SECRETARY CLINTON:
Well, good afternoon, and I’m delighted to be here alongside my
counterparts and colleagues from our neighbors to the north and the
south, Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon, Mexican Foreign
Secretary Patricia Espinosa. Each of them have hosted me in their
countries, and I am so pleased that they could be here today for this
important trilateral consultation.
This is an example of what
I was speaking about yesterday in my speech, the kind of partnership
that the United States is very committed to not only building, but in
this case, really deepening and broadening. The partnership between our
nations and our entire North American region has such enormous potential
to enhance safety and opportunity for our citizens as well as health
and prosperity. And we are focused upon our shared assets and values,
particularly our dynamic economies and our creative hardworking
citizens, to make North America the most prosperous, safest, and
competitive region in the world.
We had an excellent series of
discussions that each of us, in turn, led. And we really focused on
concrete ways we can work together to capitalize on our strengths and
address our common concerns. We discussed the upcoming North American
Leaders’ Summit that will be hosted in Mexico by President Calderon.
President Obama plans to attend. And Foreign Minister Espinosa can share
with you some very specific details in a moment.
We discussed
a range of global issues that affect us as well as closer to home;
particularly the political crisis in Honduras. We reaffirmed our
commitment to restore constitutional and democratic order, and
underscored our support for the dialogue process that was started by
President Arias. We support a peaceful, negotiated resolution and urge
other countries to play a positive role in achieving that outcome, and
to refrain from any actions that could lead to violence.
We
reviewed our joint response to this spring’s H1N1 outbreak, and I want
to commend publicly the Government of Mexico, as I said in our private
meetings. Mexico’s leadership in the face of the H1N1 crisis, its
openness and transparency, its sharing of information set a real model.
It also was part of a prior agreement that had been entered into by our
three countries where we did agree to work together in the face of such a
challenge. We believe that our cross-government, cross-border
communication were instrumental in minimizing the spread of the illness.
Now we understand that the flu is seasonal. It’s likely to come back
this fall in North America. And we want to enhance our vigilance and
collaboration and build on the strong relationships already established.
This
meeting was extremely successful from my perspective because the more
we can coordinate, the more we can present a united front in world
venues like the G-20 or APEC, other places where we have membership, the
more we can do for our individual countries and for our mutual future.
So with that, let me turn to Secretary Espinosa and invite her to make some remarks.
FOREIGN MINISTER ESPINOSA: Thank you, Secretary.
(Via
interpreter) Friends from the media, ladies and gentlemen, it is a
pleasure to be here with you today for this very fruitful meeting that
was held today between the foreign ministries of the U.S., Canada, and
Mexico. First of all, I would like to thank Secretary Clinton for her
hospitality and her willingness to hold this meeting, which is a very
important event for our three countries.
This event, as
Secretary Clinton has pointed out, focused on addressing the issues that
affect the three countries in our region, North America. This is very
important in order to make progress in terms of preparing for the
upcoming leaders’ summit that, as I was saying this morning, will take
place in Guadalajara in Mexico on the 9
th and 10
th of August. We, the Mexican people, are very honored and very fortunate to be hosts for that important meeting.
During
our conversations, I expressed my agreement with Secretary Clinton as
well as Minister Lawrence Cannon from Canada. We agreed on the
importance of continuing to push forward in our region with mechanisms
for cooperation that respond to a very clear mandate from our leaders.
We should make use of our positive experience in trilateral cooperation.
We should have a more strategic approach, a deeper approach, and also
an approach that allows us to truly have results for families in the
U.S., Canada, and Mexico so that they may benefit from our relationship.
I
feel that it is very important that this meeting between the foreign
ministers has allowed us to expand on the regional and global agenda.
This is a definitive moment internationally. So consultations between
the three countries of North America are extremely important so that we
can be more influential and so that we can promote the values that we
share, as Secretary Clinton has stated. We have agreed to push forward
with this engagement, to have a systematic approach to this engagement,
so that we can contribute in a more significant fashion toward building a
world that is more fair, that is cleaner, and that is more balanced.
As
far as world and hemispheric issues, I would like to comment on the
issue of Honduras. We all agree on the importance of the fact that the
constitutional order was broken. We have all condemned and completely
rejected that fracture of constitutional order. It is important to reach
a negotiated solution that is based on dialogue. And in that sense, we
firmly support the efforts to mediate by President Arias of Costa Rica,
and we have expressed our interest and our desire in having a process
that allows for a return to democracy in Honduras without any blood
being spilled, without any type of violence.
