The United States and Mexico: friends, neighbors, and partners. (Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Mexican Foreign Secretary Carlos Tello Macias speeches) (U.S.-Mexico Binational Commission Meeting: Mexico City, May 8-9, 1994) (Transcript)

Arrival Remarks, Mexico City

Remarks by Secretary Christopher upon his arrival in Mexico City, May 8, 1994.

Secretary Christopher. Good evening. Thank you very much for coming. On behalf of my Cabinet colleagues, let me say how delighted we are to be here in Mexico City for this 11th annual binational meeting.

Attorney General Reno, Secretary Cisneros, EPA Administrator Browner, Science Advisor Jack Gibbons, former Governor of Vermont and Deputy Secretary of Education Madeleine Kunin, and a number of other high government officials came down with me today, and we are all delighted and honored to be here.

This is my first visit to Latin America as Secretary of State, and it is particularly appropriate that this visit be to Mexico. The relationship between the United States and Mexico is more important than ever, and I think it's clearly stronger and better than ever.

This is a historic meeting of the Binational Commission. It's the last meeting during the presidency of President Salinas - a time in which tremendous progress has been made in the relationship between our two countries. It's also the first meeting after the enactment of NAFTA, which has marked a new level of cooperation in our relationship.

There will be a number of important items on our agenda tomorrow:

* Implementation of the NAFTA agreement, which is going very well indeed;

* Protecting the environment;

* Upholding labor rights;

* Combating drugs; and

* Improving cooperation along the border. I also look forward to talking with Foreign Minister Tello about a number of diplomatic matters in the region and, particularly, about the Summit of the Americas, called for by President Clinton to be held in Miami next December.

My colleagues and I will be conveying to our counterparts the enormous respect that Mexico has earned as it proceeds down the path of reform. I observed last year, in the first binational meeting that I attended, that the quality of the Mexican cabinet members was really second to none, and I'm looking forward to renewing those acquaintances.

All over Latin America, we've observed that market democracy really works and that it reflects a growing consensus between the nations of the hemisphere. In my speech tomorrow at the Foreign Ministry, I will be discussing how we can effectively build on this new consensus.

I am sure that this meeting will be productive and enjoyable, and I thank you again for coming out today.

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