|
|
President Bush, President Fox Discuss Migration, Trade, World Affairs
|
|
Remarks
by the President and Mexican President Vicente Fox in Photo Opportunity
Los Cabos, Mexico
[Spanish
Version Presidency of Mexico]
|
PRESIDENT FOX:
(Speaking Spanish.)
 PRESIDENT
BUSH:
Vicente, thank you for inviting us here. This is a very beautiful part of
the world, and we're so honored you're hosting this convention.
We did
have a very good discussion, but I'm not surprised, after all, we're close
friends. We discussed trade, we discussed commerce. We did discuss migration.
Ever since I have been the President and Vicente has been the President, we have
had a mutual desire to deal with the migration issue in a way that recognizes
reality, and in a way that treats the Mexican citizens who are in the
United States
with respect. And we will continue to work on this issue.
And we
did talk about world peace, and Iraq. Mexico is a member of the Security
Council. We discussed how to keep the world peaceful, how to hold people to
account, how to make sure the United Nations is effective. And I appreciate so
very much the President and the Foreign Minister's desire to consult closely
with the United States
as we move forward to making the world more peaceful.
So we're
-- it's an honor to be here. It's going to be a very important conference, being
held in a beautiful spot and hosted by a good friend. Mr. President.
We'll
take a couple of questions.
Q
President Bush, we know that -- we understand President Fox was going to talk to
you about the impact that your subsidies would eventually have on Mexican
illegal migration to the U.S. Did you have an answer for him?
PRESIDENT BUSH:
Ask the question again -- agricultural subsidies?
Q
Migration –
 PRESIDENT
BUSH: Oh,
yes. Well, here's the answer. The answer is, the long-term answer for the
migration issue is to work a way that encourages commerce on both sides of the
border, so people can find jobs here in
Mexico,
for starters. That's the long-term solution.
And the
short-term solution, we've got to recognize that wage differentials are going to
cause people to want to come to the United States. And when they come to the
United States, we've got to work to make sure they're treated with respect. And
the issue is how do we recognize the reality of two societies with a wage
differential the way they are. Here on the border, the wage differential is
narrowing -- or on the border, wage differential is narrowing, so the migration
pressure tends to come from interior of Mexico and the south of Mexico.
And one
of the things that the President and I have discussed in the past is how best to
develop industry together in the midst of Mexico, in the south of Mexico, so
that people are more likely to find work at home.
Heidi.
Oh, sorry.
Q
A senior administration official told us this morning that the goal with North
Korea is to isolate them. What is your strategy for doing that without winding
up in the same position that we were in, in 1994, with a failed agreement?
PRESIDENT BUSH:
Well, I'm glad you asked a senior administrative official. Our goal is to work
with our friends in the region to convince Kim Chong-il to disarm. I made a
positive step yesterday in Crawford when the President of China made a public
declaration that he said, like the United States, we share the desire to make
sure the Korean
Peninsula
is nuclear weapons free.
Right
after this meeting with President Fox, I'll be meeting with the leaders of Japan
and South Korea, where we'll continue this dialogue. So the strategy is to make
sure that our close friends and our allies and people with whom we've got
relations work in concert to convince Mr. Kim Chong-il that a nuclear weapons
free peninsula is in his interests, it's in South Korea's interests and it is in
the world's interests.
Q
(Asked in Spanish.)
PRESIDENT FOX:
(Answered in
Spanish.)
PRESIDENT BUSH:
(Speaking Spanish.)
Q
For President Fox -- it's the
same question, basically. For President Fox, are you prepared to support the
U.S. position at the U.N. and vote for a resolution authorizing force?
And
for President Bush, are there any consequences for nations that don't support
our position at the U.N.?
PRESIDENT BUSH:
The only consequence, of course, is with Saddam Hussein. And if the U.N.
does not pass a resolution which holds him to account and that has consequences,
then as I have said in speech after speech after speech, if the U.N. won't act,
if Saddam Hussein won't disarm, we will lead a coalition to disarm him.
Q
President Fox?
PRESIDENT FOX:
(Answered in Spanish.)
Revista INTER-FORUM is affiliated with
(ICCAP) Any reproduction in part or whole is strictly forbidden without the authors written authorization
Top
October 27, 2002
| 
