Plane Briefing En route to Mexico City, Mexico

Plane Briefing En route to Mexico City, Mexico


Secretary Colin L. Powell
En route to Mexico City, Mexico
November 8, 2004

SECRETARY POWELL: Okay, thanks for joining us as we go down to Mexico City for
the twenty-first BNC. These are very very useful and productive meetings. As
you know, the format is we have fourteen working groups that have been
conducting business in the course of the year and we use these BNC meetings to
sort of review the accomplishments of the year and also as an opportunity to
force action and show some results.

So, we have a strong delegation going down, as you know, Secretary Mineta and
Secretary Jackson are with me, and Secretary Paige and Secretary Ridge are
already down there. And we have Governor Leavitt of EPA with us on the plane as
well as Mr. McCallum from the Justice Department and a number of other
officials. So, it's a strong delegation and I expect that we'll be talking
about a variety of issues. In my part of it I chair two of the working groups,
on border control and security and another working group on consular affairs
and immigration.

On immigration, which is always the leading issue with our Mexican friends,
reinforce the president's commitment to moving forward, especially with respect
to the temporary workers program that he announced on January 7th. But as you
know, in light of the campaign and other things that were going on, we weren't
able to engage the Congress on it. But now that the election is behind us, and
the president is looking to the second term, he and President Fox discussed
this in their conversation, a brief conversation, congratulatory conversation
last week and the president intends to engage Congress on this. We're also
moving forward with the Social Security Totalization agreement with, I think
most of you are familiar with, and we've done some other marginal things with
respect to the migration issue and control of the borders that you will be
hearing about in the next 24 hours.

And we hope that as we get into the second term, we can deal with other aspects
of the migration issue. We'll be talking about water, we'll be talking about
the educational activities that Secretary Paige has been working on and a
variety of issues that I'm sure you have had a chance to read into most of
these items, so I won't give you a long speech about them tonight since you'll
be hearing quite a bit about them tomorrow in the opening ceremony
presentations, as well as at the press conference.

And I'll just stop there right now by simply summarizing the fact that I think
things are going well with Mexico. Public attitudes toward the United States
have been improving significantly in recent months. Trade is increased
significantly. Foreign direct investment has gone up considerably as well. And
as our economy has rebounded, that of course has assisted the Mexican economy,
as well. So with respect to NAFTA and trading issues, I think we're on an
upswing. And, I think we're moving in the proper direction in all the other
issues that the 14 working groups talk about. So, I'll just stop right there
and take some questions, Nick?

QUESTION: Speaking of the second term, I know we have very little time tonight
but since this is the first time we speak to you since the election, can you
briefly outline for us the top three or five priorities in foreign policy of
the second term? And how do you see your own role in achieving those goals?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, first and foremost, the Global War and Terror will
remain a priority of the administration. We will continue to consolidate the
success that we have seen in Afghanistan as manifested in the presidential
elections and get Afghanistan ready for the parliamentary elections next
Spring, continue our reconstruction efforts, continuing the resettlement of the
3.7 billion Afghan refugees who have returned to the country and continue our
efforts to work with Pakistan to defeat the Al Qaeda and Taliban elements that
are working in the frontier areas of Pakistan, as well as continuing to fight
those elements that come across into Afghanistan or in Afghanistan that are
trying to stop this progress towards democracy.

Iraq, of course, is a major priority. We are looking forward to the elections
at the end of January and we have started the registration activity of handing
out registration packages beginning last week on the first of November. Kofi
Annan has agreed to increase the size of the UN presence in Iraq and we have
been making arrangements to provide them the necessary security. And, as you
know, we have begun an operation in Fallujah today to take back Fallujah and to
defeat this hornet's nest of insurgent activity and terrorist activity.

We are watching very carefully what is happening in the Middle East. Mr.
Arafat, as you know, will be visited perhaps in the very near future by
Palestinian leaders and we are waiting to see the outcome of that and to see
what happens with respect to his health. The United States stands by to work
very actively to get the Road Map moving forward. And there are so many other
things we are working on: additional free trade agreements we are going to be
working on, we met with of the board of the Millennium Challenge Corporation
today and that's why I was a little late getting out of here and approved some
additions and reconfirmed some of the decisions we made last year in this most
exciting development assistance program.

