[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 11 (Monday, March 19, 2007)]
[Pages 308-314]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's News Conference With President Alvaro Uribe Velez of 
Colombia in Bogota

March 11, 2007

    President Uribe. Mr. President of the United States of America, 
George W. Bush; distinguished members of the delegation; friends from 
the Government; distinguished journalists who have come from other 
countries and from Colombia: I would like to welcome again in the 
warmest fashion possible. I would like to welcome his delegation as 
well.
    During the working lunch we have just had, at the end, I was able to 
read some beautiful paragraphs from Bolivar, the Liberator: one in the 
Charter of Angostura, where he actually was talking about the creation 
of the American Nation around--or on the basis of freedom, tolerance, 
and of having a general law that would respond to common interest 
through individual wills. The Liberator also mentioned a very nice 
paragraph during the Constitution Assembly in Bolivia on the legacy of 
President George Washington.
    I was saying that the relations between the Colombian people and the 
American people are sound. We have mutual understanding on democratic 
values since the birth of our two states. This visit is a reason for 
being proud. We will trust even more an our relations and the Colombian 
process, and we would like to thank you very warmly, President Bush.
    You have come to Colombia at a time of unrest because of the peace 
process that is taking place. You have come at a time of revelations 
that really have motivated a public debate. But they are taking place 
because of one reason, and that reason is that our policy on democratic 
security has tried to defeat terrorism in the guerrillas, in the 
paramilitaries, because our democratic security policy wants to 
reestablish democratic institutions fully in Colombia. And these 
revelations are taking place because our law on justice and peace 
requires and demands truth--truth so that the country will know the 
dimension of the tragedy we have gone through, truth to prepare us for a 
future free of the guerrillas, the paramilitaries, and the drug 
traffickers.
    The law on justice and peace that is being enforced has been 
discussed in Congress throughout its approval process, and it has been 
discussed during its implementation, and has three elements that makes 
it different from former legislation in Colombia and in the world.
    Number one, justice. There will be no amnesty for crimes against 
humanity. This law requires reparations to take place, and there is no 
other single country in the world other than Colombia that might say 
that in order to have shorter sentences within a law of peace, the 
perpetrators are required to hand in their assets, so as to repair the 
victims. And that has never happened anywhere else in the world.
    There are two countries in Latin America that tried to compensate 
for the problems of the victims under dictatorships but with money 
coming from the budget. Here we will strive to give them all the assets 
that the perpetrators have. It is truth, justice, and reparations, and 
these are the three key elements of our legislation.
    This country has an independent justice system, Mr. President, which 
makes our democracy different. The decision of my administration in this 
process of institutional recovery is total support for justice so that 
Colombia may finally overcome the time of terrorism.
    I would like to go back in history. For 30 years, the Marxist 
guerillas actually hit Colombia, and they proposed a social revolution, 
and they produced even more poverty. They proposed more democracy, and 
they were assassinating and murdering the mayors

