U.S.- Colombia Defense Cooperation
Agreement
Remarks With Colombian Foreign Minister
Jaime Bermúdez After Their Meeting
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington,
DC
August
18, 2009
SECRETARY
CLINTON:
Well, good afternoon, and it’s a great pleasure
for me to be able to welcome the foreign minister
of Colombia to the State Department. I’ve had
the opportunity of meeting with him before on several
different occasions, but it is always an important
time when we are able to discuss the many issues between
us. Colombia is an important ally of the United States,
and our partnership is based on mutual respect and
mutual interest, and it’s a partnership that
enhances the security and prosperity of both of our
countries.
Today, the foreign minister and I had a very productive
discussion about how we will strengthen and deepen
that partnership. We discussed a wide range of common
concerns. I asked that we have a chance to really
explore our many different agenda items, and I thanked
the foreign minister for Colombia’s leadership
on both regional and global issues, including their
contribution in Afghanistan, where Colombian troops
will soon be helping the people of Afghanistan build
a more peaceful and stable country. We’re very
grateful for their service and sacrifice. We also
greatly appreciate the role Colombian police are playing
in Haiti and Colombia’s efforts to train security
forces in the region, particularly in the Dominican
Republic and Guatemala.
We discussed the ongoing situation in Honduras. The
United States supports the peaceful restoration of
democratic and constitutional order in Honduras, with
President Zelaya’s return as president to finish
his term. We continue to believe in the need for a
negotiated solution and feel that President Arias’s
plan was an excellent one for resolving this crisis.
So once again, we call on the parties to avoid steps
that increase division and polarization in Honduras
and needlessly place people at risk.
The foreign minister and I also discussed the bilateral
defense cooperation agreement that our governments
hope to sign in the near future. This agreement ensures
that appropriate protections are in place for our
service members. It will allow us to continue working
together to meet the challenges posed by narco-traffickers,
terrorists, and other illegal armed groups in Colombia.
These threats are real, and the United States is committed
to supporting the Government of Colombia in its efforts
to provide security for all of its citizens.
I want to be clear about what this agreement does
and does not do.
First, the agreement does not create
U.S. bases in Colombia. It does provide the United
States access to Colombian bases, but command and
control, administration, and security will be Colombia’s
responsibility, and any U.S. activity will have to
be mutually agreed upon in advance. The United States
does not have and does not seek bases inside Colombia.
Second, there will be no significant
permanent increase in the U.S. military presence in
Colombia. The congressionally mandated cap on the
number of U.S. service members and contractors will
remain and will be respected.
And third, this agreement does not
pertain to other countries. This is about the bilateral
cooperation between the United States and Colombia
regarding security matters within Colombia.
Our hemisphere faces a number of pressing challenges,
from the economic crisis to the climate crisis to
public health concerns, such as H1N1 virus, to narcotics
trafficking, terrorism, and organized crime. These
all demand our attention and our collaboration. And
so the United States and Colombia are committed to
working together and to making it possible for us
to deliver results for the people of our two countries.
So once again, I want to thank the foreign minister
for his visit and invite him to say a few words.
FOREIGN MINISTER BERMÚDEZ: (Via interpreter)
I want to say good afternoon to everyone, and first
of all I want to thank the Secretary of State for
hosting me here today along with my delegation. I
thank her, as always, for the generosity she shows
when we come to visit and for the goodwill in our
meetings.
The United States and Colombia enjoy a very close
relationship, just as our personal relationship is
a close one, and we hope and pray that this will continue
in the future for the benefit of both our peoples.
We have discussed a very broad, very far-reaching
agenda, an agenda that includes all kinds of topics
like clean energy, the fight against terrorism, the
fight against narco-trafficking, technology. As you
all know, Colombia has suffered greatly as a result
of narco-trafficking and terrorism, two issues that
unfortunately go hand in hand and to a certain degree
have become synonymous. This is a very serious threat
that we are all facing, and we in Colombia know this
full well, unfortunately.
