Bill Clinton: “Good afternoon. President Aleman, thank you for your words and your leadership. President Arzu, thank you so much for…”

“Good afternoon. President Aleman, thank you for your words and your leadership. President Arzu, thank you so much for bringing us to this magnificent place and for hosting this very valuable meeting. To all my fellow leaders of the Americas, I thank you for the examples you are setting within your countries and by working together. As we see here in Guatemala and, indeed, in all the nations represented in this extraordinary region, they are blessed with natural and with man-made monuments of ancient grace and spectacular beauty. Now the people have built a new monument--also spectacular and, hopefully, just as enduring--the monument of peace. Kosovo Because of developments in Washington and in Europe, I hope my fellow leaders will forgive me if I take my only opportunity today to appear before the press to say something about another area in which we are working for peace--in Kosovo, where a serious civil conflict has been occurring and where much bloodshed might still occur. Today our House of Representatives in Washington is debating a resolution on the potential deployment of American troops. I hope the House will act in a way that supports our efforts to achieve a strong peace agreement. I have and will continue to work closely with the Congress as we seek to bring peace to Kosovo. As I have repeatedly said, a final decision on whether we would send our troops as part of a peace force depends upon the achievement of a genuine agreement, on an immediate cease- fire, on rapid withdrawal of most Serbian security forces, and demilitarization of the insurgents. Both sides must agree to a NATO force. Europe's troops must make up the great majority of the forces. And we must have a NATO strategy that includes a clear plan for bringing our forces home. If, and only if, these conditions are met, I strongly believe United States forces should contribute to securing the peace in Kosovo. We have a strong stake in bringing peace there, just as we have a strong stake in peace in Central America. If we don't end the conflict now, it will spread; and when it does, we will not be able to avoid participating in stopping it; and when we do, it will come at far greater risk and far greater cost. Central America Summit Now, let me talk a moment about what we have met about today, how to turn this region of peace and shared values into a region of joint endeavors and common progress. I have made it clear that the United States supports greater debt relief, and I outlined my proposal for that; that we support more open trade to create jobs and opportunity through an enhanced initiative of the Caribbean Basin, the countries of Central America and the Caribbean, and eventually through a free-trade area of the Americas. We also discussed other economic issues: what can be done to increase investment in tourism, what can be done in the environment. Our United States Agency for International Development, I am pleased to say, will contribute another $25 million to support CONCAUSA, the agreement we signed in 1994 in Costa Rica to promote environmental cooperation among us. This contribution will help the people of Central America to protect their forests and coastlands, to reduce industrial pollution, to fight climate change. We talked a lot about immigration, as you might imagine. I reaffirmed my intention to support our immigration laws fairly and justly but to work strongly for the elimination of any disparities in our law so that they treat Central Americans equitably, whatever their country of origin. We also spoke today about the danger of gangs and guns and drugs. In many ways, they represent the final stage of Central America's internal conflicts. We talked about what we could do together to combat them. Let me just say in closing that this has been a very moving trip for me, personally. When my wife came here a few months ago, in the aftermath of the hurricane, she came home and talked to me a lot about what she saw and what people were doing. But no description can adequately replace the personal experiences of what I have seen. In Honduras and Nicaragua, I met people who were devastated, but undaunted, determined to rebuild in a way that reinforces the transformation of this region. In El Salvador, and today in Guatemala, I have been privileged to see two nations that have found the courage to face a painful past and move forward to build a truly hopeful future. At this summit I have seen Central America's leaders working together for the future. And I have tried to demonstrate that for the future, beyond the service of my Presidency, America must be a partner and a friend, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it is in our interest to do so. We have never been closer to realizing the dream of a hemispheric community based on genuine respect and genuine partnership. Something great has happened here in Central America in the last decade. As we move out of the past and away from the damage of the hurricanes, we do so in a way that we are determined to see this area emerge from adversity, in a way that places all of us on higher ground. I am proud to have been given the chance to be a part of it. Thank you very much. Global Strategy for Central America”