Monday, June 01, 2009

Travel: Hillary Clinton, Day one in El Salvador

Yesterday morning, Secretary Clinton, together with the full presidential delegation, arrived in San Salvador, El Salvador.

The Secretary was welcomed by two Salvadorean children in traditional dress upon her arrival at the Comalapa international airpot, some 45km south of San Salvador.

During her time, she attended the Pathways to Prosperity meeting, where she participated in a forum for cooperation and dialogue among leaders in the Western Hemisphere who are committed to democracy and open markets as the best vehicles for social justice and inclusiveness. Read her full remarks at the Pathways to Prosperity meeting here.

The Secretary also attended a Millennium Challenge Compact signing, which in part provides electricity to Salvadorans in rural areas, and to enhance their everyday lives. Read her full remarks here.

In the evening, Secretary Clinton co-hosted a roundtable of women entrepreneurs with Salvadoran Foreign Minister Marisol. She was joined by women from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.

Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Marisol listened and learned about ways Central and Latin American women are a driving force for economic development and regional progress.

The Secretary also held talks with El Salvador's President Elias Antonio Saca during a private meeting in a San Salvadorian hotel.

She also delivered remarks on Cuba at a news conference during her trip to El Salvador. She announced that Washington will begin talks with Cuba on bilateral migration issues and resume direct postal service between the two countries suggests the new administration of President Barack Obama intends to proceed cautiously toward normalizing ties with the Caribbean nation, according to veteran experts here.

"We've made more progress in four months than has been made in a number of years... We need to work together to continue that kind of progress, keeping in mind the legitimate aspirations and human rights of the people in Cuba."
The latest exchanges between Havana and Washington were initiated May 22, when the State Department delivered a diplomatic note to the Cuban Interests Section here asking to resume migration talks. Washington received a positive reply Saturday, according to a senior State Department official.

In their reply, the Cubans said they were also willing to engage in talks with Washington regarding counter-terrorism, drug trafficking, hurricane relief, and direct postal service. Clinton said Sunday she was "very pleased" with the response.

Read a portion of her remarks here or watch the new conference below:

3 comments:

Paintress Gretchen said...

Always a delight, great photos!

Sarah said...

Thank you! I am loving the bright blue pantsuit today! and the red one!

AJ Halliwell said...

I wonder if she coordinated to match with all the El Salvadorean flags.

=D I love the reception our Hill gets when she visits all these countries! I wonder if Rice, Albright, etc. got the same?

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