06 September 2003
Powell, Mexican Foreign Minister Discuss U.N. Draft Resolution
Immigration, water, NAFTA, WTO meeting also come up, Powell says
Secretary of State Colin Powell and Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Derbez agreed that their meeting at the State Department September 5, which covered a "full range of bilateral and international issues," was good and fruitful.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Powell said "all of my Security Council colleagues have now had a chance to look at [the draft U.N. resolution] and are commenting on it, and we are getting some helpful ideas back." Asked to comment on the resolution, Derbez said, "We have presented a series of technical items that we feel will make the resolution stronger ... slowly, I think, we are putting together something that will make sense for the Iraqi people and for" the Security Council.
Powell also answered questions about U.S.-Mexico immigration issues and about U.S. policy toward North Korea. The transcript follows:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
Remarks with Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez After Their Meeting
Secretary Colin L. Powell
C Street Entrance
Washington, D.C.
September 5, 2003
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I just had a very good conversation with my colleague, Secretary Luis Derbez, the Foreign Secretary/Minister of Mexico. And we covered a full range of bilateral as well as international issues, as you might expect. We talked about water issues. We talked about immigration. We talked about some NAFTA issues. We took note of the fact that Mexico will be hosting the Cancun ministerial next week for the WTO [World Trade Organization], and the Minister has important responsibilities with respect to hosting that meeting, and I wished him all the best for a successful conference, for a very important conference.
We also talked about the U.N. resolution that the United States put forward as a draft earlier this week. It is a draft, and I am pleased that all of my Security Council colleagues have now had a chance to look at it and are commenting on it, and we are getting some helpful ideas back and we are anxious to receive ideas.
I think what will unify all of us as we move forward with this resolution is the simple fact that we all have a similar goal, and that goal is to return sovereignty to the Iraqi people, for their country and for their people, as soon as possible. And that has been President Bush's goal from the very beginning. It's been the goal for all of the members of the Security Council from the very beginning. And there may be different ideas as to how to achieve that goal, but the goal is not in dispute.
And Mr. Derbez and I have had a chance to discuss the resolution, and I am pleased that he finds it to be a positive step forward, and we'll be working closely in the days ahead to see if we can accommodate any concerns that the Mexican government has. And so I look forward to working with you once again, Luis, on yet another U.N. resolution.
FOREIGN MINISTER DERBEZ: Thank you very much. I just want to say that it was a very fruitful meeting. I want to thank Secretary Powell. The whole [of the] items that we have been looking at are [on] a very positive track. And I am very happy [about this meeting, I am very happy with the relationship at this point, and I'm looking forward to continue working with him and his team [on] all these items, in particular the resolution that -- we'll be working together on that.
QUESTION: Secretary Powell, is Mexico going to have an immigration agreement with the United States? President Fox has stated that that is the main point in the bilateral agenda, and people on the Hill say that only with the leadership of the President, President Bush, that will come into fruition. Will you have an agreement with Mexico on immigration, and when?
SECRETARY POWELL: The issue of immigration is a central issue in our bilateral relationship, and we talk about it at every opportunity and at every meeting. And both President Fox and President Bush came into their respective offices committed to solving the immigration problem. It's a very difficult problem. It has many pieces to it.
I don't expect that in the very near future we will see some omnibus solution to every element of the immigration problem, but I do think -- and Luis and I discussed this -- I do think that we can go after different pieces of the problem and solve them as we see what the traffic, the political traffic, will bear, with respect to legislation or a more far-reaching, comprehensive solution.
So we look forward to our Binational Commission Meeting in November to pursue in greater detail some of the things that we can do in the very near term that will demonstrate to the Mexican people and to Americans that we are serious about resolving immigration issues and that we can see some small successes as we move toward a bigger success when we believe it is politically possible to do so, and we have a plan that all of us can agree to, to take to our legislatures.
FOREIGN MINISTER DERBEZ: I fully agree. I think, you know, you know my philosophy; that is, we will go taking one step at a time. I feel that there are some pieces of legislation proposed by the same senators or congressmen in the United States, and my feeling will be after all these two days of meetings that we may go and pursue that road and get some results, slowly but surely.
QUESTION: Minister Derbez, would you share with us which are the concerns you have on the draft resolution that the United States submitted this week?
