Bush and Saca meet in Washington

The president of El Salvador, Tony Saca, met with George Bush at the White House today. Here are there statements following their meeting:

PRESIDENT BUSH: Bienvenidos a mi amigo, Presidente de nuestro amigo de El Salvador. Gracias. Thanks for coming. We spent a lot of time talking together, because I value the advice of the President. We talked about a lot of subjects.

We talked about the fact that the first year of the trade agreement between the United States and El Salvador is coming up. And the President told me that a lot of people are benefitting -- a lot of people in his country are benefitting from the opportunities presented by trade. And I told him that people in our country benefit from the relationship. Under his leadership, the economy of El Salvador is strong. And I congratulate you for your leadership.

We talked about interesting opportunities available. And one, of course, is biofuels. We both recognize that the development of biofuels is in our national interests. And I thank you for your vision.

We talked about the Millennium Challenge Account that the President has ably led, and it's going to enable people in the northern part of his country to realize the benefits of free trade and commercialism.

I expressed my concerns and our condolences about the three gentlemen who were recently assassinated, which led us into a broad discussion about security and my desire to help the President deal with security issues.

And, finally, the President reminded me that TPS expires next September. Every time he comes to the Oval Office he's expressed his deep concern and strong support for his citizens that may be here in our country. And I assured him that I was open-minded to his request, but more importantly, I'm working hard to get a comprehensive bill, immigration bill, passed out of the United States Congress.

And so, once again we had a substantial and meaningful conversation. And that's what you expect when you have two friends. Gracias, señor.

PRESIDENT SACA: (As translated.) Thank you very much, Mr. President.

We have talked extensively with the President on various issues. And I spoke to President Bush about how meaningful his trip to Latin America is going to be, because this is going to give a signal that the United States is interested in Latin America.

We talked about free trade. On March 1st, the CAFTA agreement that is with El Salvador with the United States of America is going to be one year old. And during this year we have increased by 20 percent all our exports. And our economy has doubled in size. So there's no doubt that free trade has allowed this to become true.

We have also talked about the Millennium Account and the project to develop the northern part of El Salvador is going to be a complete success, and very soon we're going to have the first disbursements made. And we wanted that to be -- the project of the development of the northern part of our country to become a success story for the Millennium Account.

We also talked about the TPS with President Bush today. And the President always have a very positive answer for El Salvador. But more importantly, today is the comprehensive immigration reform -- And we will have to wait and see what happens between the executive and Congress of the United States. We have more than 2 million Salvadorans living here in the United States. The majority are legal citizens. Many are already North Americans. And the President has always been very sensitive to this issue of the Salvadorans here, for which I feel very grateful.

We talked about regional security and its importance, and also the combat to drug dealing and the combat to the gangs. And we have found many points of coincidence with the President. And we also talked with the President about biofuels, and how necessary it is to develop biofuel in the region, so that we need less gas and less oil to have our cars run. And in El Salvador we are about to pass a new law on biofuels, and it's almost ready, and we want to work hand-in-hand with President Bush for the development of these biofuels in the region.

And anyway, I always feel so comfortable when I'm sitting down and talking with my good friend every time that I come here. Thank you.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Gracias, señor.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I wonder what biofuel law they are talking about. I think that would be a good idea if by biofuel they meant ethanol since ES grows a lot of corn already.
Anonymous said…
First time I heard of biofuel law too.must be new terminology.duh.
anyways I googled it:
Wikipedia: Description of Biofuel
'Biofuel' is any fuel that derives from biomass - recently living organisms or their metabolic byproducts, such as manure from cows. It is a renewable energy, unlike natural .....

sounds like a lot of crap to me.:-)
P.S. I always thought ethanol is from sugar.whatever.
Anonymous said…
Yes, Salvadorans grow corn. But they also eat a lot of it in papusas, tortillas, tamales, etc.

