17 July 2009

North American Leaders to Meet August 9–10

Secretary Clinton, center, Mexican Foreign Secretary Espinosa, left, and Canadian Foreign Minister Cannon met July 16.

By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington — The leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States will meet in August to discuss security, economic and trade policies, health issues and regional challenges like the political crisis in Honduras, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said July 16.

The annual summit will be held August 9–10 in Guadalajara, Mexico, and will involve Mexican President Felipe Calderón, who is hosting the summit, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Obama. The leaders’ summit was created in March 2005 and is held annually.

In addition to a range of broad topics, the leaders are expected to discuss issues closer to home, particularly the political crisis in Honduras, Clinton said at a press conference July 16 at the State Department with Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon and Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa. The three foreign ministers met to discuss current issues, but also to lay out the agenda for the leaders’ summit next month.

Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who was democratically elected in 2006, was ousted June 28 and flown by the Honduran military to Costa Rica. He met with Clinton at the State Department in Washington on July 7. Efforts by Zelaya to return to the Honduran capital city, Tegucigalpa, ended July 5 when the interim government refused to allow his airplane to land. During his attempt to land thousands of his supporters clashed with Honduran soldiers and police at the airport.

Clinton announced after her July 7 meeting with Zelaya that Costa Rican President Oscar Arias had agreed to act as a mediator in the crisis and conduct talks in Costa Rica. She said all sides accepted the plan and agreed to participate. (See “U.S. Asks Costa Rican President to Mediate Honduran Crisis.”)

“We reaffirmed our commitment to restore constitutional and democratic order, and underscored our support for the dialogue process that was started by President Arias,” Clinton said at the press conference July 16. “We support a peaceful, negotiated resolution and urge other countries to play a positive role in achieving that outcome, and to refrain from any actions that could lead to violence.”

Espinosa said Mexico, Canada and the United States agreed that constitutional order broke down in Honduras with the ouster of Zelaya. “We have all condemned and completely rejected that fracture of constitutional order,” she said at the news conference.

OTHER SUMMIT ISSUES

Canada’s Cannon said the July 16 talks among the three also focused on strengthening four priority areas: the economy; clean energy and climate change; security and citizen safety; and the growing challenges from transnational organized crime.

“Many of these challenges require a North American solution,” Cannon said. “So we laid the ground for our three leaders to have a fruitful discussion in the month of August.”

Espinosa said they also discussed regional economic competitiveness. “That is key, so that the products of our region can be the most affordable and the ones that are most beneficial to the families of this part of the world, and so that we can compete with other regions of the world,” she said.

Clean energy and the environment will be trademarks of the dialogue among the leaders of North America, Espinosa added, saying that they want the region to become the model for other regions of the world.

Clinton said the foreign ministers also reviewed their joint response to this spring’s H1N1 influenza outbreak. “Mexico’s leadership in the face of the H1N1 crisis, its openness and transparency, its sharing of information, set a real model,” Clinton said.

Espinosa said problems like the H1N1 influenza crisis show that the three North American nations share common problems and must find common solutions. “The challenges of our time demand coordinated action with our neighbors,” she said.

A transcript of remarks by Clinton, Espinosa and Cannon is available on America.gov.

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