The three
countries of this region, we all face common problems, and we have
common solutions. Moreover, the challenges of our time demand
coordinated action with our neighbors, our partners and our friends. As a
proof of our need to work together, to work jointly, we have the health
emergency that took place in North America caused by the H1N1 epidemic.
And I would like to thank the words of Secretary Clinton for her
recognition of President Calderon’s decisions.
And at the
same time, I would like to say that we saw this as a shared problem, and
our agencies acted in a coordinated fashion and we were able to confirm
that in order to address a crisis like that, we need to work together,
as is the case with the international economic crisis, where Mexico, the
United States, and Canada have achieved an important consultation
process on that topic.
As a region, we have been able to
promote our position and we have been able to show that the way out of
this crisis that affects everyone is by acting together. We have worked
in this joint fashion in order to consolidate the region as a space for
trade and economic exchange that is of benefit to all.
We
reviewed some general topics within the agenda that will be addressed in
Guadalajara by President Barack Obama and President Calderon, as well
as Prime Minister Stephen Harper. We looked at the issue of regional
competitiveness. We also need to – looked at the way we need to improve
the way in which we produce certified transport and market our products,
looking toward being more efficient, and with greater security. That is
key so that the products of our region can be the most affordable and
the ones that are most beneficial to the families of this part of the
world, and so that we can compete with other regions of the world.
We
have also discussed clean energy, the environment. We discussed actions
to take given climate change. These will be the trademarks of the
dialogue between the leaders of North America. And we have also
expressed that we want this region to become a model for other regions
of the world, a model of cooperation on these topics. We should
recognize that – we should realize that the threats that our hemisphere
faces are threats that go beyond our borders, and that is why our
conversation had a significant focus on issues of security.
We
have put together a broader concept of security, a concept that goes
beyond our already growing cooperation to combat organized crime and
other threats that can affect our region. We have looked at a security
focus. That means we need to be better prepared for epidemics, for
natural disasters. We need to work jointly in a cooperative manner in
order to offer all of our communities a place where their peace of mind
is ensured.
As you know, Guadalajara will be the first
trilateral meeting for president – between President Obama, Prime
Minister Harper and President Calderon. We are very pleased with the
dynamics of this engagement. Clearly, its objective is to have a greater
impetus for our region. That is why the summit at Guadalajara, I am
sure, will offer a valuable opportunity for a political dialogue at the
highest level under conditions that are propitious to give North America
greater influence on world topics.
Once again then, I would
like to thank you for your hospitality. I would like to reiterate also
the great satisfaction from the Mexican people and government for being
host of this important meeting in August.
FOREIGN MINISTER CANNON: It
– I certainly, at the outset, want to thank Secretary Clinton for
hosting this event. It certainly was a pleasure to participate alongside
Secretary – with Secretary Espinosa in this meeting, which, of course,
provides a timely opportunity to discuss mutual interests and concerns
to us as neighbors and advance, of course, the cause of the North
American issues that our leaders will take up. (Speaking in French.)
(Via
interpreter) Mexico, the United States, and Canada share the same
continent, our population, our economies, our environment, and the same
challenges. All this is intimately linked.
(In English) Today,
Secretary Espinosa and I discussed some of these challenges, as well as
the opportunities available to us in an effort to ensure that North
America’s economy remains prosperous and that our citizens be safe and
reach, of course, their full potential. The many areas that were
discussed are grounded in the common interests of all North Americans,
with distinct voices and a diversity of ideas. We spoke of the future of
our continent and its role in the world.
(Via interpreter)
The recent arrival of H1N1 confirms the importance to work together, to
take the necessary measures in order to be prepared for such challenges.
(In English) We focused on four priority areas for
strengthening cooperation: The economy, since the global financial
crisis and the recession have significantly affected the economies of
our three countries; clean energy, climate change, given our highly
integrated continental energy market and shared environment, and the
latest commitments made at L'Aquila during the last G-8 meeting;
security and citizen safety, given not only the successful trilateral
cooperation on H1N1, as I mentioned before, and the lessons learned from
it, but as well the growing challenges of transnational organizations
and – I’m sorry, transnational organized crime on our continent.
(Via
interpreter) We have also discussed regional challenges and what is at
stake in all three countries, and we are working together to find
solutions. Our discussion was very productive and pragmatic.
(In
English) Many of the challenges – of these challenges require a North
American solution. So we laid the ground for our three leaders to have a
fruitful discussion in the month of August. We are looking forward to
President Obama and President Calderon’s crucial contributions at the
North American Leaders’ Summit that Prime Minister Harper will attend.
