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Mr. President, thank you very much. Laura and I are really pleased to be here on our first visit to Brazil. My only regret is that I'm not able to travel around a lot of your country to see the vast beauty of Brazil.
It's a spectacular part of the world, and I want to thank you for your invitation to come here. The President promised to take me fishing - of course, he said, after I'm President. The entourage is a little big to go fishing while I'm President.
But, Mr. President, Laura and I appreciate the hospitality that you and Mrs. Marisa have shown us. We're also looking forward to good old-fashioned Brazilian barbecue. It will remind me of home.
Let me start off by saying that the President is right, relations between Brazil and the United States are essential, and they are strong. We've had many constructive discussions. I remember the first time you came to the Oval Office, and I was most impressed by your strong commitment to your program of zero hunger.
It struck me as not only sincere, but reflecting your deep compassion for the people. And since then, we've had the capacity to sit down and talk about issues that are important for not only our respective countries, but the world. And I want to thank you for that frank and open relationship.
Brazil and America are interesting places, obviously, but one thing we have in common is that we are a country - two countries that are able to deal with our diversity in such a way as to strengthen our nation. Brazil is a very diverse country, as is America, and it's those common values that we both adhere to that make it feasible for people from different backgrounds to live in peace and harmony.
And we discussed those values, the President and I did. He's a man who believes strongly in democracy, as do I, and rule of law and the right of free speech and the right to a free press and free religion. And I want to thank you for your strong belief and your willingness to stand strong on those principles.
We're the two largest democracies in the (Western) world. Therefore, we have obligations to work together to promote peace and prosperity. We started what's called the Group for Growth, to find ways to develop economic possibilities and potential in our respective countries.
I must say, Mr. President, I'm impressed by the economic reforms you've put in place, by the achievements you had made through good government policy to encourage growth, not only here at home, but to encourage exports.
We're encouraged by the increase of bilateral trade between our countries. I met with some business people earlier today, and they were talking about how important our markets are to each other, and that trade is an important way for people to be able to find work in our countries.
And good trade is trade where people benefit on both sides of the issue; that it must be equitable, it must be fair, and I'm convinced that's the trade relationship we have on a bilateral basis.
I know you're concerned about creating jobs, and your country has done a very good job of doing so while keeping inflation down. And I appreciate your understanding that free trade and fair trade is the way to help the citizens of your country. We can have free and fair trade without losing national identity.
We can have free or fair trade without penalizing local small businesses and entrepreneurs. And the President is working hard to make sure that the trade opportunities available to the citizens of Brazil are done in such a way that there's a spirit of - there's an equitable spirit involved. And I want to thank you for your leadership on that.
We've got some opportunities to continue to expand trade. I firmly believe that if one wants to eliminate poverty around the world, the best way to do so is to advance the Doha Round of the WTO. Now, the President has made it very clear that it's difficult to get a Doha Round going so long as there are countries that refuse to yield on agricultural matters. And I heard that loud and clear.
And so recently I made a statement, or a series of statements, that said the United States will reduce subsidies and tariffs, so long as we get the same treatment from trading partners such as Europe. In other words, I just - if we lower the subsidies, we would very much like to be able to tell our farmers the same thing the President wants to tell his farmers, that there's access to markets. And so we made a very strong statement toward advancing the Doha Round, the WTO. We declared our intention, and I told the President I was very serious in that declaration.
And we agreed to work together to advance the round. It's in the interest of Brazil's interest that WTO advance. This is a vast country with great resources and a work force that's hardworking, and the more products that Brazilians can manufacture and sell overseas, the better - more likely it is people will be able to find work.
And so one of the interesting things that has come out of this meeting is a renewed commitment to working together to eliminate poverty by creating opportunity through international trade that's fair - that's fair for the people of Brazil, and fair for the people of America.
And along those lines, we continued our discussions that were taking place in Argentina. There is an opportunity to advance trade, and we agreed to speak about that, and how best to work together, for example, to be able to compete with countries like China, or India.
It's in our interests that we work together on a trade agenda - I call it the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas; you refer to it as ALCA. The President said, look, let's work together on Doha and see how that goes, and we'll continue working on the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas.
It's important for the people of Brazil to understand that such an agreement will not be done if the President thinks this isn't in the interests of the people. I've got to - he's got to be convinced, just like the people of America must be convinced, that a trade arrangement in our hemisphere is good for jobs, is good for the quality of life. And so I look forward to continue to work on international matters and regional matters, as well as bilateral matters, Mr. President.
I want to thank you for your leadership around the world and in the hemisphere. I want to thank you very much for your commitment to Haiti. There's elections coming up soon and the Brazilian presence there has made it more likely those elections will go forward in a free and fair way. You've taken a responsible position, and I hope your country is proud of the fact that you've seized this moment.
I want to thank you, as well, for working on HIV/AIDS with the United States. Like you, we share a deep commitment to help those who suffer from this pandemic. And like you, we do more than talk; we act. And as a result of our combined efforts, hundreds of thousands of people are getting antiretroviral drugs, and that's important and I want to thank you for that.
One of the things that I appreciate about the President is he fully understands that narcotrafficking and terrorism can disrupt the democratic way of life. And Brazil has been strong - strong in working with other countries to prevent a few criminals or thugs from disrupting our way of life, and done so with constitutional guarantees in mind.
We always keep human rights in the forefront of our policy. But we also know that we must work together to prevent those who would murder the innocent, or those who would pollute the bodies of our young from being able to do so. And I want to thank you again for your leadership on that.
This has been a constructive trip - constructive because, Mr. President, I enjoy working with you; constructive because you're frank in our discussions; and constructive because together we can do some good for not only our own people, but for the world. Thank you very much, sir. (Applause.)
Remarks by President George W. Bush, in Brasília, capital of Brazil, during his visit to Brazil.
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