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06 October 2004

Secretary Powell Recaps Meeting with Brazilian Leaders

Haiti, IAEA and hunger among issues discussed

Among the economic, political and regional matters that U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim discussed in their October 5 meeting were Haiti, hunger and poverty alleviation, and the U.N. atomic agency.

In remarks to the press following the three leaders' meeting in Brasilia, Powell noted that U.S.-Brazil relations have improved greatly in recent years, and he indicated that he and his Brazilian colleagues "want to do everything we can to make sure that we stay in this steady upward path."

The secretary of state noted that in the course of his meeting with the Brazilians, he applauded the government of Brazil for the leadership they are providing U.N. peacekeepers in Haiti.

"It's a challenging mission, and Brazil certainly stepped up to the challenge," he said.

Powell indicated that the leaders also talked about the upcoming visit to Brazil of inspectors from the U.N.'s atomic oversight agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Brazil and the IAEA are engaged in ongoing talks concerning how much access the inspectors will be given to Brazil's nuclear fuel facility in Resende during their visit. Powell expressed confidence that Brazil's nuclear intentions are limited to power generation and that outstanding issues will be resolved.

"The United States has absolutely no concerns about Brazil doing anything with its nuclear program except developing power in a most controlled, responsible manner," he said. "I am confident that Brazil will be able to work out any problems that might exist with the IAEA."

Powell dismissed concerns that Brazil's differences with the IAEA might provide leverage to North Korea and Iran during their discussions with the agency.

"I do not believe that whatever arrangement that the IAEA and Brazil will come to would in any way give either North Korea or Iran any additional bargaining power with the IAEA," he said.

As for Brazil's possible permanent inclusion on an expanded U.N. Security Council, Powell said the nation would be a "solid candidate" if such an expansion is forthcoming. In the meantime, he indicated that the United States would withhold further comment on the matter until the U.N. Eminent Persons Group submits its reform recommendations.

With respect to Brazil's call for an international facility to combat hunger and poverty, Powell said that the United States has reservations about the viability of the idea, but fully shares Lula's concerns and his desire to address these issues.

"There are people on this earth who are in need of food every day, every single day," he said. "And there are people so trapped in abject poverty that they will never see success in their lives, nor will their children, and we all have an obligation to do something about that."

To this end, Powell noted that U.S. development assistance has increased 100 percent in the four years of the Bush administration, and he suggested that the creation of the Millennium Challenge Account aid program should further contribute to hunger and poverty alleviation.

Following is a transcript of Powell's remarks:

(begin transcript)

U.S. Department Of State
Office Of The Spokesman
(Brasilia, Brazil)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 6, 2004

REMARKS TO THE PRESS

REMARKS TO THE PRESS
BY SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN L. POWELL
AND BRAZILIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CELSO AMORIM

Foreign Ministry
Brasilia, Brazil
October 5, 2004

(NOTE: Due to technical difficulties, the translations of Foreign Minister Amorim's remarks and questions from the press in Portuguese will be provided at a later time.)

FOREIGN MINISTER AMORIM: (In Portuguese.)

SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much, Mr. Minister. Thank you for making this a very interesting and informative day for me. I am very pleased to be back in Brazil, and as the minister noted, I had good meetings in Sao Paulo and here in Brasilia. And I thank President Lula especially for giving me so much time; we did have a fascinating discussion on economics, politics, regional matters, matters of hunger, matters of poverty. I'm pleased to be here to convey the best wishes of President Bush, but also through my speech at the American Chamber of Commerce this morning in Sao Paulo, to touch on a number of issues of mutual importance to our two countries, the fact that we are two great democracies in this hemisphere. We have so much in common, and our relationship has become so improved in recent years, and we want to do everything we can to make sure that we stay in this steady upward path.