How would increased use of corn as a cash crop for ethanol affect food prices and the canasta basica?
Carlos X. said…
GapGirl -- Ethanol can be derived from corn or sugarcane -- corn is the leading source of ethanol in the U.S.; sugarcane is the leading source in tropical regions.
Anonymous said…
HOW EMBARRASED I FEEL FOR BEING FROM EL SALVADOR!

PEOPLE LIKE TOÑO SACA MAKE ME FEEL EMBARRASED TO BE CALLED SALVADOREAN.

THIS DAY I'M OFFICIALLY DECLARING THAT I REGREAT BEING FROM EL SALVADOR... AND THE REASON IS: THE PRESIDENT THAT WE HAVE...

THE WHOLE WORLD MUST BELIEVE THAT WE ARE A COUNTRY FULL OF IDIOTS FOR ELECTING AN IDIOT LIKE TOÑO SACA AS PRESIDENT.
Anonymous said…
Hello Tim:

Do you think people from El Salvador, who are oposed to the war in Irak, are anti – Americans? After all, I thought many people from the USA, are oposed to republican's policies in Irak. Are they also anti-americans?

To the anonimous who feel embarrased to be Salvadorean:

Don't be, I think Bush is more stupid, the lowest IQ in the history of all president in the USA, lower than a cow.

However, there are many servants such as Tony Saca that considere him a good, ignorance is the strong mater of idioticy who follows idioticy to the end of the end. That is why so many people had gone to live to Canada. Isn't it Tim?
El-Visitador said…
"How would increased use of corn as a cash crop for ethanol affect food prices and the canasta basica?"

Oh dear.

Larry, corn prices in El Salvador already went up 60% because the U.S. is uselessly burning its corn crop as a rather inefficient fuel, as a result of Bush's 2006 Energy Bill.

Pork products are up 20% for the Salvadorean poor because U.S. corn is a major input in Salvadorean hog farms.

Quite of course, the U.S. is free to do with its corn as it wishes. You grow it, you get to do with it however you darn please.

But actions do have consequences, and the greenie wetdream of burning food as fuel is already causing hunger in poor countries such as El Salvador.
Anonymous said…
Pol:Thanks for the info man.I think you are a genius :-)
Anon: It is not that bad you know.I always think of ES like it is a beautiful land and the people are beautiful too.Like you gotta be proud.Like I hope you are just joking.
Tim: Thanks for the space. As always , your blog is Educated, Enlightening, Exciting and well, Entertaining.
Hodad said…
the facts for bio-fuel from Hemp can be found at votehemp.org and the BACH web site, or go to my site www.fairtradefish.org for clickable links

my friend in fish biz in Chile,Erich is also working on other seeds for bio-fuel, castor and others,
but hemp makes THE MOST SENSE, that is why it is not legal,
oil companies, chemical companies, the established medical community/large pharmaceutical companies and others do not want it legal,for obvious profit reasons,
as in Genesis, "God gave forth every herb bearing seed, to you it shall be for fruit"
most all plastics, of course paper can be made from hemp, w.o dangerous pesticides and herbicides
corn no way, it would drive up the price of pupusas ansd tortills, then you will really have a riot
corn is touted as the major agro bix companies are already involved, and as in here the Carolinas, the farmers make no money per acre, except w/o subsidies, whoich is a no common sense reality
HEMP for the future of american farmers, and to solve most of our energy, vehicle,paper,plastic, and yes even food solutions, the Chinese use hemp tofu like cakes in very rural areas for school children's lunch, it has one less essential amino acid then soy, soy 8, hemp 7 the body needs 9 to manufacture the other 22 or so
gapgirl, yes, ethanol is sugar, from cellular sources but a different type of fuel than an oil based fuel, like seeds with oil
a totally different distillation process, [this from a beer maker of 25 years, lol]

yes saca and bush, 2 ignorant, manipulated peas in a pod,spinning and propogandanizing for the benefit ONLY of their big biz friends
IMPEACH THEM BOTH for the future of any children any of you may have or wish to have, for me at 53, never too late, however i would feel better if i knew there was a better future for them, and we have serious problems, let the arabs keep their oil, and as Bucky Fuller said" what will we do for grease , when the oil runs out?" there is NO substitute for the properties of petroleum based lubricants, NONE
sugarcane and corn based ethanol are very poor substitutes for the solution, they also need large amounts of agro chemicals to grow,be kept disease and predator free, hemp needs none 75% of weight of plant at maturity, is SEED