We will continue to work to strengthen our alliances in Asia, where I think we
are in very excellent shape with China and with our traditional allies, Japan,
South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand. We are very anxious to keep going
forward with the new strategic program that we have with India, enhance our
relationship with Pakistan, and by having good relations with both of them
serve a useful role as a friend to both of them as they continue to reach out
to each other and work on those difficult issues outstanding between India and
Pakistan.

I'll be spending a lot of time in Europe in the weeks coming up with EU
meetings, NATO meetings, OSCE meetings and other bilateral meetings I'll hold
on the margins of all that.

QUESTION: You're going to OSCE?

SECRETARY POWELL: I'm going to OSCE, yes. Just to make sure our European
friends have no illusions that the president wants to have a strong
relationship with all of our European friends and allies and notwithstanding
any disagreements we have had in the past. I think that with NATO coming
together to support training of Iraqi personnel, NATO is now playing a role.
Working with the French, French are commanding the multilateral forces in both
Afghanistan and in Kosovo, so is more that we do there. The European Union made
a financial commitment to Prime Minister Allawi last week.

We will continue to press in Africa to resolve regional conflicts, Sudan being
the one that's uppermost in our mind. But we'll continue to do work to follow
up on Liberia, to assist UN peacekeepers in DRC and to help the United Nations
and our French friends in Cote d'Ivoire. I spent most of my weekend on Cote
d'Ivoire talking to the president of Cote d'Ivoire, President Gbagbo and French
Foreign Minister Michel Barnier during the travels that took place on Saturday
night.

We will continue to work with the Russian Federation to enhance trade and
economic activity.

(Cross-talk)

You asked, you are going to get it, the whole nine yards. You're going to
regret this.

(Laughter)

No. I will stop there, because you have heard the sermon before. But there is a
lot going on, and so much of it is positive and really is evidence of the
president's National Security Strategy of reaching out, of partnerships, of
open trade, of fighting disease, of fighting poverty, of increasing assistance
to nations around the world. Yes, I understand the importance of Iraq; I
understand the overhang that that and the Middle East has on how we are viewed
in the world and the impression that some people have of us. But, it's an
impression that will change as we start showing our success such as the kind of
success we showed in Afghanistan [recently]. And I am very pleased to be
secretary of state.

But let's not waste time with silly questions. You can all go write your
articles, call up think tank specialists and college professors and report on
all of your circular reporting and be my guest, but don't ask me to
participate.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, sort of two quickies. Do you see anything in the
political changes in the US that'll make getting some sort of a guest worker
program easier to get through Congress? And, does the left-wing trend in Latin
American politics trouble you? We've got Uruguay, the most recent.

SECRETARY POWELL: I think now that the campaign is behind us and 9-11 is also
three years behind us, and we have done a lot with respect to securing our
borders and having a better idea what is coming in and out of our country, and
recognizing the value that we get from a good relationship within our
continent, and especially with Mexico. I sense that there could be a more
favorable environment, but it is always a difficult issue before the Congress.
And I can't predict yet of a new Congress with a new line-up. We'll look at
this. We'll have to wait until they're in place, who's in charge of what
committee, but the President made it clear to President Fox in their
conversation last week that he does want to move forward, beginning with the
temporary worker's permit.

With respect to some of the changes that have taken place in Latin America,
democracy is all about free choice. And, it's not shocking to me that 15 years
or so, 10 to 15 years, after the first round of free elections in the southern
part of our hemisphere, people are still looking for the kind of progress that
they were expecting and haven't seen. So, they're starting to make slightly
different choices. They made one in Brazil last year. But what I found is that
the Brazilian government, even though it came in under that same rubric as
somewhat to the left, has been acting quite responsibly with respect to
economic and fiscal policy. And now, they're showing some pretty solid and
sustained and regular growth. And, I had long conversations with President Lula
about this when I was there last month. And so, we'll see what happens in
Uruguay. And you run on one platform but you tend to govern on something that
will produce results, or you're going to get elected out the next time around.
So, we watch it with a little concern, a little interest, but no great I'm not
deeply troubled by it all. I want to work with whoever the people elect to
those countries. That's our responsibility.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, two quick questions on the Middle East. Are you afraid
that Arafat's illness or disability could usher in a period of chaos, political
jockeying, possibly even bloodshed among the Palestinians? And, how long do you
think it is going to take before you are going to have a sense of whether
there's a Palestinian leadership that you and the Israelis can deal with after
him?

