11:00 EDT
MODERATOR: Good morning, welcome to the Foreign Press Center. When you ask a question, we're going to ask that you state your name and news organization before and try to talk as clearly as possible. Ask the question in English, please, because the transcript is going to be in English. And we' like to welcome Secretary Gutierrez again. Secretary Gutierrez, thank you for coming today to talk to us about free trade agreements with Panama, Peru and Colombia and your upcoming trip to the region.
Secretary Gutierrez is on a tight schedule today, so when we say last question we mean last question. He's really going to have to get out of here.
QUESTION: Jennifer --
MODERATOR: Yeah.
QUESTION: Since we're all Spanish language media, could we say things in Spanish as well? I mean, all of us here are Spanish language media. And also to our radio, you know --
MODERATOR: (Inaudible) if it's much better in Spanish.
STAFFER: Yeah, we can do that. Just to give to the radio and TV some Spanish audio.
MODERATOR: A couple of sound bytes.
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Okay.
MODERATOR: And then perhaps we can translate. We want to avoid having the whole thing in Spanish.
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Okay.
MODERATOR: So let's try that.
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Okay, good. I have some opening statements. As you may know, this is a time that -- when our exports are doing extremely well. This year our exports are growing about 11 percent. Last year they grew over 10 percent. And in the second quarter this year, it was the main contributor to our GDP growth or net exports, so it's a good time for exports and we want to continue engaging in international trade.
This is also a time when we have had unprecedented engagement with the Western Hemisphere. And under President Bush, as you know, we've added a total of 11 free trade agreements of which seven are with Latin America. That includes Chile, Central America where we still have Costa Rica to ratify but that's included in these numbers, and then the Dominican Republic, so these additional three would give us, again, an unprecedented level of engagement with our Latin American neighbors. So we think it's very important economically to pass these free trade agreements and also it should be emphasized that these are key allies and we need to approve these agreements because, very importantly, these are key allies and we want to continue to engage with them and have our two economies grow and help them continue to grow, so very important that Congress pass these three free trade agreements. And I'll stop there and take any questions.
QUESTION: Sergio Gomez, El Tiempo, Colombia, yes.
STAFFER: How about we just do it in order, let's go down this side and (inaudible). Everybody has a chance to ask one question and then we'll --
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Oh, okay.
QUESTION: I think the -- yeah, Maria Pena with EFE News Service. I think one key question that most of us have in this room right now is that the Colombia free trade agreement just doesn't have the votes to get it ratified in Congress, at least from the people that we're hearing on both sides of the aisle. You know, they started the hearings on the Peruvian FTA, but apparently the Colombian FTA is the one that has the most hurdles to jump over. Can you give us an assessment on where we are with that?
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Well, I haven't done a vote count and it's too early to say that the votes aren't there. The logic for the Colombian free trade agreement is overwhelming. It's, you know, economic logic, geopolitical logic. President Uribe and his administration have been one of our staunchest allies in the region. They have made great progress in all of the indicators that represent the environment and, you know, whether it be union violence or whether it be eradication of drug production, they've done a tremendous job. So I think the one that -- I think that the free trade agreement with Colombia has as much powerful logic as any of the others and it should be approved. There is no reason, no reason, to reject the free trade agreement with Colombia.
QUESTION: Thank you.
QUESTION: I'll ask my question later. I do need some Spanish.
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Okay.
QUESTION: Secretary Gutierrez, recently in a column Oppenheimer says that much of the support that the Democrats have given to the free trade agreements with Peru and with Panama is because the Democrats are realizing that Hugo Chavez does have a big influence in the region. How much influence, in your opinion, does Hugo Chavez have in this trade agreement?
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Well, the reason to approve these free trade agreements as I mentioned is, first of all, economic. These free trade agreements will create jobs on both sides and it will be good for these countries and it will be good for us. And the other very good reason is these are allies, and we should always want to do more business with our allies and help our allies.
So, you know, it's very positive reasons to want to do this and that's the overwhelming logic. It has more to do with the positive reasons to want to engage with these countries, and I think everyone is seeing that.
QUESTION: Thank you.
QUESTION: And Mr. Secretary, Nestor Ikeda from Associated Press, the Latin American division. Pedro Miguel Gonzalez -- a man that is wanted in the U.S. -- who was selected president of the Panamanian congress, is this event going to be, from your point of view, a main roadblock for the approval of the free trade agreement with Panama?