As the minister noted we talked about hunger, we talked about poverty, we talked about the situation in Haiti and I expressed my thanks to the government of Brazil for the leadership roll they are playing with the U.N. in providing the military leadership for the U.N. peacekeeping force in Haiti. It's a challenging mission, and Brazil certainly stepped up to the challenge. We also talked about things having to do with the IAEA, the nuclear issue that has come up in the course of the day. And I reaffirmed to the President and to the Minister that the United States has absolutely no concerns about Brazil doing anything with its nuclear program except developing power in a most controlled, responsible manner. And of course, that is a requirement of the Brazilian constitution, and I am confident that Brazil will be able to work out any problems that might exist with the IAEA, hopefully when the IAEA team visits later in the month. We also talked about possibilities with respect to an Additional Protocol.

I guess part of my day was enlivened by being able to talk to young people: young people in Sao Paulo, young people here in Brasilia -- Youth Ambassadors -- Brazilian young people who have gone and spent time in the United States. Some of them spent time with me last year, and the other group spent time with my deputy, Mr. Armitage, this year: wonderful young people who are the future generation of Brazilian leaders. And I'm pleased that we have such an exchange program, which is further indication of the strength of the relationship that exists between the United States and Brazil.

And so, Mr. Minister, I thank you for your hospitality today, and I thank the Brazilian people for the hospitality and friendliness they have shown to me during the course of the day. Thank you.

QUESTION: Thank you. I have a question for both Secretary Powell and Minster Amorim. Mr. Amorim, could you please share with us as best you can how you plan to handle the visit of the IAEA inspectors who are due here later in the month? What will it take for you to allow them to inspect the centrifuge facility at Resende? And what is your thinking on Brazil's signing, acceding to the Additional Protocol?

Secretary Powell, some arms control experts have expressed concern that Brazil's differences with the IAEA might allow Iran and North Korea additional leverage to play with the crucial issue of inspections of enrichment facilities.

(Cross-talk.)

SECRETARY POWELL: I'd be delighted to go first. I don't have those concerns. I don't think Brazil could be talked about in the same vein or put in the same category as Iran or North Korea. North Korea threw out the IAEA inspectors and it is violating its obligations. We believe it has some nuclear weapons already and has had them in some small number for a period of time. We can't be sure, but that is our best judgment. And they are saying that they are reprocessing plutonium for the purpose of having the material to make nuclear weapons, and as we all know, they violated the agreements they had made previously under what is known as the agreed framework by moving in the direction of enriching uranium as another way to get to weapons material.

In the case of Iran, Iran has been not forthcoming with respect to what it has been doing and we have seen the IAEA prying information out of Iran, and our judgment is that Iran's program is not just for power, but is also designed to move in the direction of a nuclear weapon.

In the case of Brazil, this is simply not the case. And the issues between Brazil and the IAEA, I'll let the Minister speak to, but I think they are issues that are resolvable. They're not unlike similar problems that have arisen with other countries in the past that the IAEA has dealt with. And I do not believe that whatever arrangement that the IAEA and Brazil will come to would in any way give either North Korea or Iran any additional bargaining power with the IAEA.

FOREIGN MINISTER AMORIM: (In Portuguese.)

QUESTION: (In Portuguese.)

FOREIGN MINISTER AMORIM: (In Portuguese.)

SECRETARY POWELL: The minister has talked to these four points rather thoroughly, so I'll be very brief. One, on the first point with respect to the U.N., you accurately quoted my statement this morning, and that's our position. We all have to wait and see what the panel recommends, and then make judgments as to how to move forward on the panel recommendations. And Brazil certainly would be a solid candidate for membership, if that's what the panel so recommends. On the IAEA, I think we've answered that one rather thoroughly. And the minister noted that we did talk about Iraq, and the minister expressed an interest in Brazil participating in any dialogue that might be held, any conferences that might be held. The contribution of troops to support the U.N. or anything else is a sovereign matter for Brazil to decide, but as the Minister noted, it's unlikely they would do that. But they are doing so many other things, and I once again thank Brazil for what it's doing in Haiti.

