PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRESIDENT OF CHILE

PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRESIDENT OF CHILE

Speaking to correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon, Chilean President Ricardo Lagos Escobar said that security, the most important concern after the events of 11 September, must be viewed in a broader context.

Security, he said, meant not only safety but also better living conditions, combating hunger and poverty and the need to establish rules on financial flows.  It also meant updating the institutions created over 50 years ago, which now faced new challenges.  That would involve two things -- specific measures to combat terrorism and even more specific measures relating to the broader question of financing for development. 

President Lagos said that in examining future challenges, the United Nations had to focus on substantive issues about which the countries of the world were concerned.  They included how to ensure the participation of all, particularly in political and cultural institutions.  Another issue was ensuring that international organizations functioned in a way that enabled them to implement agreed proposals.

In response to questions, he said that international insecurity would require not only new security measures, such as those instituted at airports, but also measures by the international financial institutions to restore confidence in world markets.

Concerning his meeting with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, he said that they discussed bilateral issues, including areas of mutual technical cooperation.  On the issue of terrorism, they both agreed on the need to specify the purposes and objectives of the current military campaign.  President Lagos also pointed out that Chile had ratified all 12 conventions related to terrorism. 

On whether he felt the current military campaign would intensify the crisis, he replied that following the attacks, there had been a need for an "appropriate, intelligent and just" response.  The United States was exercising its right to self-defence and he would await the results of the bombing.

He expressed optimism with regard to concluding a fair trade agreement with the United States, saying that given the advances made at the technical level, it might be feasible during the next round of technical negotiations in early December, to be close to a final agreement.  If that was the case, it would also be possible to reach agreement at the political level. 

On the establishment of a Palestinian State, he said that Chile had always maintained the right of Palestine to exist as a sovereign and independent State as well as the right of Israel to have secure borders as a basis for negotiations.

He said that there would be a meeting later in the day among the Latin American leaders, which would be a follow-up to their meeting in August, at which various issues of mutual concern would be discussed.

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