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Well, let me just say that we see these as different events, although I have to tell you we are very disappointed and the U.S. Government is disappointed and that has been expressed and it will be expressed. And the State Department has the lead on this, but I should say that we are disappointed. We have an agenda that we're going down to work on and we're going to keep on working on it. But that doesn't mean that as a government we will not express our disappointment for what you just mentioned.
QUESTION: So you are going to talk -- I'm sorry, so you are going to talk with the Panamanian officials about this case?
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: We -- this has been mentioned. The State Department has the lead, but it's not the purpose of my trip. We're going down to promote the free trade agreement. There's a lot of work to do on the commercial side and that work has to continue. But as a government, as we've mentioned before, we're disappointed that this would occur.
STAFFER: Over here.
QUESTION: The White House wants the --
MODERATOR: Say your --
QUESTION: Sorry, Mauricio Rabuffetti from AFP News. The White House wants the Peruvian FTA approved; after that, Colombian FTA and finally, the FTA with Panama. Are you considering the possibility of a change and modification of this proposal?
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: We want to work with Congress and we're going to work with Congress to be able to get these done as soon as possible; the sooner, the better. So you know, this is a -- this is bipartisan work. We have a -- the whole agreement with Congress that we did on May the 10th, the whole spirit was a bipartisan -- a bipartisan collaboration and we'd like to proceed on that basis.
QUESTION: What about the deal (ph)?
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: We will work with Congress to determine the order (ph).
QUESTION: Secretary, Sergio Gomez, El Tiempo Colombia. Can you give us an overview of your trip? Because it doesn't seem very logical -- I mean, to go to Colombia, Peru, and Panama where the agreements don't have a lot of opposition, actually, they're being approved already, even the amendments that were done, and go there with mostly a delegation of Republicans which also support the free trade agreement, when the real selling of the free trade agreement must be done here on Capitol Hill.
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Well, it's a bipartisan group. We have some Democrats, we have mostly Republicans, but the importance of this is that members of Congress will go to these countries and will be able to ask questions themselves, will be able to talk to people, will be able to sense the environment, will be able to meet with heads of state, will meet with members of the cabinet, members of business, members of unions. And they will come back with very good reasons for why we should support this agreement.
So this is an opportunity for members of Congress to see firsthand why these agreements are so important and they, in turn, will be able to communicate that to other members of Congress.
QUESTION: Okay, maybe we'll follow up on that. Is there any new additions to the group? I just saw the list that was published on the 7th when you did the communiqué about the trip. Is there any new additions to --
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: I don't know what list you saw, but I think that the total number is what, the --
STAFF: Fourteen.
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Is it 14?
STAFF: I counted 14.
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: And we also have -- importantly, we have key senior staff from members who will not be on the trip. That's also very important because they will come back and they will communicate what they saw. So I think it's a very important trip and there's nothing like being in a country to be able to sense the environment of what's going on.
QUESTION: Are you considering the possibility of taking the free trade agreement with Colombia next year?
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Again, we're working with Congress to do these as quickly as possible and we're going to work with them so that we can do them in the nearest future possible.
QUESTION: But the thing -- going back to that question, though, I mean, realistically, you only have so many weeks left in this session. Iraq is a dominant issue in Congress right now. You have all the different appropriations bills that haven't gone through. So realistically on the calendar, how can you get all of this done this year?
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Well, I didn't say this year, I said as soon as possible. And you know, we want to, if we can do it this year, we'll do it this year. But the important thing is to do it as soon as possible. These agreements are important. There is no reason to delay them. So our message to Congress is we need to do this as soon as we can.
QUESTION: Why is the White House waiting to send -- so many time to send the Peruvian FTA and really start the process?
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Well, again, we're working with Congress. And Congress set up a date for the hearing and they developed their schedule and we're working with that schedule and now we'll have to work with them to develop the appropriate calendar for Colombia, for Panama and for Peru.
Hey, you're taking over this press conference. (Laughter.)
STAFFER: Did you have a question?
QUESTION: No.
STAFFER: Okay.
QUESTION: I have a question.
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Yes.
