Text 4207, 512 rader
Skriven 2007-03-11 23:30:56 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0703111) for Sun, 2007 Mar 11
====================================================

===========================================================================
President Bush and President Uribe of Colombia Participate in a Joint Press
Availability
===========================================================================

For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary March 11, 2007

President Bush and President Uribe of Colombia Participate in a Joint Press
Availability Casa de Nari¤o Bogot , Columbia

˙˙White House News


3:34 P.M. (Local)

PRESIDENT URIBE: (As translated.) 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 in 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 come to; truth to
prepare us for a future free of the guerrillas, the paramilitaries and 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 thirty 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 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 paramilitaries, and these
paramilitaries 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 among 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 directives 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
'90s, nor are we proposing a state-dominated government. We do not accept
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, has been very practical
and has 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.

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 are 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 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 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 narco-traffickers -- narco-terrorists. 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.

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.

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, 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 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, D.C., 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.

Q -- 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 your question --

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 USA 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 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
non-intervention. 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 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.

The 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 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
that the government supported this transmission live 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 ZEAS. 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. If there are members of this government that have any links
to these organizations, they 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 five 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, to
all these governments -- we have constantly fought the guerrillas, the
paramilitaries, and the drug traffickers continuously. Our sole purpose is
Colombia free of this place; our sole purpose is a Colombia that will have
strong institutions again. There is nothing to hide here. We are fighting
against narco-terrorism. And let that be clear to you all.

Q Good afternoon. This is a question for President Bush. The FARC had many
people kidnapped 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 kidnappees 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'm worried
about their families. These are three innocent folks who have been held
hostage for two long, and their families are concerned about them. We hear
from their families. Their kidnappers ought to show some heart, is what
they ought to show. And I've obviously 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, that we live in a society where you've got part of
your country where people just kidnap somebody who is hear 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.

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 utter. 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, Se or President.

PRESIDENT URIBE: Gracias, President.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you very much. Thank you all.

END 4:14 P.M. (Local)
===========================================================================
Return to this article at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/03/20070311-1.html

 * Origin: (1:3634/12)