Merci. Thank you very much.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you. We’d be glad to take your questions.
MODERATOR: Our first question goes to Jill Dougherty of CNN.
QUESTION:
Thank you very much, Madame Secretary. Over the past few days, Madame
Secretary, we’ve been hearing some very strong frustration coming from
you about the vetting process. And then also, at the same time, there
has been a spate, which I’m sure you’ve seen, of reports about your
allegedly being sidelined by the White House.
And I would ask
you, if you could, to set us straight on this. Is the White House
actually making it more difficult for you to put the team that you want
in place? And then also, how would you describe the impact that you, as
the Secretary of State, are having directly on the formation of U.S.
foreign policy?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, first let me
say that I don’t think there’s anyone who’s ever served in government
who is not frustrated by the system that our country has. Most
governments after they’re elected are up and going in a relatively short
period of time. We are now six months into our new Administration, and
it’s not only here, but across the government, we don’t have critical
positions filled. I think it’s pretty obvious that the process has
gotten much more complicated, cumbersome, and lengthy, and that is
something that I hear from everyone. And it is a matter that I think
we’re going to have to address. And it’s not just this Administration;
it’s gotten increasingly more difficult.
But it’s hard to
explain in my position to our foreign counterparts that we don’t yet
have positions filled that would be the natural interlocutors for their
counterparts in other countries. But that’s something that we’re all
frustrated by; it’s not in any way limited to myself or even to the
State Department or USAID.
I don’t really pay a lot of
attention to what is said. I really stay focused on the work that I do. I
broke my elbow, not my larynx. (Laughter.) I have been consistently
involved in the shaping and implementation of our foreign policy. And
I’m off to India and Thailand tonight. I will be back to co-lead the
Strategic and Economic Dialogue with China. I will be meeting with Prime
Minister Maliki as we continue to support the transition of Iraq to a
better future, and then I will be off to Africa. So I think that I’m
just going to do the work and make the contribution. I feel very honored
and positive about my working relationship with the White House and in
my personal relationship with President Obama.
MR. KELLY: The next question to Hugues Poulin, Radio Canada.
QUESTION:
I would like to ask you about Guantanamo. Canada has one citizen in
Guantanamo. He was arrested in Afghanistan many years ago. He’s been six
years or more now in Guantanamo. He’s facing serious charges. But many
organizations consider him as a child soldier. They want him back to
Canada. Even the judge asked government – Canadian Government to bring
him back to Canada. But until now, the Government of Canada refused to
do that, even challenged the judge decision, and appeal.
So
are you going to ask Canadian Government to bring back Omar Khadr, or
are you going to judge him in Guantanamo? I would like to know what’s
the story now.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, as you know,
President Obama, immediately upon taking office, recommitted our country
to our basic values – prohibiting torture and setting in motion the
closure of Guantanamo. There is an extremely rigorous process that is
underway that is evaluating each and every one of the detainees. Some
have already been released and transferred to either their home
countries or other receiving countries. We’re going through this in a
very thoughtful and diligent manner, so I don’t want to comment on any
particular case.
But the President and certainly I and our
entire Administration are 100 percent committed to the closure of
Guantanamo, and to proceeding with the transfer of those who can be
transferred, the trial of those who should be tried, and the continuing
detention of those who pose a grave threat to not only our country, but
people everywhere.
QUESTION: Omar Khadr will be trialed in Guantanamo?
SECRETARY CLINTON: I’m not – no, I’m not commenting on any individual case.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR. KELLY: The next question is Jose Diaz, Reforma.
QUESTION:
Hi, good afternoon. This is a question for Foreign Minister Cannon. As
you know, the decision by Canadian authorities to require a visa for
Mexican citizens willing to travel to Canada is causing an uproar in
Mexico that even many people say goes against the spirit of these kind
of meetings. There are thousands of businessmen and students in Mexico
currently that one week ago didn’t need a visa, and now, they are
required to produce a medical exam and a proof of not having a criminal
record.
How are you going to solve this crisis? And when was
exact date that you notified the Mexican foreign ministry about this
decision?
FOREIGN MINISTER CANNON: Well, thank you for
that question. First, let me be very clear in terms of our relations
with Mexico. Canada enjoys a very strong and productive relationship
with the Mexican Government. I have been to see Secretary Espinosa on a
couple of occasions. We’ve discussed numerous issues. We’ve strengthened
our trade relations over the course of numerous years, the tourism
industry. We’ve been able to look at ways of expanding education and
increasing, of course, our trade numbers with Mexico.