QUESTION: One of the issues that were mentioned yesterday in the hearing of the Senate Finance Committee for the free trade agreement with Peru was -- and was mentioned by one of the representatives of (inaudible) the ILO, the union here in the U.S., is that the law enforcement is a vital part in the free trade agreements and they would like to see that this Administration will use some tools to reinforce and to guarantee that the provisions of the free trade agreement will be, in fact, enforced. How can the Administration will do that -- this union is claiming.
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Well, we will be working with industry, with members of the government. The two governments will be working. And any time that there are problems or problems that are exposed, we'll be able to address that. And you know, that's a very good point. All these agreements are on paper. And then what makes them really come to life is the enforcement. So -- and that's -- you know, we expect to have them enforced as they are agreed to. And we'll follow up and we'll be following up as -- when these agreements come into effect, as we do with other free trade agreements.
QUESTION: Can we go into Spanish next?
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Yeah.
QUESTION: (In Spanish translated to English.)Actually it's just a repetition. There's no originality in my question. My first question is exactly what Sergio asked. Why go to these countries? Don't you think it would be better to stay here with the Congress. It's in the hands of Congress, isn't it?
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: (In Spanish translated to English.) The important thing is that we're taking members of Congress, who, although agree, this permits them to establish arguments. They are going to learn things about each country because they are there. This will allow them to return and to communicate what they've seen…they are the people who are going to communicate the arguments in favor of the agreements. There are also members of offices…The staff members who were going down. We've got --
STAFFER: Minority staff from Ways and Means, Angela Ellis.
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: From Ways and Means. But we also have some staff members from members who are not going down with us, in addition to Ways and Means. Do I sense that you don't know yet?
STAFFER: Yeah, I guess I can look it up…
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Yeah, so we have members of offices of people who are not going to go. They will also return with arguments, they will return with facts, they will return after meeting with the three presidents and they will come back and will help us communicate -- (in Spanish). It's very important that they will be there. These people will come back and say ‘Look, I saw this and I talked with this person..or this president and I didn't know they had done X. That's very important.'
QUESTION: Unfortunately, it's too -- it's too far on the microphone.
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Oh, I'm sorry. Okay.
QUESTION: No, I mean, I can wait and just get a quote in Spanish after we finish.
QUESTION: Is there any number of people that are going to the delegation? Do you have -- can you provide us with a -- you know, including staffers?
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: I don't know. I think there's a total of about 20, if you include the staffers and the members, and we're taking three members of the press and the Mayor from Boston. So you know, it's --
QUESTION: Around 20, including --
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Probably -- probably 20, including staffers.
QUESTION: Is there any word as to when the Peruvian free trade agreement is going to be presented officially in Congress?
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: No. No, no. Again, we're working with the Congress and we're working with them to establish the calendar.
QUESTION: (In Spanish.) Another question in Spanish about your agenda in Colombia. I understand that you are going to get there -the 14th and 15th - through Medellin. Is that correct?
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: (In Spanish.) We will go to Medellin Friday night. There's an event on Friday night. The next day there is a meeting with members of unions. There's a long meeting _ a dinner with President Uribe and members of his cabinet so we have a very productive agenda. From there we leave in the afternoon and return to Washington.
QUESTION: (In Spanish translated to English.) Secretary, you emphasized the idea that this a learning process for the (inaudible), but what about the case of Colombia in which everyone from Colombia has been here…the president has come many times, members of his cabinet have come, they've brought with them statistics and facts that Congress has asked for and these facts haven't convinced or persuaded them. What's the difference if they are there or not if these things haven't convinced them before…
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: (In Spanish translated to English) Ok. I think we are going to see whether we've convinced them on the day of the vote _they agreed with CAFTA _they authorized it in the House with one vote. These agreements always require work, convincing, facts and we are going to continue meeting with members of Congress and we will continue to communicate... We are convinced that…
QUESTION: (In Spanish translated to English) Are you worried that it's a negative if Congress considers the Colombia FTA before panama's that it will negatively affect Panama.
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: (In Spanish translated to English.) These are things I don't want to speculate on…whether the order of the agreements will affect the others. The important thing to realize is that all three trade agreements need to be authorized. All three agreements are very logical and it would be a big error not to authorize all three and we are going to work with the Congress to try to establish a calendar and to establish the dates and so they'll authorize each of the three (agreements).
MODERATOR: Okay, I think that's going to have to be the last question because the Secretary has to go.
SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Anything in Portuguese? (Laughter.)
Muchas gracias.
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