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and the council members, and they were actually killing democracy.
    These guerillas ended up being financed by drug traffickers. And 
there are many people in many regions of Colombia that were not 
protected by the state, and now they feel protected, thanks to our 
security policy. The growth of the guerillas and the lack of a state 
protection for citizens resulted in these guerillas producing the 
paramilitarism, and these paramilitary phenomenon started committing the 
same crimes, atrocious crimes, as the guerillas. The Marxist guerillas 
brought to Colombia the validity of combining all sorts of struggle. 
They infiltrated universities, the labor movement, and the peasant 
movement. They infiltrated very important sectors of intellectual 
movements and journalists. And they infiltrated politics.
    The same guerillas planted a hatred amongst the classes. They wanted 
to eliminate the foundation of solidarity on which this nation was 
built. The guerillas taught the paramilitaries to combine all sorts of 
struggle. And what happened then? Some of these guerillas actually 
signed an amnesty, but they were not required to tell the truth, which 
is something we are requiring now. So they didn't say which were the 
sectors of the civil society that had been infiltrated. These guerillas 
were not demanded to give reparations to the victims, as we are asking 
for now. And these guerillas were able, in spite of having committed so 
many atrocious crimes, to get an amnesty for atrocious crimes, amnesty 
that is not given out today for these crimes against humanity.
    The peace process that we are undertaking with the--[inaudible]--of 
truth, justice, and reparations, actually set the limits for peace 
processes in the future. We have been very rigorous in this process. It 
has been a very serious process, and the world and Colombia will know 
that the processes in Colombia in the future, with the guerillas, such 
as the ELN and FARC, should require, as we are requiring today, truth, 
justice, and reparations.
    I would like you to know, Mr. President, that our commitment is the 
full defeat of terrorism and the total recovery of justice and of 
democratic institutions. We are working with a model of state. We are 
not dismantling the state, as has been done in many Latin American 
countries throughout the nineties, nor are we proposing a state-
dominated government. We do not accept the dismantling of the state or 
state monopolies. What we are building is trust for private investment 
in Colombia, and at the same time, we are demanding social 
responsibilities. We see in trust a way of investing in our country. In 
investment, we see a development tool, and in growth, we see a 
possibility of overcoming poverty and building equity.
    You have come to Colombia, Mr. President, with a thesis which is 
necessary for our continent, and that is a diversification of the energy 
basket. After Brazil, Colombia is the second country in the continent in 
the production of biofuels. We have created the tax incentives. We have 
approved regulations in agreement with the standards of the World Trade 
Organization. There are projects that are producing more than 1,000 
liters of ethanol in Colombia, and there are many more that are being 
installed. We have 6 million hectares in the Orinoco department, and 
these are savannas, in general, that we can use for biofuel production 
without destroying a single tree in our jungle.
    We have thanked the President of the United States of America and 
his delegation for the support given to Colombia through the Plan 
Colombia. The fight against drug trafficking has received support, 
practical support, and your support, the support of President Clinton, 
the support of your Congress, Your enthusiastic support, Mr. President, 
have been very practical and have helped the struggle of the Colombian 
people against drug trafficking.
    We have the opportunity of discussing very important issues as well, 
such as the agenda against poverty, our social goals, our program of 
forest rangers families, which is unique in the world, that is paying 
50,000 peasant families so that they can protect the jungle, free of 
drugs and so that they can recover the jungle where it has been 
destroyed.
    We have discussed our trade agreement again and political 
possibility of integration, and far away from ideological sectorisms 
that is trying to look for opportunities of investment and employment 
with dignity and social security programs.