This
issue, in terms of the visas – as you know, Canada had looked at the
visa issue. We’ve looked at it for some time. Those people who are
seeking refugee status are unduly high. We are in a position where we
need to look at and find solutions. We will be working with the – with
my Mexican counterpart, and my counterpart will also engage her
colleague in immigration as well as Minister Kenney back in Canada to
work this, work the solutions, and find the ways to be able to
eventually lift the visa requirement.
But from now until such
time as that occurs, we have to be able to straighten the situation
out. And once again, I want to make this perfectly clear, the relations
between Canada and Mexico far supersede the elements of visa
requirements. It’s a very important relation that we want to continue to
nourish and develop.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) by the notification to the foreign minister of Mexico, please?
FOREIGN MINISTER CANNON: Well, maybe my colleague can answer that.
FOREIGN MINISTER ESPINOSA:
(Via interpreter) I wanted to say – is that first of all, I wanted to
talk about the importance and the complexity and the size of the
relationship that exists between Mexico and Canada, and how much we
appreciate that relationship which has been so beneficial for our two
countries and both of our societies.
Now having said that, I
would also like to say that from the very first moment that we were
notified that the intent was there of the Government of Canada to
require visas for Mexican nationals traveling to that country, we
stated, with a great deal of respect but also very firmly, that we were
in disagreement with this measure, that it was our opinion that this is
not something that is going to help to resolve the problem that Canada’s
trying to solve, and also our willingness to work on an urgent basis
and very intensely to achieve, as Minister Cannon said, in understanding
ways that would allow us to correct this decision which has already
been taken and that has been implemented by Canadian officials.
You
asked me when? Monday. Monday was the day that we were formally
notified. We had talked. We had been talking, of course, about this
intent that this decision was coming, but when exactly we were – the
decision was taken, when we were told, okay, we’re going to do this from
now on, it was Monday. Later on – and I thank Minister Cannon for
letting me have a bilateral space with him so that we can talk more
broadly about the practical issues that have been coming up with respect
to the implementation of this decision. Minister Cannon, thank you very
much for that willingness, and we will continue to work in this
constructive spirit, in the certainty that we will be able to solve
these issues and go back to the way the situation was before.
QUESTION:
Madame Secretary, I have (inaudible) Iran. Iran has announced today
that the head of the Atomic agency, Mr. Aqazadeh, has resigned. He was
vice president of the Islamic Republic and also a close ally of Mousavi.
And tomorrow, Mousavi and Rafsanjani are going to participate in a big
demonstration against the regime in Tehran. So I wanted to know what you
make of the situation in Iran right now.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
Well, as you may know, I talked about that yesterday in my speech. I
don’t have anything to add to what I said before. Clearly, the decisions
about what happens inside Iran regarding its future government makeup
and other matters that are within the control of the Iranian people are
ones that we watch with great interest, but know that it is up to Iran
to determine the kind of future that it wants.
I would just
underscore what I said yesterday, that we continue to believe that it
would be in the long-term interests of Iran to begin to make different
choices. It has a very stark choice as to whether or not it will make
some changes that apparently many people in Iran want from the inside,
and certainly, the international community is hoping to see in its
external relations. But that is going to be up to the Iranians.
MR. KELLY: The next question, Sheldon Alberts, Canwest.
QUESTION:
Hi, this is to Foreign Secretary Espinosa and to Minister Cannon. I’m
wondering if you – if the Mexican Government is considering any sort of
reciprocal action on Canadian citizens or if it would consider if
there’s no satisfactory result in terms of Canadian – the Canadian
Government lifting the visa requirement at some point. So I’m wondering,
first of all, if there’s any retaliation planned.
Minister
Cannon, I’m also wondering whether the Canadian Government may have
underestimated the reaction to this. The European Union is saying that
they may be requiring visas on Canadian travelers if it’s not satisfied
that the action taken against the Czech Republic was appropriate.
FOREIGN MINISTER ESPINOSA:
(Via interpreter) With respect to this issue, first of all, I’d like to
repeat what we just said, how much we value our relationship with
Canada; and, in that respect, to underline that in Mexico, every year,
we get about 1,300,000 travelers from Canada. It’s one of the countries
that brings an important number of tourists to Mexico. In fact, there
are many Canadian citizens who have made second homes in Mexico, that
have retired in Mexico, that spend some months in Mexico and some months
in Canada.