AND AGAIN TO ANONYMOUS, i have been around the world, Sir/Madam
i do not think Guanacos are idiots for having saca, as same for usa folks for having bush
corruption is abundant everywhere, for me Salvadorans are the best people in the world, as i have said b 4, "the smallest country, with the biggest heart"
and as an engineer, there ARE solutions to problems, common sense, is well, not common, engineers should run the planet, NOT politicians and lawyers.
but....engineers do not want to run the world, just solve the problems, no matter the importance
Peace
Anonymous said…
HODAD26:

It is true there is no substitutes for oil, nevertheless, for many centuries we humans race survived without it.

Lets think in a diferent way, lets start thinking about the legacy we are living for the future, our mentality just recycle the same mistakes were living.

While in the USA, the colective transport system is almost nul ( in proportion to its population ) in other countries in Europe, Colective transport is a great solution to stop using oil.

People in the states, act sometimes less responsible to the enviroment, the mentality to keep consumption and recycle still in all the minds of everybody like it is a necesity.

You can propose so many solutions to the problem, but the power to implement them lay on the top, those people marriage to oil companies, those lobbies are strong.

Look at us, we sometimes do not use those products, sometimes the solutions lay in nature itself.

There are recycles methods to use what we already have, still voracity and selfishness mentality are a real obstacle to the introduction of these sort of solutions.

By the way, if you can pass the formula to produce beer I would be very gratefull, I'dlike to open my clandestine pub somewhere around here to keep my clients happy with your formula, with your help and my distintive caracter as a beer bartender we can help to make this world much better.

Love and peace my inner brothers.
Anonymous said…
I simply cannot believe that idiot of saca said the salvadoran economy doubled in size during one year of cafta. i hope it is I who misunderstood the statement, because if not, than that right there shows what saca is about. the fmln simpathizers are right after all, it is all a hard constructed facade by saca's team to put some make up on el salvador for the "world" to see, when it's decomposing from the inside out. what a moron!
Hodad said…
Photons,
I love it!
i even brought to ES in 1994 when i moved there to Playa San Diego 2 cases of 'pot beer',
so, when i get there we will make some,it is easy, used to cost me about 10 cents a bottle in 85, now maybe 25 cts, but we may be targeted by death squads from La Constancia!!!lol
i have even wired and set up a micro brewery here in Wilmington, NC before i moved to ES, frontstreetbrewery.com

yes, you are correct, everyone here is in a car, one rider,[and now with gd cell phones]
especially here in Carolinas,the society and structure is such that the schools, shopping areas, etc. are only accesible by cars
not much mass transit here, it is a shame,

i raced bicycles and did triathlons for 15 years, so i am all for bicycling, here they run you over,
but some towns such as Madison, WS are all about supporting human and mass transport

people here will not do w/o their cars, that is why they so support these crazy wars against a culture ,Islamic that is/was way advanced for it's time, ie: 15th Century Eurasia math, etc.
so, an alternative fuel system has to be developed, but NOT Hydrogen
too dangerous,
especially with storage

so, the infrastructure is in place fo a liquid alternative
ok, so out the exhaust from using seed oils is H2O vapor and CO2 , NOT SO2 nor NO2, which contribute to global warming

screw the lobbyists, they should be in jail now,
and a push in on here to limit their actions
i truly believe soon there will be here a stronger movement and hopefully with success to impeach Bush,
impeachbush.org and commondreams.org are two great informative sites on public opinion
then that fool saca will go easy for you guys
as it seems 80% of ES want him out
and visitadorhow about you, , you are kinda there,almost but not all 'greenies' are for burning corn/food