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    Thank you very much, Mr. President, for coming to Colombia. I am 
very proud of my fellow countrymen--when you could come here after 
landing at the airport, going through this beautiful landscape, and was 
able to go to Plaza de Bolivar and to this palace. I am very proud, Mr. 
President, that the world may see how the Colombian people is overcoming 
nowadays the great difficulties that we have suffered in the last years.
    And again, thank you so much for your visit, sir.
    President Bush. Thank you very much for your kind words and for your 
invitation. Laura and I are thrilled to be back in your country again. 
I've been really looking forward to coming to this beautiful capital 
city, and I thank the people of Colombia for such a generous welcome.
    We did have an extensive conversation, but that's what you'd expect 
when friends sit down at a table together. I bring the greetings of the 
United States. The people of this--my country care deeply about the 
human condition. We believe strongly in human rights and human values, 
just like you believe in them. We're two strong democracies, and we've 
got a lot in common and a lot of values that we share. So this visit 
advances those values.
    I listened very carefully to the President when he was--expressed 
concern about the immigration laws of the United States. He was most 
eloquent in his concern about Colombians who live in the United States, 
and I assured him that a top priority of my administration is the 
passage of comprehensive immigration reform. I will work with both 
Republicans and Democrats to get a comprehensive bill to my desk as 
quickly as possible, Mr. President.
    We talked about the benefits of expanding trade so that people in 
both our countries can benefit. The United States is Colombia's largest 
trading partner. Colombia is the second-largest market in Latin America 
for U.S. farmers. Trade is beneficial to both countries, and it can grow 
even more with the free trade agreement that we signed in November.
    I told the President that I will work hard for the passage of that 
important piece of legislation. I believe that a trade package with 
Colombia is in the interests of both our Nations, Mr. President.
    I'm looking forward to visiting with some Afro-Colombians today to 
talk about social justice programs. The reason I do is because it's very 
important for the people of South America and Central America to know 
that the United States cares deeply about the human condition and that 
much of our aid is aimed at helping people realize their God-given 
potential. And so we'll talk about programs all aimed at giving people a 
chance to realize their dreams, Mr. President.
    You described many of those programs at lunch--or your cabinet 
described many of those programs at lunch, and I was most impressed by 
the strategy of your administration and the vigor and the energy of your 
Cabinet.
    I'm looking forward very much to talking and continuing to work with 
you to defeat the drug lords and narcotraffickers--narcoterrorists. You 
recognize, like I recognize, that the most important function of state 
is to provide security for its people. You cannot tolerate, in a 
society, the ability of people to take innocent life to achieve 
political objectives. And so I appreciate your steadfast strength and so 
do the people of this country.
    I am looking forward to working with you on the second phase--or the 
next phase of Plan Colombia. We're going to work with your government to 
continue to fight drug trafficking. The United States has an obligation 
to work to reduce the demand for drugs, and at the same time, work to 
interdict the supply of drugs. There's a lot we can do. But part of it 
is to help you exercise control over all your territory, is to 
strengthen the rule of law, and to expand economic opportunity for the 
citizens. And we want to help.
    The Plan Colombia recognizes the importance of protecting human 
rights. I appreciate the President's determination to bring human rights 
violators to justice. He is strong in that determination. It's going to 
be very important for Members of my United States--our United States 
Congress to see that determination. And I believe, if given a fair 
chance, President Uribe can make the case.

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    This Colombia Government continues to make progress that is going to 
earn greater confidence from all its citizens and greater respect in the 
international community. You've set high expectations for your nation. I 
appreciate your determination, and I'm proud to call you a personal 
friend and to call your country a strategic partner of the United 
States. Thank you for having me.
    Okay.

Colombian Government

    Q. Good afternoon. President Bush, what is your opinion about the 
way in which the government has handled the scandal of the politicians 
involved in drug trafficking because--and the paramilitaries? Because we 
know that there are many more members involved with the paramilitaries. 
Up to what extent do you support President Uribe given the fact that 
most of these paramilitary heads are drug traffickers? And finally, the 
U.S. will insist on extraditing these people?
    President Bush. I support a plan that says that there will be an 
independent judiciary analyzing every charge brought forth, and when 
someone is found guilty, there's punishment. That's the kind of plan I 
support. It happens to be the kind of plan the President supports. In 
other words, there's no political favorites when it comes to justice, 
that if someone is guilty, they will pay a penalty. And the best way to 
assure that that penalty is fair and the justice is fair is for there to 
be a court independent from politics.
    And so, when I asked this very same question to the President about 
the news I've been reading in Washington, DC, the same questions he's 
going to be asked when he and his government come to talk to our 
Congress, he answered just like I described. He said, ``We have an 
independent court. We've got a firm law. People will be held to account, 
whether or not they're--no matter what political party they may or may 
not be associated with.'' That's what the people of Colombia expect; 
that's the kind of justice they're going to receive.
    Listen, this country has come through some very difficult times. And 
the best way to heal wounds is for people to see fair, independent 
justice being delivered, and I believe that's the kind of justice this 
government will do.
    Deb [Deb Riechmann, Associated Press].