FOREIGN MINISTER DERBEZ: Well, one of the advantage that we have [is] a working draft and we are working and precisely looking at all these issues. We have presented a series of technical items that we feel will make the resolution stronger, and I am pleased to say that the working relationship right now between our staff[s] is such that, slowly, I think, we are putting together something that will make sense for the Iraqi people and for all [of] the 15 governments that are in the Security Council.
QUESTION: Secretary Powell, the Ambassador of Mexico to the U.N. expressed the opposition of Mexico to the United States keeping military control in Iraq for, you know, a step to approve the resolution. What is your reaction to that?
SECRETARY POWELL: I didn't hear his comment. But who else would control the military force in Iraq? We believe it is appropriate to give it a broader mandate as a multinational force, but since the United States provides the bulk of the forces for such a force, then, obviously, it should be a U.S. commander.
I've heard a number of people suggest that there was something inappropriate about this, but I think it is quite appropriate, and there are a number of models from history that show that a force of this kind, under U.S. command but acting in the name of the United Nations, works very well, and achieves the purpose intended for such a force by the Security Council when they authorize such a force. So I don't think there is anything inconsistent with having a multinational force with a U.N. mandate that is being commanded by a U.S. military commander.
QUESTION: Secretary Derbez, was U.N. Ambassador Aguilar Zinser out of line when he suggested this week that Mexico opposed the U.N. resolution?
SECRETARY DERBEZ: Oh, I think that what he really mentioned is that this is a very good step, and that we are looking at the document, that we'll [be] working together to see how we can improve, whether it can be improved in this potential thing.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, what will it take to get the French on board with the draft, with a version of the draft resolution, and is there flexibility in terms of how much control, political control, is given to the Iraqis at an earlier stage?
SECRETARY POWELL: It is a draft resolution, and we are coordinating with our colleagues and we're in consultations now. That's the way resolutions are developed.
Now, both the French -- both the French President and the German Chancellor said that they saw this as a positive step, but it didn't go as far as they might like to see it go, and they would like to see it be of a more demanding nature.
I've heard those comments. Now I'd like to see specifically what they are proposing and what their representatives in New York are proposing. If you didn't like it in this particular form and you want to see something different, then make a proposal in addition to an editorial comment.
QUESTION: [Mr.] Secretary, on North Korea, it is now being suggested that North Korea would not have to completely dismantle its program before it saw what the U.S. is willing to come back with to offer them in closer cooperation. Could you name some of those things that the U.S. would initially be willing to talk about to reconsider if North Korea verifiably begins to dismantle its program?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, I would be pleased if North Korea would say that to begin with, that they are prepared to undertake a process to verifiably dismantle their nuclear weapons program. The only thing that North Korea has said to us that they would like to see from the United States is a security assurance that we are not planning to attack them, or invade them. We have said that. And they wish to see this assurance provided in some form that they would have confidence in. And that's the stage of discussion and negotiation we are at now. And that's what we're going to be pursuing in the weeks ahead as we get ready for the next meeting.
With respect to other things that might flow from that, and how one goes about verifying the destruction of their nuclear weapons capability, all these issues are for discussion in the future. The only thing that the North Koreans have said to us that they wish from us at the moment is some assurance that we have no plans to attack them or invade them or have hostile intent toward them. And so that's what we're focusing on: them making it clear to the world that they not only say they do not wish to see nuclear weapons on the peninsula, but they're actually prepared to act on that by removing their capability. And we are looking at ways in which we can give them the kind of assurance that they say they need.
And we will continue to consult very closely with our four partners in this. I think the six-party meeting that was held week before last was a very, very important one. All of North Korea's neighbors came together, with the United States, to make the case that we are for peace, not war; we are for solving problems, not threatening neighbors. And I find that to be a positive step forward and I'm looking forward to further discussions with the other five parties.
Thank you.
QUESTION: Will President Bush come to Mexico in January, Secretary Powell? Will President Bush come to Mexico in January to the Summit of the Americas? It's an extraordinary meeting, as you know.
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, we're anxious to see such a summit. We do not have a date fixed yet, though.
Thank you.
QUESTION: But you would like him to come to Mexico?
SECRETARY POWELL: I would love for him to go. (Laughter.) I would love to go. (Laughter.)
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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