CHILE: U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL GIVES PRESS CONFERENCE AFTER A DAY OF PARTICIPATING IN THE ORGANISATION OF AMERICAN STATES GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Record ID:
222971
CHILE: U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL GIVES PRESS CONFERENCE AFTER A DAY OF PARTICIPATING IN THE ORGANISATION OF AMERICAN STATES GENERAL ASSEMBLY
- Title: CHILE: U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL GIVES PRESS CONFERENCE AFTER A DAY OF PARTICIPATING IN THE ORGANISATION OF AMERICAN STATES GENERAL ASSEMBLY
- Date: 9th June 2003
- Summary: (W1) SANTIAGO, CHILE (JUNE 9, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE AND GOING TO THE PODIUM 0.12 2. MCU PHOTOGRAPHER 0.16 3. MCU (Spanish) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL SAYING: "And so we are all coming together to make it clear to North Korea that we will not accept a nuclearised peninsula. This does not mean we are on our way to war. We are not. The President [George W. Bush] continues to believe that there is an opportunity for a diplomatic solution, a political solution. But it's a solution that must come in a multilateral forum. We cannot allow North Korea to dictate to us who they will speak to on this issue because too many nations are affected - they all have to be able to speak to this issue and that's why we are continuing to press for a multilateral forum." 0.55 4. SV MEDIA 0.59 5. MCU (Spanish) POWELL SAYING: "We have no plans to take preventative or pre-emptive action with respect to Cuba. But the fact of the matter is Cuba is the remaining totalitarian dictatorship in this hemisphere. And even though Cuba is - does not have membership in the OAS, that is no reason that the community of democracies of the OAS should not speak out strongly for the Cuban people. The Cuban people are not allowed to speak out for themselves. The Cuban people who desire to express a political view or to organise politically are thrown in jail - not just thrown in jail for a day or two - they are being given sentences for 15 to 20 to 25 years. How could we as a community of democracies who have see what we've been able to achieve in this hemisphere over the last 15 or 20 years - fail to speak out with respect to what Castro is doing to his people?" 1.58 6. CU/SV MEDIA (2 SHOTS) 2.04 7. MCU (Spanish) POWELL SAYING: "With respect to weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, we are quite confident in the information we have been presenting to the world in recent years. I'm very confident in the presentation that I made on the fifth of February, but it is not just what President Bush and his administration have been saying, the issue of weapons of mass destruction is a well-documented issue and to the extent that UN inspectors have verified that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, they have had use of weapons of mass destruction in the past, have no reason to believe they do not - did not have weapons of mass destruction at the time that we took the decision to undertake military operations, we are still looking for elements of their programs and weapons from their programs. The mobile biological labs that were recently discovered in our judgment, in the best judgment of our intelligence, is that it has no other purpose but to serve as a facility to develop biological weapons." 3.12 8. SV OF MEDIA 3.17 9. SV POWELL LEAVING NEW CONFERENCE 3.27 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 24th June 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SANTIAGO, CHILE
- Country: Chile
- Reuters ID: LVABD9Q48Y3DD9WYIOP78FZ6Y6QA
- Story Text: Wrapping up a day of participating in the Organisation
of American States General Assembly, U.S. Secretary of State
Colin Powell has said that the U.S. will continue to seek a
diplomatic solution with North Korea regarding its nuclear
program. He has also encouraged the OAS to speak out against
human rights violations in Cuba.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Monday
(June 9) the United States would stick to its strategy of
seeking a diplomatic solution with North Korea through
multilateral talks on its nuclear programs.
Responding to North Korea's most explicit public
acknowledgement to date that it is seeking to make nuclear
weapons, Powell said: "It will not change our strategy."
"This does not mean we are on our way to war. We are not.
The president (George W. Bush) continues to believe that there
is an opportunity for a diplomatic solution, a political
solution, but it's a solution that must come in a multilateral
forum," he told a news conference in Chile.
"We cannot allow North Korea to dictate to us who they will
speak to on this issue because too many nations are affected.
They all have to be able to speak to this issue and that's why
we are continuing to press for a multilateral forum," he said.
The North Koreans have asked for direct bilateral
negotiations with the United States but they agreed to take
part in trilateral talks in Beijing in April with both the
United States and China. No more talks have been set.
The North Korean announcement on Monday said the communist
country wanted nuclear weapons so it could cut its huge
conventional forces and divert funds into an economy foreign
analysts say is close to collapse.
Powell also spoke out on Cuba, although the OAS had left
Cuba's controversial human rights situation off of its agenda
because of objections from Caribbean and some Latin American
governments, which think Cuba should have an opportunity to
defend itself.
Powell affirmed that the U.S. does not plan to take
"preventative or pre-emptive action" against Cuba. However,
he said, "But the fact of the matter is Cuba is the remaining
totalitarian dictatorship in this hemisphere. And even though
Cuba is - does not have membership in the OAS, that is no
reason that the community of democracies of the OAS should not
speak out strongly for the Cuban people."
Cuba has not participated in OAS deliberations since the
organisation suspended its membership in 1962, a few years
after Cuban President Fidel Castro took power.
Powell also addressed the hot-button issue of the U.S.
search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
He confirmed that the search continues, but added, "with
respect to weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, we are quite
confident in the information we have been presenting to the
world in recent years."
Powell's news conference followed a packed day of meeting
with Latin American foreign ministers as well as Chile's
President Ricardo Lagos. The trip marks Powell's first visit
to Latin America since tensions arose between Chile, Mexico
and the U.S. when the two South American countries opted not
to support in the U.N. the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Powell
will leave Chile on Tuesday (June 10) for Argentina where he
will meet with new President Nestor Kirchner.
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