but with high obesity,here/USA and now in ES [i was amazed at the obese mall going folks now in San Sal after not being there for a couple of years this past summer, whoa fat folks abounding,]
high fructose corn syrup is in most foods, makes it taste good, but horrible for the body
the large food corporations like Con Agra[they of tainted Peanut Butter fame] make quite good bux from corn for the high fructuose syrup, read the food labels, folks, if you care
about how you feel, sugar kills,
Hodad said…
and one more thing, i do not care for CAFTA,
however I will be importing Carolina pork to ES, 10% duty now, will go to 0%,
why, because i can sell top quality pork for 70% of what poor quality is sold now in mercado central
and with the blessing and support of my Carolina Congressmen/women
true, most is subsidized,but Guanacos love their pork and if i can get it less, and maybe evn stop some of the worm infested pork that is sold now, look at many women with their pouches at their bellies, in Latim Americait is mainly worms mostly from pork
got 6000 lbs bacon here at our storage now,
i will bring a bit of it down, and sell it for $3.00 lb, equal in Super Selectos is $4.79 lb
if I am wrong, please advise
and shame on me, I will also bring in white shrimp, at 2-3 bux less than local, hey world economy
was 10% duty, now 0%
$13-15 lb for 21-25 in Dispensa!!!!
ayayayayayaya
I will have whites, head off tail on , home delivered for $9-11 lb,. with some free Texas Pete
Guanacos love shrimp
got plenty of it here,in carolina in storage
see ya soon
Anonymous said…
TPS flexibility for saca if he keeps the battallon cuscatlan over in Iraq. A Simple arm twister.

Income from the U.S. keep the Salvadoran economy afloat. (TPS)

El Sal is just another Guam, P.R.
Exploited even more.
Anonymous said…
This is so perplexing.How can any country achieve real (not perceived) economic growth, much more double it, if crime is at its most alarming rate? Any violence or rumors of violence will surely scare the investors away.
I dont understand how economics work in a place like ES but surely an area the size of ES and which is prone to natural disasters would surely have limited natural resources that could lead to some socio-economic deterioration, add to that the critical security problem.
Isnt there already a steady decline in the agricultural activites?Is the dollarisation effective in bringing about higher levels of business and investments in areas that are promising? How does the tariff system supposed to improve the over-all business climate and open more opportunities for economic growth aside from well, the obvious reduction of tariffs.
As for biofuels, sounds new but after reading all the inputs, I think better to give it a chance. Who knows.
Hodad: Engineers make the best CEOs. Like they Can run a country too :-)
Anonymous said…
I think that these opinions about the drunk Bush and the stupid servant of Kaka (read Saca), are real. I remember that a lot of people said before, that all north americans are guilty about all is happend in the world. I know north american people that are excellents persons and I don´t know why, if a lot of american people are smarts, why they have an drunk assasin like president. Because of this stupid guy, US is the target of Muslim people, Socialist People, and a lot of people from all world. Because of his policies about care his enterprises, He doesn´t care about people. I hope and pray that Democrats win and change the stupid selfish policies of Bush and the other assasin of Cheney.
God saves US.
Declaration : In El Salvador, we don´t like Bush and Saca.
Hodad said…
gapgirl,
yes unfortunately agriculture is on the wane in ES
one the wages, two as with most the work force is less motivated mainly due to remittances from USA
however, being a farmer is still a noble profession, but then in ES also, the wealthy have the land and reform is not all it was supposed to be in ES
too much mono cultivation, ruines the land, cotton, sugar,corn, crops very dependent of agro chemicals
shame groups such as CESTA< SALVANATURA, only manily talk, and not much dirty of the hands
but that is how it is in ES lots of talk, too many suits...........
talk is cheap

wheras there is still potential in ES for crop diversification
ie., one for me is medicinal plants from other countries, small scale and with AT and Sustainable agricultural techniques
time will tell

for
another anonymous'lol, you guys being unidentified have NO CREDIBILITY, anyway

