Excerpt from Joint Press Conference, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Jorge Castañeda, January 30, 2001

Excerpt from Joint Press Conference, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Jorge Castañeda, January 30, 2001

Q Jacobo Goldstein, CNN, Radio Noticias. Secretary Powell, Plan Colombia has become a very divisive point in Latin America. Many Latin American countries feel that the U.S. is pushing more for a military solution than a negotiated solution. I know Mexico is playing a major role by keeping contact with rebel groups in Colombia. I wonder if both of you have discussed this point. I'd like to hear your opinion -- yours personally -- on Plan Colombia, and Secretary Castaneda's also.

SECRETARY POWELL: The Bush administration supports Plan Colombia as an effort to do something about the narcotrafficking problem in Colombia and in the region at large. We are also mindful of the fact that we don't want to pursue Plan Colombia in a way which spreads the problem out into other countries. And the secretary and I spoke about this and emphasized the need for a regional approach.

With respect to the insurgency aspect of your question, at the end of the day that will only be solved by a political solution, by negotiations. And so we encourage President Pastrana to keep working to see if we can find -- he can find a political solution. And the United States will lend its good offices, and we have talked about how we can assist President Pastrana in this quest.

I don't think there is a military solution to the insurgency problem. But the people of Colombia are suffering. They are in danger of seeing their democracy destroyed, frankly, by the combination of narcotrafficking and insurgency. So we're going to help with the narcotrafficking with Plan Colombia. And hopefully, the president with the help of friends in the United States, in Mexico and elsewhere can come up with a political solution and work this political solution out with the FARC and the ELN in a manner that brings peace to Colombia.

SEC. CASTANEDA: Yes. As Secretary Powell said, we did discuss this issue in some depth and detail. President Fox, as you know, is a strong supporter of President Pastrana's peace efforts, is a strong supporter of those efforts tending to seek a political solution in

Colombia. We have tried to obtain as much information as possible and to be as useful as possible in Colombia in helping President Pastrana move forward on the negotiations with the two groups -- more specifically with the FARC, where there is less movement than with the ELN.

And we agreed to continue exchanging information, points of view, opinions on this matter, and to work very closely together on discussing the situation in Colombia and finding ways to support President Pastrana because, as Secretary Powell said, the main thing is the support for Columbia's democratic institutions. And that is what has to be protected and nurtured and supported at all costs. And we very much intend to do that.

As of February 12, 2001, this document was also available online at http://www.state.gov/secretary/index.cfm?docid=59