And then with respect to hunger and poverty, we fully share, as I have said in the course of the day, President Lula's concern about these issues, and his desire to do something about them. We have had a 100 percent increase in our development assistance money in the four years of President Bush's administration, and on top of that we're putting in place the Millennium Challenge fund, with a major contributor to alleviation of hunger through our food programs around the world. And so we have commonality of interests and a commonality viewpoint with President Lula on this issue.

Where there may be a disagreement -- and there is a disagreement, frankly -- it's how one goes about putting more resources into it and funding it; some sort of global tax or the creation of a new international facility of some type. We have reservations about those ideas because we don't think they are workable. But we will continue to discuss these issues because we have the same concern. There are people on this earth who are in need of food every day, every single day. And there are people so trapped in abject poverty that they will never see success in their lives, nor will their children, and we all have an obligation to do something about that.

QUESTION: The Middle East has just been mentioned, so I'd like to ask you about Gaza and the ongoing Israeli offensive. How concerned are you that the violence will continue to escalate? And being Israel's top ally, what pressure, if any, is the United States bringing on Israel to actually end the offensive?

SECRETARY POWELL: Israel has been under assault from rockets coming out of Gaza. These are rockets that are fired by terrorists who are not committed to the Road Map; they are doing everything they can to keep the Palestinian people from achieving the state they richly deserve, and which President Bush wants to use the Road Map to acquire for them. Prime Minster Sharon has responded to these attacks in acts of self-defense. We have said to the Israelis that they have to be measured responses and they have to be proportionate, and we hope that whatever they are doing will be brought to an end quickly.

We would not like to see an expansion; we would like to see the action brought to a conclusion, we all would, because what we really want to focus on is Prime Minster Sharon's plan to disengage from Gaza and to disengage from, initially, four West Bank settlements as a way of getting the process moving forward. And we would hope that the Palestinians would direct their energies toward reform of their government and empowering a Prime Minister who can be a responsible interlocutor with the international community, especially with Israel, so we can go about the process of getting in place a political organization and a security organization prepared to take over Gaza and run Gaza upon Israeli disengagement in a way that nobody has to worry about rockets coming out of Gaza directed towards civilian population in other parts of the area, which just keeps this conflict going on and on and on.

And I hope that the Israeli operation will end soon and that we will see the end of these rockets coming out of Gaza and destroying the hopes of the Palestinian people and all of us for peace and for moving forward on the Road Map.

FOREIGN MINISTER AMORIM: (In Portuguese.)

QUESTION: (In Portuguese.)

FOREIGN MINISTER AMORIM: (In Portuguese.)

SECRETARY POWELL: Last year, there was serious disagreement in the United Nations Security Council about Iraq and what to do about the problem of Saddam Hussein and his regime. The United States, with like-minded allies, undertook military action. After the regime was removed from power, the international community came back together again in a series of resolutions over the past year, culminating in U.N. resolution 1546, which put the whole Security Council and the international community on the side of the Iraqi people. On the side of the Iraqi people, to allow them to create a government of their own, to have elections that will legitimize their government, and encouraging the international community to provide support to the multinational force and economic support to Iraq.

So Iraq has friends. The international community wants to help the Iraqi people. The international community has spoken out against the type of terrorism and violence that we see on our screens every day, committed by former members of the old regime. Committed by terrorists who do not want to see Iraq have free elections, who do not want to see the Iraqi people choose their own leaders, who want to go back to the past. We cannot allow that to happen. And so, the multinational force will continue to work with the interim Iraqi government as they build up their security forces to go after these remnants of the old regime and these terrorists. And we will do everything we can to work with the Iraqi interim government, our coalition partners, and the United Nations to get ready for elections at the end of January 2005.

Iraq is reaching out to its neighbors, so it will be having a conference at the end of November -- towards the end of November, where its neighbors will come together and share thoughts and views as to how the neighbors can help the Iraqi people through this difficult time. The G-8 will also be represented at that conference, and we're looking for others who might be included in such a conference to show support of the international community. I think there are many ways in which the international community is showing its friendship to Iraq, and we are satisfied that we are capturing that expression of friendship in a suitable way now without creating another new body.

Thank you.

(end transcript)

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