Today on the Trip
Tuesday, May 6, 1997
Mexico Arrival Ceremony
Bilateral Meeting with President
Zedillo
Joint Press Conference and Signing
Ceremony
Wreath Laying Ceremony
Meeting with Mexican Political
Leaders
Cultural Presentation at the
Palace of Belles Artes
State Dinner at the National
Palace
Mexico Arrival Ceremony
President Clinton was formally welcomed to Mexico by President Zedillo
and
offered brief remarks at a ceremony held at Campo Marte, a large military
parade ground in downtown Mexico City. The arrival ceremony included
symbols
of Mexican sovereignty, singing schoolchildren, an artillery salute and a
parade of Mexican cavalry and military academy cadets.
Bilateral Meeting with President Zedillo
President Clinton met with President Zedillo at Los Pinos, the Mexican
Presidential Residence, to reaffirm the United States, commitment to
deepening
cooperation between Mexico and the United States on a broad range of
bilateral
issues, including counter narcotics, immigration, border cooperation and
safety, hemispheric free trade, labor and the environment. It also
provided
President Clinton with an opportunity to salute President Zedillo's
determined
pursuit of political and economic reform and to reiterate U.S. support
for
these ongoing efforts.
Binational Commission Report, Joint Press Conference and
Signing Ceremony
Secretaries Albright and Gurria, co-chairs of the Binational Commission
(a
Mexican/American body that oversees many aspects of U.S./Mexico bilateral
cooperation), presented Presidents Clinton and Zedillo with the report of
the
Commission's 14th annual meeting. The presentation was followed by a
joint
press conference and a signing ceremony.
Wreath Laying Ceremony
President Clinton, accompanied by President Zedillo and a military honor
guard,
placed a wreath as a tribute to Mexico's fallen at the Monumento Ninos
Heroes,
the Child Heroes Monument, at the base of Chapultepec Castle. Although
officially called the Altar to the Nation, the site is popularly known as
the
Child Heroes Monument after a group of six young cadets who supposedly
chose
to die defending the castle rather than surrender it to Americans during
the
Battle of Chapultepec (September 13, 1847). The only other U.S President
to
lay a wreath at this monument was President Truman, during his visit in
1947,
on the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Chapultepec.
Meeting with Mexican Political Leaders
Meeting with Mexican Political Leaders
President Clinton met with a variety of Mexican political leaders
representing
both the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and opposition
parties. The meeting provided President Clinton with an opportunity to
stress
the United States' support for the historic processes of political reform
in
Mexico, and provided the Mexican political leaders with an opportunity to
share
their views on U.S.-Mexico relations.
Cultural Presentation at the Palace of Belles Artes
President Clinton attended a cultural presentation at the Main Theater of
the
Palace of Belles Artes. The presentation featured Mexican and American
20th
century classical music, and included performances by Mexican and
American
musicians.
State Dinner at the National Palace
President Clinton attended a 600-person State dinner at the National
Palace.
Guests included members of President Clinton's official delegation,
prominent
members of all three branches of Mexico,s government, heads of state
corporations, governors of Mexican states, presidents of political
parties, and
leaders from the business, labor and academic communities. Before
dinner,
President Clinton received a brief tour of the famous Diego Rivera mural
on the
second floor of the main courtyard. The 1200 square foot mural is titled
"Epic of the Mexican People in Their Struggle for Freedom and Independence."
President Clinton's Trip to Mexico, Costa Rica, and
Barbados
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