U.S. Troop Deployment/Democracy in Colombia

    Q. ----key Members of Capitol Hill are finding it disconcerting that 
the number of U.S. troops deployed keeps climbing. Even the budget 
revisions that you announced a couple of days ago ordered up more. I'm 
wondering, do you think that the American citizens should now look at 
the troop buildup that you announced in January, the 21,500, as merely a 
starting point? And----
    President Bush. Go ahead.
    Q. And President Uribe, with all the talk about Chavez, could you 
tell us your opinion on whether you think his influence in the region is 
overstated?
    President Uribe. What is my opinion on?
    Q. With all the talk about Chavez, could you tell us how much you--
if you think that his influence in the region is overestimated or 
exaggerated?
    President Bush. The troop announcement I made was over 20,000 combat 
troops. Secretary Gates and General Pace went up to Congress and 
testified to the effect that those combat troops are going to need some 
support. And that's what the American people are seeing in terms of 
Iraq, the support troops necessary to help the reinforcements do their 
job. My hope, of course, is that Congress provides the funding necessary 
for the combat troops to be able to do their job, without any strings 
attached.
    Secondly, in terms of Afghanistan, I did announce, as a result of a 
review of our policy, an additional 3,200 troops. But in addition to 
that, the troops that you're referring to are going to be part of a 
training and embedding mission that I did also discuss during that 
strategy, although I didn't have any details of the troops.
    President Uribe. Colombia is a loyal ally to the States, and it 
shows solidarity towards Latin America as well. We have promoted more 
integration with the U.S.A. through Plan Colombia and the free trade 
agreement and more integration with Latin America as well. The Andean 
community, it has been led by Colombia and has an agreement

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signed with MERCOSUR. We have contributed to the creation of the South 
America Union. Colombia has been recently accepted as the main member of 
a Plan Panama Puebla.
    So we are looking also for a trade agreement with Canada. We are 
about to close negotiations with three Central American countries. And 
as you can see, this is our democratic and loyal international policy. 
With our sister countries we have very good relations. We respect, and 
we ask everyone to respect, the guiding principles of international 
public law, as well as the respect for the autonomy in each country and 
the principle of nonintervention. We have to help one another in 
promoting freedom and in overcoming poverty and in conquering health.
    I have to mention something about the question that was asked to 
President Bush. Number one, the whole world must know that this country 
was affected for 30 years by the Marxist guerillas; that these guerillas 
infiltrated politics and journalism; that they infiltrated the labor 
movement and labor unions, universities. And the truth was never 
demanded, which is something we have to demand in the future.
    Number two, the world must know that many--during these years, some 
regions in Colombia were not protected. Number three, the world must 
know that the guerillas and the lack of protection was what generated 
the paramilitarism. Number four, the world must know that this 
administration is the first one that has started fighting directly 
against the paramilitarism. There is a political discussion going on, 
but the paramilitary aggression has gone down radically.
    Why? Because the law on justice and peace has let most--has resulted 
in most of the paramilitary leaders being in jail because our security 
policy has actually eliminated more than 1,700 of these paramilitary 
groups' members. And I'd like to have so many people from other 
countries in Colombia present here to be able to say that most of the 
crimes that are being tried and prosecuted happened before my 
administration, to say that democratic security has been recovering the 
transparency in electoral processes in Colombia. Last year's elections, 
the opposition to my administration has not even one complaint about 
lack of guarantees. They were able to visit all the places with which in 
the past were not possible to visit because, on the one hand, there was 
control by the guerrillas, and there was also paramilitary control in 
other regions, and they couldn't visit these places.
    Candidates running for the Presidency in 2006 received effective 
guarantees. They were able to visit the whole country, and the effect of 
the democratic security policy was quite evident because there were no 
pressures against them by the terrorists. The only pressure in the year 
2006 were against the people who supported my campaign in departments in 
the southern part of the country, where FARC, together with the drug 
traffickers, introduced a strike, and they threatened those who were 
going to vote for me. And this is something that the world should be 
aware of. And there were candidates to Congress and the President from 
all ideological movements.
    The world must also know that it is a government that has asked for 
the truth; that the government is promoting the law on justice and 
peace; that it is this administration that has made the decision of 
dismantling the criminal machinery of the paramilitaries; that it was 
the government who made the decision to put them in jail; that it is 
this government that has made the decision that they have to give out 
their own assets to--for the reparations of the victims; and that it is 
the government that has made the decision of supporting justice fully.
    For the first time, the supreme court of justice in Colombia, which 
is an independent branch, has its own investigators. Thanks to the will 
of this administration of funding this group, we are dismantling what 
was built for many years, for more than three decades. Terrorism 
advanced in taking parts of Colombia, and terrorism made progress in 
suppressing freedoms, in threatening journalists, in assassinating labor 
union leaders. And of all this, we are actually making progress.
    So I think I have to tell an anecdote as well. Not long ago, I was 
asked if the government supported direct transmissions on TV of the 
hearings where the paramilitaries are being tried before the 
prosecutors. And I said

