 2006)]
[Pages 1768-1769]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With President Alan Garcia Perez of Peru

October 10, 2006

    President Bush. Bienvenidos, Mr. Presidente, a la Casa Blanca. I'm 
proud to welcome the President of Peru to the Oval Office. We've had a 
fascinating and important discussion. First of all, I appreciated his 
experience, and I appreciated his advice on some key issues. He comes to 
the Oval Office as a friend, somebody with whom I can have good working 
relations.
    We talked about world issues; we talked about issues regarding South 
America and Central America; and we talked about our bilateral 
relations. The central issue facing us right now is the passage of a 
free trade agreement. I assured the President that I will work with 
Congress as soon as possible to get this agreement passed. We talked 
about the need for both countries to work closely to fight drugs, and I 
appreciated the President's attitude and understanding of this important 
issue.
    And we talked about the need to work together to help promote social 
justice. The President has a big heart. He cares deeply about those who 
suffer. And I assured the President it's in our Nation's interest that 
we work with our friends in the--in South America to promote good 
education and good health care and good opportunities.
    All in all, it was an excellent meeting. And, Mr. President, 
welcome.
    President Garcia Perez. Thank you. I am very happy to be here for 
the first time in the Oval Office. President Bush and I have agreed on 
the general topics that we discussed in terms of strengthening democracy 
and also strengthening relations between developed countries and 
developing countries. And one basic tool for that goal is free trade. 
And we are very satisfied to have heard President Bush's promise to work 
with the Congress to push forward the passage of a free trade agreement 
with Peru.
    And we have explained today that in terms of free trade, we are 
looking for an agreement that does much as focus on the most modern or 
the most significant economic groups in the country. We are also looking 
to have a free trade agreement that is focused

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internally and that will benefit our entire population, all our 
productive sectors, including the less advantaged sectors, so that they 
may export to the world and to the United States in particular.
    We see the free trade agreement as one of our tools in our fight 
against poverty and also a tool for us to strengthen equality. Also, 
however, it is a tool that will help us achieve security through 
democracy and to give our population a road, a goal, and an aspiration 
in terms of economic development in the country.
    We see our role as a country in terms of helping strengthen 
democracy and achieving friendship without threat in our region. And in 
this regard, Peru will continue to work towards the democratization of 
Latin America. As I said, it's a comprehensive democratization that we 
are looking for. We are looking to strengthen the options that our 
populations have in participating in the benefits of modernization and 
democratic civilization everywhere in the continent.
    And one issue that we need to work on is a full eradication of the 
threat of drugs. And this is a commitment that we share with the United 
States. It's a commitment that will be strengthened and revised. And at 
some point, we will propose a high-level meeting on this topic in order 
to relaunch the fight against drugs in terms of offering other 
alternatives, such as alternative development, and the free trade 
agreement is one of these tools. And the goal is to allow the poorest 
sectors, the farmers in the Andes, to have access to the buying power of 
the U.S. market and other markets in the world.
    In the relationship between the United States and Latin America, 
there have been several missed opportunities in the 20th century. There 
was an opportunity that was put forward by President Roosevelt in the 
'40s, with his proposal. There was also the Alliance for Progress, 
proposed here by the United States, by President Kennedy. And now we 
have a third possibility involving--or increasing world trade and the 
use of free trade as a tool to fight poverty. And it is an opportunity 
that Latin American countries must take advantage of this time. What 
could have been done almost 50 years ago with the Alliance for Progress 
is something that we can do now, thanks to the technological and 
computer revolution that we are experiencing. And this is a way also to 
reach the poor in our countries and give them access to the world 
market.
    And finally, I want to say that I'm a leader who belongs to a party 
that is a popular party, that believes in social justice and fights for 
sovereignty in our country. However, I recognize the opportunities that 
this time offers us in terms of our economies, and I believe it is 
important for our peoples to have specific and concrete gains in terms 
of the economy, education, and health. And I believe that this free 
trade agreement that we have been referring to is a very important tool 
in its regard.
    And we have told the President that even though we are coming from a 
more modest position, we believe that with our leadership, we can stand 
side by side with the U.S. and make contributions in order to strengthen 
democracy and peace in the world and social justice among nations and 
also within our societies.
    And I want to thank the President for his hospitality. I look 
forward to continuing to work together, and I hope that we will see the 
President soon in Peru. And thanks again for your invitation. Thank you 
a lot, Mr. President. Thank you very much.
    President Bush. Muchas gracias, senor. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 10:11 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. President Garcia Perez spoke in Spanish, and his remarks were 
translated by an interpreter. The Office of the Press Secretary also 
released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.