I welcomed Minister Fernandez here today; someone who represents his
country so well and who is part of the extraordinary progress that Chile
has shown. We discussed a number of important matters, including the
upcoming Summit of the Americas. I’m looking forward to seeing President
Bachelet there, someone who I also admire greatly.
But I want to
reaffirm the strong, positive relationship that the United States and
Chile has, and we have plans for deepening and broadening that in the
years ahead.
Thank you very much,
Secretary Clinton, for the time to receive me. As she said, we are
enjoying very good relations bilaterally. We would like to really grow
and deepen this relation. And the conversation was very useful for me
and very important to understand the direction of the changes that we
are seeing in the U.S. policies (inaudible) Latin America. We celebrate
this idea and we hope that in the meeting, in the Summit of the America
in Trinidad and Tobago, we will continue coming to, really, a new shape
in the U.S.-Latin American relations, what we have as one of the most
important goals in our (inaudible).
Thank you. Thank you all very much.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Good
afternoon. I am so delighted to extend a warm welcome to the prime
minister of Haiti and to her distinguished delegation. She and I were
together at the donors conference on behalf of Haiti yesterday. And as
you know, I will be traveling to Haiti tomorrow.
But before I turn
to the important issues that we discussed today about Haiti, I’d like to
take a moment to discuss an issue that affects us all, and that is the
scourge of piracy. The attempted capture of the
Maersk Alabama and the attack yesterday on the
Liberty Sun
off the coast of Somalia are just the most recent reminders that we
have to act swiftly and decisively to combat this threat. These pirates
are criminals. They are armed gangs on the sea. And those plotting
attacks must be stopped, and those who have carried them out must be
brought to justice.
Last weekend, we were all inspired by the
courage and heroism of Captain Phillips and his crew, and by the bravery
and skill of the U.S. Navy. These men are examples of the best that
America has to offer. And I salute and thank them. But now it falls to
us to ensure that others are not put into a similar situation. As I said
last week, we may be dealing with a 17
th century crime, but we need to bring 21
st century solutions to bear.
I
want to commend the work that this Department’s anti-piracy task force
has already done, along with their counterparts throughout our
government. In the past several months, we have seen the passage of a
robust United Nations Security Council resolution, a multinational naval
deployment, improved judicial cooperation with maritime states and an
American-led creation of a 30-plus member International Contact Group to
coordinate our efforts.
But we all know more must be done. The
State Department is actively engaged with the White House and other
agencies in pursuing counter-piracy efforts, both unilaterally and in
concert with the international community. This Friday, a steering group
that includes State, the Department of Defense, the Department of
Justice, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Homeland
Security, and the intelligence community, will meet to consider recent
events and potential responses.
This week, the State Department is
taking four immediate steps as we move forward with a broader
counter-piracy strategy. But let me underscore this point: The United
States does not make concessions or ransom payments to pirates. What we
will do is first send an envoy to attend the international Somali
peacekeeping and development meeting scheduled in Brussels. The solution
to Somali piracy includes improved Somali capacity to police their own
territory. Our envoy will work with other partners to help the Somalis
assist us in cracking down on pirate bases and in decreasing incentives
for young Somali men to engage in piracy.
Second, I’m calling for
immediate meetings with our partners in the International Contact Group
on Piracy to develop an expanded multinational response. The response
that came to our original request through the Contact Group for nations
to contribute naval vessels has turned out to be very successful. But
now we need better coordination. This is a huge expanse of ocean, four
times the size of Texas, so we have to be able to work together to avoid
the pirates. We also need to secure the release of ships currently
being held and their crews, and explore tracking and freezing pirate
assets.
Third, I’ve tasked a diplomatic team to engage with Somali
Government officials from the Transitional Federal Government as well as
regional leaders in Puntland. We will press these leaders to take
action against pirates operating from bases within their territories.
And
fourth, because it is clear that defending against piracy must be the
joint responsibility of governments and the shipping industry, I have
directed our team to work with shippers and the insurance industry to
address gaps in their self-defense measures. So we will be working on
these actions as well as continuing to develop a long-term strategy to
restore maritime security to the Horn of Africa.
Now, with respect to
the important meetings that have been held here yesterday and today on
behalf of Haiti, I want to state to you, Prime Minister, how impressed
and grateful we are for the leadership that you and President Preval
have shown.
We have seen a tremendous commitment by the Government
of Haiti in the face of tremendous difficulties, most particularly four
hurricanes in one year. It’s almost impossible to even imagine. But the
government has come forth with a recovery plan that lays out very clear
priorities, which we intend to work with the Government of Haiti and the
people of Haiti, with businesses, NGOs, academics, the religious
community, as well as other international partners to address. This is
important not only for the people of Haiti, but for all the people of
our region. You know, our lives are linked in so many ways, and we share
a common space and a common future.
At the Haiti Donors Conference
yesterday, officials of the Haitian Government and the international
community discussed the plan that the Haitian Government has put forth.