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that the government supported this transmission alive and direct because 
that is the way to get the truth. So instead of being afraid for telling 
the truth, we have been supporting truth. Instead of looking for ways 
out of justice, we are trying to support justice as much as possible.
    Let's talk about the Director of the security agency, the DAS. When 
he left this agency, there were no complaints of links with 
paramilitaries against him. And he was then accused of facts that were 
known months after he left this agency, the security agency. And I have 
to discuss these subjects because these are subjects that are becoming 
increasingly important in international debates. The Minister of Defense 
has said that if there were any militaries related to terrorist 
organizations, they will be withdrawn from their positions.
    But we cannot fall into the trap of the guerrillas, that we should 
weaken the armed forces. We are not going to make them weak, because 
this is the only way we have to have a country without any guerrillas 
and without any paramilitaries. There are members--if there are members 
of this Government that have any links to these organizations, will be 
immediately removed from their offices.
    And so I am concerned for the question asked by the journalist. And 
he said--and this is not correct--that there are many members of the 
government related or with links with paramilitary groups. And this is a 
contradiction because this is the first government ever that has 
prosecuted the paramilitaries, that has actually killed some of the 
paramilitaries and sent others to jail. We are going to eliminate 
paramilitarism, and we are going to eliminate the guerrillas, because we 
can't fall in the trap that poses a paramilitary scandal that will 
actually do away with all the results in democratic security.
    The Minister of Defense, at lunch, was saying that we are going to 
levee a tax on the wealthiest contributors in Colombia so that they can 
contribute to the consolidation of the democratic security program. And 
we will demand the truth without any fears, and this is what makes a 
difference.
    When I was running for the Presidency, I was not well-interpreted. I 
was saying that Colombia had to eliminate the guerrillas, but perhaps I 
was misunderstood because I also said that the only way was to recover 
the institutions and, hence, that we had to eliminate the paramilitaries 
as well.
    On August the 7th, I will have been 5 years in power, and throughout 
all the time--and I say this before a great ally, the President of the 
United States, and before the world, thanks to the journalists present 
here--throughout this government, we have constantly fought the 
guerrillas, the paramilitaries, and the drug traffickers continuously. 
Our sole purpose is Colombia free of this plague; our sole purpose is a 
Colombia that will have strong institutions again. There is nothing to 
hide here. We are fighting against narco and terrorism. And let that be 
clear to you all.