We would not like to in any way damage this flow
of people that so much benefits our country as well as Canadians, and it
is for that reason that we do not expect to impose a visa requirement
on Canadian tourists. However, because of the Canadian Government’s
decision in the sense that visas are applied to every Mexican citizen,
we have decided – and this was today communicated to the Canadian
Government – that we are going to suspend the agreement to not use visas
in official and diplomatic passports.
FOREIGN MINISTER CANNON: (Inaudible)
that what needs to be said here clearly is that we’re not looking for –
we’re not looking for difficulties with our allies. What we have noted,
though, is that there has been an increase in the number of immigrants
coming to Canada seeking refugee status, which was, as Minister Kenney
pointed out, way beyond the levels that are acceptable. And so we need
to be able to address this issue, engage this issue. We have done so
through our domestic policy, and we will be doing so as well, seeking
solutions and working cooperatively with our colleagues, both in Mexico
as well as in the Czech Republic, to be able to find the ways to move
forward.
Nothing in this situation would lead to believe that
there is a permanency in all of this. We have to be able to find ways to
move forward and to find solutions to it. But this having been said, we
were, and we reached an unacceptable level. And therefore, we had to
intervene and we had to act. And this is precisely what we did. Advance
notice had been forwarded and given to the parties involved, and Canada
acted according to what it needs to do.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
FOREIGN MINISTER CANNON:
(Via interpreter) What I just said is that in both cases, we realized
that it was an unacceptable level of people who were seeking asylum and
seeking the status of refugee in Canada. This number was totally
abnormal, and therefore, my colleague, the immigration minister, decided
to take the measures that needed to be taken. Well, this being said,
this doesn’t prevent us from going on and keep on working and finding
with our colleagues from Mexico and with our colleagues from the Czech
Republic the elements that will allow us to face this problem.
And
I conclude in saying that my colleague, Minister Kenney, said that in
Canada, we needed to reform our system. And therefore, it is a task that
he’s going to work on in the next few weeks and few months.
But
in conclusion, I want to repeat and underline the importance of our
relations both with the European Union, with whom we are negotiating a
wider economic space, but also with Mexico, which is a privileged
partner in North America. And in many multilateral fora, we are working
hand-in-hand to realize different things. They are our fifth commercial
partner in importance.
MR. KELLY: Jesus Esquivel, Proceso.
QUESTION:
Good afternoon. It’s for Madame Secretary Clinton, my question. In a
few days, you’re going to present a report to the U.S. Congress in
reference to the human rights situations in Mexico in the fight against
drugs. We understand that you already take the decision, and it’s going
to be not to withhold the money in the Merida Initiative for the Mexican
case.
Lately, it has been a lot of reports in terms of the
Mexican military are committing torture and horrible human rights
violations in the fight against drugs. My question to you is: Do you
believe, with this reported favor of Mexico, don’t you think the U.S.
would lose moral authority in the human rights situation in terms of
violations committed by the U.S. forces, like in Iraq, Afghanistan? And
you are – in other words, in – you know, there are few human rights
violations in Mexico. But anyway, we have to support the government of
Felipe Calderon.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, let me say
that I know that President Calderon is concerned about these matters. He
has made very clear that one of his goals is to make sure that the
police forces and the military forces in Mexico are well trained and
certainly conduct themselves in a manner that meets all expectations and
standards.
So what we see here is an administration under
President Calderon locked in a very difficult battle with the most
ruthless drug traffickers and criminal cartels anywhere on the planet.
And we have worked very closely with his administration to provide
additional support for police training, and it is our assessment that
the steps taken and the commitment demonstrated by the Calderon
administration is deserving of confidence.
Now does that mean
that there are not violations or actions that we would find
unacceptable? Of course not; that happens in any society. And certainly,
we see it in big city police departments, we see it in military
actions, and it’s not confined to any one country. But what we are
evaluating is the level of commitment by the Calderon administration to
deal with the challenges that it faces in putting together a police
force that is under tremendous pressure – 16 police officers killed in
the last several days. So of course, there has to be constant reminding
of people on the front lines whose families are at risk, whose children
are kidnapped, whose lives are endangered, that they must comply with
certain standards, and we’re absolutely confident that that is the
message being delivered by the Calderon administration.
Thank you very much.
MR. KELLY: Thank you very much.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, it is a particular delight for me to welcome Foreign Minister Cannon and Foreign Secretary Espinosa here to the State Department. Canada and Mexico are our closest friends and allies, and I’ve been pleased to have visited both countries in the six months of my tenure as Secretary of State. We are so fortunate to have neighbors with whom we share so many values and common interests and very human and family ties.
