Press conference in Bogotá, Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, April 11, 2005

Press conference in Bogotá, Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, April 11, 2005

GENERAL RICHARD B. MYERS

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Press Conference

Bogotá, Columbia

April 11, 2005

GEN. RICHARD B. MYERS: First of all thank you very much for both awards. Clearly I’m humbled by this, and I think what it reflects is nothing I have done. Clearly, it reflects the relationship between the United States and Colombia; the importance we attach to this relationship and how important it is to Colombia, how important it is to the United States, how important it is to the region. Obviously José María Córdova was very important to Colombia; led your independence and fought for it. I would say that we are in a non-returning point, probably as important as is back then, when you fought for independence. The importance is, of course, the fight that we wage against extremisms, against terrorism, against common narco-terrorism.

The stakes are really high. I think the future of our countries, Colombia, United States, countries in this region; rest on our ability to handle terrorism and extremism. This is not a new problem in Colombia, it’s a problem that is much closer at home that in the United States now that is has been in the past, primarily due to the events of September 11.

But the one thing that is clear through all of this, and I think that is emblematic of the two awards, the counter-drug brigade award as well, is that the only way we are going to succeed is not Colombia by itself, not the United States by itself, not any of our friends and partners by ourselves, but all in cooperation: the international community bringing in all of our resources to bear on this problem; clearly just not military, but all of our resources. Obviously you have our pledge for that. We will continue to try to be very good partners in this fight against extremism and terrorism, so our families and our children, and our grandchildren can grow up the way we would hope they can grow up, and that is, in a stable world where economic prosperity can be the point of the realm.

With that, I’m happy to take a few questions:

QUESTION ASSOCAITED PRESS: Good morning, General.

GEN. RICHARD B. MYERS: Good morning.

QUESTION ASSOCAITED PRESS: I won’t stand so I won’t block my colleagues up there. Congratulations on your awards.

GEN. RICHARD B. MYERS: Thank you. It’s humbling, to say the least.

QUESTION ASSOCAITED PRESS: General, it is a pretty big deal here when the arrests were announced late last month of five U.S. army personnel who allegedly smuggled cocaine from the military base on a U.S. military plane to the United States, from Colombia to the United States, and it is a big deal here because the U.S. military has been assisting Colombia in doing the opposite: in crushing drug trafficking. But there has been very little disclose about this particular case.

I would like to know… these soldiers… what unit were they from, are they accused of having shipped this one shipment of cocaine -I think it was some 10 or 13 odd kilos- or had it been an operating ring, had they shipped cocaine to the United States previously? We are looking for a little bit more detail in what is a very big case here, Sir.

GEN. RICHARD B. MYERS: Right. Clearly it is a big case and it’s a very serious matter. The one thing we can say is that the U.S. and Colombian governments are working this matter together. As you know, the investigation is ongoing, so there are some things that we can’t say from the podium. But we can assure everybody is that as the investigation concludes and judgments are made, then that will be transferred to everybody. Everybody will know who was involved, the details of that involvement and, of course if there is any punishment warranted, then that will be detailed as well.

It is complicated; it is a complex case and we wouldn’t want to say anything here that would jeopardize our ability to fully investigate that case.

QUESTION MARCO CORTEZ, RCN TV: Good Morning. My question is with respect to Venezuela, General. What is the position of the U.S. Government, and also that of the Military Forces regarding the arms race that Venezuela is carrying out, and the statements made repeatedly by Hugo Chavez on a possible U.S. invasion of Venezuela? They are preparing over 2 million reserves. So, then, what is your position?

GEN. RICHARD B. MYERS: Thank you for the question. First of all, there is a lot about that question that I am not… outside of my field to answer… but I would give it a try. The one thing we know, and kind of goes back to my opening remarks… the one thing we know for sure is that, what we need in this region, and for that matter, in the world that we live in today, is cooperation against certain trends. Trends of narco-terrorism, of the drug business in general. In using terrorism or extremism; for people to get their way is not a good thing. So we all need to be partners to this fight, if you will. And that means in this region, that all countries need to be fighting the same threat. You can’t have various countries disturbing the situation in ways that are not helpful to fighting this threat. So that would be where the U.S. would come down. I can’t speak for U.S. policy. That would be for the President to… or Secretary Rice. She will visit here in a couple of weeks. But if you’re going to have stability, it is like Iraq, you can’t have neighbors in Iraq, in the case Syria and Iran, that are not helping with that stability. That would be a problem.

On the other hand, I can’t say on the statements of these comments that you mentioned, and I have seen them in the press as well, that rumors that the United States is going to attack or invade Venezuela, that is…. nothing can be… I mean, that’s just…. somebody is making that story up. There is absolutely no truth of anything like that.

QUESTION JIM GARAMONE, ARMED FORCES INFORAMTION SERVICE: Yes sir. The Colombian military has made great progress over the last few years in training, tactics and respect for human rights. But Plan Colombia is ending and, I’m just wondering, giving the competing U.S. demands around the world, if the United States will keep up the same level of funding and support to Colombia?

GEN. RICHARD B. MYERS: That is a very good question. I think the President answered it when he met with President Uribe in Cartagena, where he said that the United States would continue to provide support to the Colombian government. But we all benefit from this, as well. We have strategic interest in this region. We want a stable and democratic Colombia and we want a stable and democratic region. That’s good for all of us. It takes us back to what we want for our families. I will tell you, having been here now three times, in the five years that I’ve been either the Vice-Chairman or the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it’s been fascinating to watch how the Colombian Military has matured and improved its ability to take on the fight that they take on today.

From my first visit in 2001, they was never doubt about the courage, or the enthusiasm, or the loyalty of the Colombian Military. There were terrific, and the help that we have been able to provide in terms of training and equipment, just enables them to be even better. I think we have to remember right now that there are, many miles from Bogotá, in some pretty challenging environments, there are Colombian Armed Forces out there, trying to provide a secure country for the citizens of Colombia. We should never forget that. We are proud of the relationship and, from everything that I’ve heard, the intention of the Colombian Government, the intention of the U.S. Government is to continue this fight. They’re wining! We’re winning this fight here in Colombia. We’ve got to keep the pressure on until the fight is finally won.

As of April 13, 2005, this document was also available online at http://www.dtic.mil/jcs/chairman/050411PressConferenceBogataColombia.html