FARC/American Hostages

    Q. Good afternoon. This is a question for President Bush. The FARC 
had many people kidnaped for political purposes and for very many years. 
And the humanitarian agreement has been discussed, amongst others, the 
free citizens of your countries. Mr. Shannon said this week that the 
U.S. would be extremely happy if we could get a solution through a 
humanitarian agreement. So my question is, are you going with your 
administration to propose an option of a humanitarian agreement, so that 
these kidnapees are finally released, vis-a-vis a military action?
    And number two, Mr. President, is it true that you two discussed the 
military actions that had to be reinforced to release the hostages? And 
you have not answered if you are going to insist on extraditing the 
paramilitary heads from Colombia.
    President Bush. ----President Uribe. We've had good relations; we're 
friends; we've worked very closely on the extraditions. And so it will 
be a government-to-government decision.
    In terms of the hostages, I am concerned about their safety. I 
really am--I'm worried about their families. These are three innocent 
folks who have been held hostage for too long, and their families are 
concerned about them. We hear from their families. Their kidnapers ought 
to show some heart, what they ought to show. And I've obviously

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discussed this with the President, and he's developing strategies that 
will hopefully bring them out safely. That's all I ask.
    It's amazing, isn't it, to live in a society where you've got part 
of your country where people just kidnap somebody who is here trying to 
help, without any regard to whether or not--how their family feels.
    So that's what I think about, sir. That's what's on my mind about 
those hostages. Obviously, I'd like to see them come out safely.
    Matt [Matt Spetalnick, Reuters].

Iran and Syria/Iraq Regional Conference

    Q. President Bush, in your assessment, what, if anything, was 
accomplished at the Baghdad regional conference? And what are your 
expectations for future rounds? Also, do you take--do you believe that 
Iran and Syria were serious in their post-conference statements that 
they want to help stabilize Iraq? And if that is true, do you see a 
possibility of opening the way towards more formal direct contacts with 
those two countries?
    President Bush. I'm the kind of person that likes people to say 
something and then do it; then we'll react. Words are easy to say in 
politics, in the international diplomacy. If they really want to help 
stabilize Iraq, there are things for them to do, such as cutting off 
weapon flows and/or the flow of suicide bombers into Iraq. There's all 
kind of ways to measure whether they're serious about the words they 
uttered. We, of course, welcome those words. Those are nice statements. 
And now they can act on them.
    I thought the conference--well, first of all, I thought the 
conference got people in the neighborhood to say positive things about 
the young democracy. In other words, people are now committed publicly 
to helping Iraq, which was, I thought, very positive. I think the other 
benefit from the conference is, is that the government gained some 
confidence. In other words, this young democracy had nations from around 
the neighborhood and around the world come and talk to them in a way 
that was constructive and positive.
    Part of the success in Iraq is going to be whether or not this 
government has got the confidence necessary to make hard decisions. 
They're learning what democracy is all about. They've come from a 
tyranny to democracy in a pretty quick period of time. And I believe the 
conference will give the different factions inside Iraq the confidence 
necessary to do the hard things to reconcile and the government the 
confidence necessary to make the decision so that reconciliation can 
happen.
    So it was a positive outcome. And in terms of the expectations of 
the next meetings, we'll see. But the point is, is that the momentum 
made in the first one can be carried over to the second one. Secretary 
Rice will be going to that meeting. In other words, it's a step up in--
I'm not dissing anybody, but it's a step up in the pay grade, let's put 
it that way. [Laughter] And I think--and I think Condi is going to--will 
take an agenda that will help advance this young democracy, and she's 
going to work with the other nations to do so.
    Gracias, Senor Presidente.
    President Uribe. Gracias, President.
    President Bush. Thank you very much. Thank you all.

Note: The President's news conference began at 3:34 p.m. at Casa de 
Narino. In his remarks, he referred to Secretary of Defense Robert M. 
Gates. President Uribe referred to Andres Mauricio Penate Giraldo, 
Director, Department of Security Administration, and Minister of 
National Defense Juan Manuel Santos Calderon of Colombia. President 
Uribe also referred to ELN, the National Liberation Army, and FARC, the 
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. A reporter referred to President 
Hugo Chavez Frias of Venezuela. President Uribe 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.