And also unfortunately, many times in different parts
of the world, countries speak out against atrocities
that are committed or they speak out against the assassination
of people as a result of terrorism or narco-trafficking.
Unfortunately, not all of them are willing to lend
the same hand when it comes to cooperation. In the
United States, we have found a partner who provides
us with cooperation, who also provides us with very
effective friendship and leadership in this area.
It is important to be able to carry out efforts such
as these everywhere. Drug trafficking is something
that we will make sure is going to stop, and it is
only when everyone is cooperating that we will be
able to achieve this. Colombia wants this completely,
and we know that the United States will help us towards
this goal, because this is something that is going
to be of benefit to all of us, both regionally as
well as on our entire continent, and eventually for
the entire globe.
Colombia does not just ask for cooperation; we also
offer cooperation whenever we can. As I have said,
we have suffered, and we have learned from the lessons
as a result of this suffering. Therefore, we want
to be able to help all those through global programs
and anywhere where it is possible for us to provide
our experience. We are doing this in Haiti, with Mexico,
with Guatemala, with Panama. We are delighted that
we will soon be signing agreements with the United
States on this very topic, and we hope that we will
be able to embrace such agreements regionally as well
in the future.
Once Colombia is free of all these scourges that we
are now suffering, everyone will benefit as a result.
I thank you, Madame Secretary, for this meeting today,
for your kind words, and I look forward to continuing
to work on our very broad agenda.
Andrea
Mitchell (NBC): Thank you very much, Madame
Secretary, on another subject, what have you learned
since your husband’s return from North Korea
about the state of that regime, of Kim Jong-il, his
health, the succession, and the possibility that this
could, while a private mission, become a circuit breaker
and open the door towards renewed negotiations?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Andrea, the briefing
that my husband and those who traveled with him have
provided to us is extremely helpful because it gives
us a window into what’s going on in North Korea.
But our policy remains the same. Our policy is consistent.
We continue to offer to the North Koreans the opportunity
to have a dialogue within the Six-Party Talk framework
with the United States that we think could offer many
benefits to the people of North Korea. But the choice
is up to the North Koreans. They know that we are
committed to the goal of full and verifiable denuclearization
of the Korean Peninsula.
So we’re exploring with our Six-Party partners,
as well as other international partners, what additional
steps could be taken to begin the framework discussions
once more. But it’s going to be up to the North
Koreans to determine.
QUESTION: But what have we learned from that window?
What window has been opened? You used the phrase “window.”
SECRETARY
CLINTON: Well, right. Well, that is up to us to determine
whether there are some opportunities and some insights
that can be used to try to create this positive atmosphere.
But it’s truly up to the North Koreans.
Sergio Gomez(La Prensa): Madame Secretary
and also Mr. Bermúdez, despite the explanations,
the agreement has generated some turmoil in the region.
Specifically, President Chavez insists that it’s
an aggressive plan and has announced that he will
purchase even more weapons from Russia, and also place
around seven new bases in the Colombian border. Do
you think this agreement is, like, starting an arms
race in the region? Are you concerned about it?
SECRETARY CLINTON: I think I very clearly
described what it is and what it isn’t. I certainly
hope that anyone who is speaking out about the agreement
will take the time to understand that this is built
on years of agreements between the United States and
Colombia. Plan Colombia is a commitment that the United
States made going back three administrations, if I’m
not mistaken, to assist Colombia in its courageous
struggle against the narco-traffickers.
And I think what the foreign minister said is really
important. We all should be cooperating with one another.
We should all be supporting each other in the fight
against terrorists and the fight against criminal
carters and drug traffickers, because they are so
disruptive and damaging to the fabric of society.
The assassinations, the intimidation that goes on
is not just a threat to the country in which it occurs,
but it’s a threat to everyone.
So I believe that any fair reading of what it is we
are discussing is about our continued commitment to
assist Colombia. It has nothing to do with other countries,
and I only hope that people will actually take the
time to understand that.