SECRETARY POWELL: I'll answer this, but I'll answer it by saying that since he
went to the hospital in Paris, I have been impressed by the manner in which the
Palestinian leaders back in the territories have been discussing among
themselves how to move forward, not yet knowing what Mr. Arafat's fate is. And
other than the Tel Aviv bombing, which was terribly unfortunate, things have
been relatively quiet. I hope that sense of quiet and calm can be maintained,
and it gives us something to work with.

I can't answer the latter half of your question, since a lot depends on what
leadership would emerge eventually in the Fatah movement and the PLO and the
Palestinian Authority each one of them separate and distinct, each one of them
currently headed by Chairman Arafat. The one thing I will say is that we are in
touch with all the parties. The President has made it clear and I have made it
clear to them that we are ready to engage as soon as soon as it is appropriate
to engage. But, Mr. Arafat is alive, he's in serious condition obviously. We
will just watch and wait to see what happens.

QUESTION: In the wake of your trip to Asia, has there been any rethinking in
the administration on whether to recalibrate the US proposal to North Korea in
the six-party talks?

SECRETARY POWELL: No, we have a good proposal on the table. We put it down in
June. We're always reviewing the bidding with listening to our friends, but we
think we've put a good proposal down, which has not been responded to, and so
what we need now is to have another six-party session and see where we are. And
now that the election is over, everybody is sort of reviewing the bidding. But
we've put it a good proposal down and we can't put down a new proposal every
time the DPRK issues a press statement saying that they want to see a new
proposal.

We showed flexibility in the last proposal, it was recognized as such, and it
provides all the elements for a solution. And we'll just wait to see if whether
or not we can convene another set of six-party talks soon. As I have said
though, we go into these talks with a sense of trying to solve a problem, not
just to stick to our talking points. And we will try to make sure that we
approach such talks in the future within that same spirit, if there's something
to be flexible about. But, we are not doing anything right now but waiting for
six-party talks to reconvene and a response from the DPRK.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, on Darfur, most of the news in the newspapers seems to
be bad. You had the incident last week; you had that horrific story in the Post
this morning. Is it time to turn up the heat at the UN or with the Sudanese
government? Is it time for more drastic action now?

SECRETARY POWELL: We are not pleased with events of recent days. The forced
movement of the camp, we disapprove of. I talked to Vice President Taha
yesterday, and expressed the dissatisfaction with that. I know the Secretary
General has, as well. We also encouraged the Sudanese government to show more
flexibility in the negotiations with the rebels in Abuja with respect to
security agreements. There continues to be progress of the North-South
discussion and we might be able to provide a little electricity to those
proceedings when the Security Council meets in Nairobi around the 18 or 19th.

We are concerned, however, that the AU Force is not being introduced as rapidly
as we would like it to be introduced into the Darfur region, and we are doing
everything we can to expedite their arrival. And we're watching very carefully
to see whether the Sudanese government is starting to back off any of
the...close down any of the openings they made earlier in the year after
Secretary General Annan and I visited, which allowed free movement of goods and
humanitarian supplies in. And we want to make sure they don't start backsliding
there. So yes, we are concerned. It's always a subject to be taken up again by
the Council, but it's a very difficult issue. We will continue to press it.

Anything else? Got enough?

QUESTION: Iran? Iraq?

SECRETARY POWELL: Iran? There have been a lot of reports about what discussions
have taken place between the EU-3 and Iran, and we expect to get a more
in-depth presentation on the proposal either tomorrow night or Wednesday
morning. And I had a good conversation with Secretary Straw about it over the
weekend, and I also spoke to Foreign Minister Barnier and Foreign Minister
Fischer before the weekend. Okay?

QUESTION: Do you think the Palestinians need to have elections to replace
Arafat?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, you know they've been scheduling elections and I don't
want to start hypothesizing on what they should do or should not do in this
period of uncertainty. Okay?

Thank you.
[End]


Released on November 9, 2004

***********************************************************
See [url]http://www.state.gov/p/nea/ci/c3212.htm[/url] for
State Department information on Iraq ************************************************************
To change your subscription, go to [url]http://www.state.gov/www/listservs_cms.html[/url]