This will respond to Haiti’s short-term reconstruction needs while
addressing the longer-term development goals. We appreciated the prime
minister’s leadership at the conference and the constructive engagement
of Haiti’s government. They have set realistic and achievable goals.
And
I assured the prime minister again today that the United States will
remain a committed partner throughout this process. The Obama
Administration is very willing to work with you, Prime Minister. And as
an expression of our commitment, I announced at the conference the
United States will provide more than $280 million in assistance to Haiti
in 2009.
During my visit tomorrow, I will be meeting with President
Preval and other officials, and I look forward to working with both the
president and the prime minister. We want to help Haiti because Haiti
deserves our help.
Haiti was making tremendous progress until the
national disasters so tragically and unfairly interrupted that progress.
In 2007, Haiti had the highest rate of GDP growth since the ‘90s, and
there was no doubt Haiti was on the right track. Things happen.
Hurricanes happen. But we think by focusing on security, job creation,
infrastructure development, sustainable agriculture, we’re going to be
able to help the people and the Government of Haiti. And it’s a great
honor for me to be standing here with the prime minister.
And I now invite you to speak, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER PIERRE-LOUIS: Thank
you very much, Madame (inaudible). Ladies and gentlemen, the purpose of
our trip here, as was mentioned by the Secretary of State, was to
attend the conference. I myself and the whole delegation were extremely
encouraged by the level of participation from all the donors community
and especially by the United States of America, because the Secretary of
State herself was there and made a very brilliant speech on behalf of
Haiti and of the Haitian people.
As she mentioned also, we were on
the right path and growing really seriously as the government itself was
trying to reinforce the governance best practices. And the GDP was
climbing and the rate was really impressive since the 1990s. And also,
lots of efforts were being made to attract investment; especially we
wanted to benefit from the HOPE II legislation when we were hit by the
four hurricanes in a row. And the World Bank’s PDNA, the post-disaster
assessment, showed that the effect of hurricanes hit us really bad and
close to 15 percent of the GDP. So there was a lot of efforts to – being
made and that’s why we were here at the donors conference.
So I want
to thank especially the Secretary of State for her personal commitment
and that of the United States towards – on behalf of Haiti. And I’m very
happy that you are able also to go to Haiti tomorrow to meet with the
president, which is also the confirmation of your involvement and that
of your country. So Madame Secretary, (in French) merci.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Merci.
PRIME MINISTER PIERRE-LOUIS: Merci beaucoup (in French) to the benefit of both countries.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you so much, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER PIERRE-LOUIS: Merci. Merci beaucoup.
MR. WOOD: We’ll take a couple of questions, the first one from Matt Lee of the Associated Press.
QUESTION:
Hi, Madame Secretary. I have a couple of questions about the piracy
issue, the initiatives you just announced. I’m curious as to how does
one exactly go about tracking and freezing the assets of pirates? I
mean, as you mentioned, it’s not the 17
th century anymore and
we’re not talking about buried chests of gold doubloons. But we are
talking about people who do – who operate outside the traditional
financial system. So, I’m just wondering how you think that that might
go ahead.
And the second thing is that how can you expect the Somali
transitional government, as well as the Puntland and Somaliland
authorities, I guess, to crack down on these pirate havens when they
have zero capacity, and with the Islamist movement there complicating
it?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Matt, as to the first question,
we track and freeze and try to disrupt the assets of many stateless
groups – drug traffickers, terrorists just to name two. We have noticed
that the pirates are buying more and more sophisticated equipment.
They’re buying faster and more capable vessels. They are clearly using
their ransom money for their benefit, both personally and on behalf of
their piracy. And we think we can begin to try to track and prevent that
from happening. Take, for example, the attempt to buy more
sophisticated vessels. You know, there are ways to crack down on
companies that would do business with pirates.
With respect to the
transitional government in Somalia, we want to listen to them. The
indications are that Sheikh Ahmed, the president of the Transitional
Federal Government, understands that these pirates are a threat to the
stability and order within Somalia that he is attempting to reassert. We
want to hear from him and from other partners in the region what would
be useful to help them.
If you look at a history of piracy, very
often you will read that everyone reaches the same conclusion, that you
have to go after the land bases. We have a pretty good idea where the
land bases are, and we want to know what the Somali Government, what
tribal leaders who perhaps would not like to have the international
community bearing down on them, would be willing to do to rid their
territory of these pirate bases.
MR. WOOD: Last question from Sue Pleming of Reuters.
QUESTION:
Madame Secretary, you met Javier Solana today and discussed Iran. Have
you heard back from Iran yet as to when they would be prepared to meet,
along with the other major powers? And also, President Ahmadinejad today
had some quite positive noises to make, particular – and he also said
that he was interested in offering up his own package for the nuclear
talks. I wondered if you had any reaction to that.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
Well, your first question refers to the P-5+1 meeting, which, as you
know, we participated in fully with Under Secretary Burns attending.