people in USA now are arrogant,greedy,ignorant,obese, and xenophobic, that is MY 5's
why?
well too much TV, video games, american idol crap
where are values?
when i was a kid we were always outside, not anymore

life is too cushy in USA people see too many people geting RICH by not much work
teachers, farmers, nurses, police officers and even sanitation workers are the most important, I SAY, however the glorification of lawyers[FISH BAIT], DRUG DEALING DOCTORS ie: slaves to the Pharmacy companies,
stock brokers, movie stars etc, are who the idols are now
sad but true

however, we USA did put a man on the moon, ES did not
w/o gringos, things woould not happen, just how it is pal
as i have ALWAYS SAID
latinos are great workers, WITH CLOSE SUPERVISION
just a fact

we help folks all over the world. true we have problems, but i will also be quick to defend USA, at least the educated liberal folk
but as far as bush drunk being voted in, well the election was stolen in Florida as you know by bush drunk's brother with help of CIA assh.....s and his sorry ass parents, barabara and sr,
drug dealing hypocrites whose buddies are the military industrail complex, these are the companies that need to be shut down, from Halliburton, to all arms makers and those that profit from war and misery

legalize drugs, is a first step, certianly decriminalize
people will always do drugs, one way or another, it is a condition of the human being as long as we have been around
ask the guys going to Iraq, about Khat, every male in Saudi,Iran, Iraq chew khat,drink tintos, smoke hash, and carry a weapon
makes em crazy
in Indo and Taiwan, they all chew bettlenut, in Africa they did stuff i never heard of
best is homemade beer, right photons!
Anonymous said…
Hello HODAD26:

suddenly, I am thirsty.

Do not, I repeat do not worry about the competition, our product will be the best in El Salvador, where sometimes beer is like watter, the fat bottle "regia" has a bad tasty. Ok, maybe "suprema" might be our first obstacle, with its 4% volume, still it's water. Did you know that "la constancia" used to put row red meat in the beer silos to speed the process?

I friend of mine even got a finger keep in a bottle of pilsner. Since then I being carefull, I don't enjoy someone finger in my bottle!

we'll make it ( I mean you ) stronger, with a gross flavor from the ancient taste of land! we'll name it: "la clandestina"

It's true in El Salvador everybody run you over if they see the byke, maybe, just maybe, they read the trafic manual wrong and missundertood don't miss the road with don't miss the byke.

To be honest, salvadoreans (in the country) don't know how to drive, if they were to make a exam in other countries I'm sure they wouldn't had passed.

To have a license in El Salvador it's just a matter of buying it, even thought you don't even know how to start the cars engines.

That's why Tony Saca got a personal driver.

Taking about obese people in our country, look the way we cook, too much salt, to much "manteca", too much "lombrices" too. people would look healthier but many people suffer anemia and heart problem, hipertension etc, etc, etc. And many so many eat once upon a time ( sometimes "salteatido" picoteando por alli).

How come you'll sell pork without duty, from a country that is sometimes are subsidiesed by large governmet, and our farmers, don't even got support from nobody, make the pigies eat even shit to keep the little farms open?

uhm...

can we sent the piggies from El Salvador with 0% duty to make it fare?

After all Salvadorean piggies are sort of funny and very clever, they even try to get a job as actors in USA but failed, just because they're not so clean and sometimes they are a bit dark.

I'll demand hollywood for racist!

In the past many beaches in ES had plenty of sea anymals around the mangles, today they'v gone.

Our rivers got certains famous names such as "acelguate" where there isn't organic life but organic decompose matter mixed with unknown pestices and other chemicals.

If you can find life there then We can say there is life on mars.

send my regards to mister bush, the master evil doer, black vader is a good guy compare to him, empeached bush right now the planet need it urgently!!

Everybody in planet earth, and other living things around the universe ( if there is life in Acelguate river ) should have the right to vote to elect the president of USA, to stop the nonsense to rules and mess with all.

I still believe we have comun dreams.

;-)

Love and peace my inner brothers/sisters.
Anonymous said…
hahaha.oh my gaaawd.