FOREIGN MINISTER BERMÚDEZ:
(Via interpreter) I just wanted to point out that
I want to reiterate that what Colombia needs is more
effective mechanisms of cooperation. And this mechanism
in particular with the United States is one that we
have had for a very long time already. It is building
on a number of mechanisms that we have been working
on, and so the principles contained therein are very
clear: the principle of sovereign equality of states,
the principle of non-intervention, and the principle
of the territorial integrity of states. These are
very important tenets, and I think it would be extremely
good to have more agreements not just with the United
States, but with other states in the same vein.
Kim
Ghattas (BBC): Madame Secretary, thank you
very much. I have two questions, if I may briefly.
The first one is about Lockerbie. I was wondering
how concerned you were about the fact that the man
who was convicted for killing more than 180 Americans
over Lockerbie may be released, and how much pressure
are you putting on the Scottish authorities to convince
them to not release him?
And also briefly on Afghanistan, there’s an
upsurge in violence ahead of the elections, and lots
of reports of fraud and ballot-buying. And I was wondering
where does that leave the legitimacy of the results
of those elections? Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
Well as to the first question, the United States has
made its views known over a number of months and we
continue to make the same point that we think it is
inappropriate and very much against the wishes of
the family members of the victims who suffered such
grievous losses with the actions that led to the bombing
of the airline. And we have made our views known to
the Libyan Government as well.
I take this very personally because I knew a lot of
the family members of those who were lost, because
there was a large contingent from Syracuse University.
So during the time that I had the great honor of representing
New York, I knew a lot of these families. I talked
with them about what a horror they experienced. And
I just think it is absolutely wrong to release someone
who has been imprisoned based on the evidence about
his involvement in such a horrendous crime. We are
still encouraging the Scottish authorities not to
do so, and hope that they will not.
With respect to Afghanistan, we have made a number
of statements over the last several days supporting
the electoral process, speaking out against the uptick
in violence. I think one way you can view the violence
is an effort by the Taliban to intimidate people from
actually voting, to try to create an atmosphere of
violence and fear that will keep people away from
the polls. And there are problems with this election,
as there are with any election, but we still believe
that it is the right of the people of Afghanistan
to pick their own leaders. And we are encouraging
them to come out and vote. And we’ve worked
very hard over the last months to provide the security
with the help of a lot of our ISAF partners and others
who are present in Afghanistan. And we’re going
to hope that the election goes well.
Maria Luisa Rossel:
Thank you. Good afternoon, Madame Secretary, (inaudible)
Bermúdez.
Madame Secretary, the State Department has said in
different occasions that Venezuela has not done enough
to cooperate in the fight against drugs in the region.
Some experts believe that that’s the reason
why President Chavez has criticized so much and strongly
the agreement that your countries are going to sign
sooner. So I wonder if you agree with that opinion,
and why other governments, like the Brazilian Government
for example, has – also have some concerns about
the agreement? Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I don’t
want to speak for any other government. They can certainly
express their own views. But I do want each person
who speaks out about this agreement to understand
what it is and to recognize what it is not. It is
certainly a bilateral agreement with very clear recognition
of territorial integrity and sovereignty and all of
the other key principles that the foreign minister
mentioned. So I hope that as more is learned, there
is not just an awareness of the relationship that
the United States and Colombia have had for many,
many years and our continuing cooperation on what
we view as not just a threat to the two of us, but
a threat to the whole region.
But I would also ask that more countries actually
help us, help us in this fight. Don’t just stand
on the sidelines, and certainly don’t contribute
to the problems by doing and saying things that undermine
the efforts that our governments are taking to try
to protect the entire region from the scourge of narco-traffickers.
So I think that people are free to say what they will,
but the facts are very clear here. This is a continuation
of a partnership that we believe and the Colombians
believe have helped to make life better for the people
of Colombia. That has nothing – there’s
nothing more than that; that we want to make it possible,
as it now is, for people to be free from intimidation
and violence in Colombia, when not so long ago that
was – you couldn’t say that. And I really
applaud the Colombian Government, President Uribe’s
leadership for what they have done against a really
ruthless enemy.
Thank you all.
