布什会见总统萨卡萨尔瓦多(2008-12-16)

President Bush Meets with President Saca of El Salvador

PRESIDENT BUSH: Mr. President, bienvenido de nuevo. I am honored to have you back. I appreciate your friendship, and I appreciate your strong leadership for the people of our close ally, El Salvador.

We've had a very good discussion. First I want to thank you for your support of freedom in Iraq. You have been steadfast 1 in recognizing that freedom is the way to help build lasting 2 peace.

 I appreciate very much the fact that your country is a vibrant 3 democracy. You've been steadfast in your support for your -- the right of your people to express themselves in a free society, and I applaud you for that strength.

I want to thank you very much for investing in your people. You're a -- we've got a partnership 4 through the Millennium 5 Challenge Corporation. And part of your commitment was honest government and the investment in the health and education of your people. And you've honored that agreement. I thank you very much for understanding that the benefits of trade are good for your people and our people, as well. And you're a very strong advocate of CAFTA, which is working very well.

And finally, you've been very strong when it comes to helping 6 interdict 7 the flow of drugs. I explained to the President that since 2001, drug use in the United States amongst teenagers has declined by 25 percent. And the reason I said that is because in order to affect the flow of drugs there must be a comprehensive approach. First of all, we got to -- we in the United States must reduce demand. But it also requires a strong cooperative spirit to interdict supply. And you have been very strong in that.

And so I thank you. It's been a pleasure to work with you. You may have heard that I'm about to retire. And as I head toward the great state of Texas, I will have very fond memories of our time together, and the strength of our friendship and of your leadership.

So welcome.

PRESIDENT SACA: Muchas gracias.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Sí.

PRESIDENT SACA: (As translated.) Thank you so much. I also thank President Bush. I think we have got a very good relationship and one that is very concerned for our people. I think that El Salvador is a good example of a country that moved from war to peace. And we've always had the contribution of the United States in all of the stages of this peace.

I always tell President Bush that free trade was so important, as well as the immigration issue for our people. And all these issues have been worked out, especially regarding cooperation with regards to the combat in drugs. I have confirmed to President Bush that El Salvador is going to renew the FOL that we have at the Pacific coast. And that has allowed us to capture a lot of drug traffickers and seize a lot of drugs also for the Pacific coast.

So a mid-income country like El Salvador knows perfectly 8 well that the path towards prosperity is effort and hard work -- and freedom. And this is something that Salvadorans practice on a daily basis. We have worked hand in hand with ILEA. And ILEA is the place where our judges and our prosecutors 9 are being trained, and it is something that we're doing together with the United States of America.

With regards to the Millennium Account, we have been very successful. We're working very fast. We're going to build a highway, a 300-kilometer-long highway in the northern part of the country. And at the same time, we're going to develop the rural areas along that highway. And all this has been done hand in hand with the United States.

I wish you the best of luck in your new life. I was just in Dallas because I went to promote the TPS for our people. And everybody knew there that President Bush was going to move to Dallas. (Laughter.)

You are leaving on January 20th. And I leave on the 1st of June.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Sí. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT SACA: I hope that I can go and visit you and talk to you --

PRESIDENT BUSH: Por cierto. Por cierto.

PRESIDENT SACA: Por cierto.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Sí.

PRESIDENT SACA: Okay. President Bush has been a strong advocate of freedom. And I think that the United States has much to thank President Bush, especially the fact that the U.S. has not been attacked again by the terrorist groups. This is something quite intangible, because you cannot touch it, you cannot feel it, until when, unfortunately, something like that would happen again.

You can always count on the support of El Salvador on these issues, Mr. President, and the United States in general, the new President, because the historical relationship between the United States of America and El Salvador is a relationship of shared values, and we will continue to share in this friendship strongly, as it is now.

Thank you so much.

布什总统：总统先生，你好。非常荣幸您又来到这里。我非常感激我们之间的友谊，非常感激您对我们的盟国萨尔瓦多人民的领导。

我们进行了非常友好的讨论。首先，我要给些您支持伊拉克的自由。你在认为自由可以帮助我们建立持久的和平方面立场非常坚定。

我非常感激你的国家是一个民主国家。你的国家的人民可以对自己的想法畅所欲言，你在这一方面立场坚定，我非常支持这一点。

我要感谢你为你的人民所作的投资。你是一个——我们在联合国千年挑战盛会上就已经建立了合作关系。你的承诺的一部分就是，建立诚信的政府，为人民的健康和教育投资。你在努力实践你的诺言。非常感谢你能理解贸易有助于两国人民的利益。你是CAFTA的坚实拥护者。

最后，你在打击毒品方面的措施也非常有力。我想总统解释过，自从2001年以来，服用药物的美国青少年已经下降了25%。因为我说过，为了影响毒品流动，必须采取综合措施。首先，在美国内部必须降低需求。但是，同时也需要各方面努力合作，减少供应。你们在这一方面做得非常好。

所以非常感谢你。能够和你合作我感到很高兴。你应该听说了，我马上就要离职了。我将要去德克萨斯州，和你一起工作的日子，我们之间的友谊和你的领导水平将会成为我的美好回忆。所以非常欢迎你来到这里。

萨卡总统：这也是我的荣幸。

布什总统：非常欢迎。

萨卡总统：（通过翻译）非常感谢。我也要感谢布什总统。我认为我们之间的关系非常好，非常有利于我们的人民。我认为萨尔瓦多是从战乱走向和平的典范。在通往和平的过程中，美国也为我们做了很多贡献。

我总是对布什总统说，自由贸易是非常重要的，就好象是人们的移民。所有的这些都在实施，尤其是反对毒品的斗争。我向布什总统保证过，萨尔瓦多将会重建位于太平洋海岸的FOL，这可以让我们抓获更多贩卖毒品的人，截取运往太平洋海岸的毒品。

所以，一个像萨尔瓦多这样收入中的呢个的国家非常清楚，通向繁荣发展的途径是努力和辛勤工作——和自由。这是萨尔瓦多每天都在努力实践的。我们和内伦敦教育局联手工作，我们的律师和诉讼官都是在那里接受训练，这也是我们和美国一起努力的事情。

在Millennium Account方面，我们做的非常成功。我们取得的进展非常迅速。我们将要在国家北部建立一条长达300千米的高速公路。同时，我们将在这条高速公路沿线发展农村地区。而这也是在美国的帮助下实行的。

我希望你的新生活一切顺利。我来到达拉斯是为了帮我们的人民促销TPS。大家都知道布什总统将要搬到达拉斯。你将要在1月20日离任，我要在6月1日离任。

布什总统：……

萨卡总统：我希望能去拜访你，和你聊天。

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萨卡总统：好的。布什总统是自由的忠实捍卫者。我认为美国有很多方面必须感谢布什总统，尤其是在美国遭受了恐怖袭击之后。这是不可捉摸的，因为你接触不到，感受不到，直到再次发生类似的不幸。

总统先生，萨尔瓦多在这些问题上一定会支持你们和美国的新任总统，因为美国和萨尔瓦多历史性的关系就是分享价值观，我们会一如既往地分享我们之间坚固的友谊。

非常感谢。