There was an outreach effort following the P-5+1 by Secretary General
Solana. He has not had any response as of yet.
With respect to the
latest speeches and remarks out of Iran, we welcome dialogue. We’ve been
saying that we are looking to have an engagement with Iran. But we
haven’t seen anything that would amount to any kind of proposal at all.
So
we will continue to work with our allies to make it clear that Iran
cannot continue to pursue nuclear weapons. We will stand behind the
sanctions that have already been implemented, and we will look for new
ways to extend collective action vis-à-vis Iran’s nuclear program.
At
the same time, we’ve made it clear to the Iranians on several levels,
both bilaterally as well as through the P-5+1, that we are open to
engagement with them.
QUESTION: Can I just follow up on that,
(inaudible) on the issue of suspension of uranium enrichment, there’s
been a lot of discussion about this. Have you dropped that condition?
This was a Bush Administration condition that --
SECRETARY CLINTON: We have not dropped or added any conditions.
QUESTION: In terms of talks, though, could the --
SECRETARY CLINTON: We have not dropped or added any conditions.
QUESTION: Could I ask a (inaudible) question?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes, we’d love a Haiti question, Matt.
QUESTION:
I’m wondering, Madame Minister, if – the donors conference did provide
some significant new assistance or pledges, but it wasn’t as much as I
believe that you had been hoping for. And I’m wondering if you’re
discouraged at all or disappointed that it didn’t meet the top amount
that was being sought.
PRIME MINISTER PIERRE-LOUISE: Well, it
was – thank you for the question. It was not up to the top amount, as
you mentioned, but it was more than we expected. I must tell you,
considering the condition of the financial crisis in the world, we were
not – I personally was not expecting that much. So it’s a real
encouragement for us, and we’re going to make sure to use these funds
properly.
SECRETARY CLINTON: And I could add to the prime
minister’s point that there are other donors. We’re trying to collect up
all the donors that are currently operating in Haiti. We were
discussing in our meeting, for example, that the European Union is
helping on an energy project, Brazil is helping on an energy project. So
part of what we wanted the donors conference to do is to help us better
coordinate all of the aid that is already in Haiti or intended for
Haiti, because we want the aid to follow the very thoughtful recovery
plan that the prime minister presented.
There are certain needs that
Haiti has above other needs. It has many needs. We all know that. But
the security needs, the infrastructure needs – these are paramount. And
so part of our challenge – and I’ve got a team working on this here in
the State Department, headed up by my chief of staff and counselor,
we’re going to find out where all the money is coming from and work with
all the donors, both national donors and NGOs and private donors, so we
don’t trip over each other, we don’t duplicate each other, and we get
the greatest result for the people of Haiti.
Now, one last question. Yeah.
QUESTION:
Thank you, Madame Secretary. On piracy, it seems like a lot now of the
international efforts on Somalia are to deal with this piracy issue, but
I’m wondering if there’s a concern that the kind of root causes of the
piracy, which is the lawlessness and the poverty of Somalia, which
hasn’t really – it’s been discussed, but not significantly addressed
over the last several years, that that will become less important than
the issue of dealing with international piracy. And why should the
international community step up efforts now and this has been a problem
for several years? Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think
two things. One, if you look at the international meeting in Brussels
at the end of the month, or early next month, whenever it is happening –
I lose track of all these meetings – it is about combating piracy and
development in Somalia. So it’s not that they have been forgotten or
even separated. It’s you’ve got to put out the fire before you can
rebuild the house. And right now, we have a fire raging.
The
critical mass of hijackings and kidnappings has risen dramatically, in
part because the pirates got better vessels and could go further out to
sea and they began to use mother ships and they got more sophisticated.
And so people who were told stay away from the shore of Somalia, they
did, and then they would be accosted 300 miles off the shore.
So I
think part of what you’re seeing now is a natural reaction to a problem
that we did address through the UN, through bringing together the
international community, having navies from Japan and China and Korea
and Europe and the United States and India all patrolling that water. So
we’ve certainly deterred attacks, but the attacks have continued.
I
think the attack on a U.S.-flagged vessel and our naval response also
convinced people that we needed to take action, because the modus
operandi for a lot of countries and shipping companies up until now has
been, okay, they hijacked the ship, they get it into port, nobody’s
harmed, we pay a ransom, we’ve done a business calculation so that’s the
way it is. And I think now people are starting to say wait a minute,
you let that happen and you’re going to just buy more and more problems
for yourself. And so the moment has arrived for us to take a hard look
at what we have done that worked and what didn’t work.
And finally,
on Somalia itself – and there are many reasons for piracy. There are
many reasons for lawlessness and criminality. But we’re going to have to
stop it first. I mean, that’s our goal. Somalia has many problems.
Piracy is one of those problems. But it’s a problem that affects the
rest of the international community so directly that we’re going to come
together and combat it. And I’m sure that there will be other steps
taken to try to deal with some of the other difficult challenges that
Somalia poses that we’re all well aware of.
Thank you all.
