without the deal, there would have been no contract and a montreal company would be manufacturing fewer bicycles. can you imagine what the international market is for bicycle sharing? now, there is a canadian company that two legs up. james: i've been told it is time to wrap up and we have no time because ions from the harmed too much of the session time but thank you very much to of you forrr and all listening. it was a pleasure. [applause]

>> good afternoon. thank you, minister carr. thank you, james. for that fantastic and insightful conversation. i think it could have gone on for much longer than it actually did, but thank you very much. we shift ourda, days to the southern neighbor and our partner in north america along with canada, mexico. had to the real privilege of introducing our next speaker of the afternoon. the secretary of foreign affairs , secretary bard. the important relationship of the relations, the mexicans andoach to foreign trading

mexico's relationship with some of the other partners in the hemisphere. there is so much writing on many of these issues today. a stronger and more tightly integrated u.s.-mexico relationship has the potential to underwrite prosperity across the hemisphere and through the certainties provided to the business community, north america can continue to be the engine of growth for economies all over the world. strong usmcawith a -- north america can be the most competitive region in the world. this is a historic moment for mexico and the mandate for social progress and inclusive growth that president lopez over

was elected to fulfill. secretary ebrard we are happy to have you today. timew you travel all the because you are always in the air. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the secretary of foreign affairs in mexico, his excellency marcelo ebrard. [applause] sec. ebrard: thank you for the opportunity to share with you certain ideas about mexico and the future of our country and the relationship with the united states, canada and the countries of the hemisphere. for the first time in modern

times, mexico is being governed by the left through an electoral process. think that our program increased taxes or make an atmosphere of hostility about businesses, or private sector, even the north american vision about the future. suspected several those were the main picture of the new government, but that is not the case. main goals of the government in mexico?

just one is about corruption. -- the first one is about corruption. corruption is the main goal for .ur government a leftist idea. let me explain why it is important in mexico, because in mexico, corruption is intimately linked to the privileged system. by system is the same privilege. we have free elections several 2012, other000, years. partiesdifferent governing the country, but we have the same privileged system. is really interesting,

because we expected in mexico that women have free elections and change between parties, the corruption would be reduced in the first years. that didn't happen. so corruption is about privilege, inequality. reason that explains why in mexico we don't have the rule of law that we want, it is a first step in order to foster the economy, accelerate the innovation of the country, and make a more competitive country. corruption is the first goal for this government for those reasons. in mexico, it is not just gaol.er

oal. it is the most important one. this goal explains why the people choose lopez obrador. is aboutd goal poverty. let me say it in other words. it is about dissatisfaction about poverty and the idea that it is going to take maybe 50 or generations, in order to have the opportunity to be in the middle class. poverty,n people in and if you maintain the same trends in the country, they are going to spend more than 20

years in order to have the opportunity to be a part of the middle class of the country. this is the other main goal of our country. it is about reducing poverty as fast as we can. to open new hope for people. new ways to be in the middle class of mexico. mexico, we have the poorest and we have 62 indigenous communities. larger ones. since several years ago for opportunity. their health system is the worst in the country. the education system is not the most important

-- they thought they could for a new situation in the next 30 or 40 years. nothing happens about that. that used to be the argument when mexico signed the nafta agreement in the 1990's. tonever happens, so we need open another process in mexico in order to give them an opportunity. health system, educational system, access to internet, and a lot of initiatives we are already taking. the third goal is about helping foster economic growth. we need to add value to our economy. we need to solve old problems.

also.d to use new tools, increase in order to our capacity to add value to our economy. is that possible? sure. but we need to do more than just wait. the old debate. weis more about, what if have a common vision about the future, invest more money design a future for our country with a common vision about innovation through technology, energy. we have an idea that mexico can than it has in the past 20 years. the fourth goal is about safety.

going to have safety in our country if we don't have solved the previous three issues. corruption, access to changes in our society, and faster economic growth. we have started to have a new design about safety in the country, to organize a national guard with human rights to read moreoach -- reorganize the institutions in mexico to have a general attorney with independence from the government from the executive branch. we expect we can do that and we should do that, and to show it

is more effective than the old system. the fourthose are ones, and those are -- those four mean changes to the conditions in our country, which has prevailed in mexico for the past four decade. wait a long time to have an opportunity to change this vision that prevailed in mexico for almost 40 years. that is the meaning of the leftist change in government in mexico. someone says those are populist ideas. whatever that means. populism is an explanation when you don't understand what is going on. government is the those who jiggles right now --

four goals right now. optimism the future of the region. we have one of the most competitive regions of the world. we are going to have several fields for competitive participation in other countries and regions. energy is one, but there are several. we have an optimistic point of view about the future. we want to participate and to join the north american point of view, and i know that can be very difficult at times. you cannot design something like that just with an election. we need to rethink the next 30 to 40 years. that is why we are here, and we are working with canada, with the u.s., and our partners in the pacific alliance.

in all the hemisphere to work together. it makes sense. we have several opportunities like never before. view and our points of an overview about them. thank you again for your attention. [applause] >> thank you, mr. secretary. i'm going to start by asking you a question and maybe we will open it up to the audience. you mentioned the pacific alliance, and i thought it might be interesting to hear your view on the importance of the pacific alliance going forward for mexico. we are going to city, meeting with the with my partners the foreign

ministers and the economy ministers in order to accelerate the works around the pacific alliance. .t is very important for mexico it is a top priority right now. an atmosphere which is also very productive. it is one of the tables you want to be in order to work with others in the pacific alliance. susan: you have been incredibly articulate along with your president on development in the south of mexico and the importance of investment and development in the northern triangle as a way to stem this awful immigration challenge, and so maybe you could expand on that a little bit. i personally believe we should open our borders, but -- thinking on we are

the region, mexico is growing in .erms of population slowly 1.2, 1.1 maybe next year. honduras is one of the poorest countries in latin america. should pay more attention to the development of those countries and include them as far as we can in our design for the south of the country. why the south of the country is so important for the new government is because you have there theres -- poorest part of the country. as i mentioned, the largest part of our indigenous communities. we are going to have several

investments there. there are several programs there which have already started by mr. president, and we are trying withare those investments the triangle. we asked the united nations for plan andn to prepare a they are going to present the plan this month. plan andto follow the foster the economy. susan: thank you very much. are there any questions from the audience? if not, i will continue to ask questions. >> identify yourself. mr. ebrard, i want to ask you about mexico's position regarding venezuela.

mexico rightly claims nonintervention, but isn't nonintervention just a way of doing nothing? supporting maduro and supporting the dictatorship? >> well, i am going to leave you our constitution, because we have a tradition that is nonintervention. nonintervention was a mexican position during the 1930's in order to avoid recognition as a political weapon, in order to obtain certain things from the withry to a relationship other countries with recognition of the government. when you have difficulties between two governments or civil

wars. we have this mandate. it is not a superficial issue. institutionwhat an allows you to do or not. this is not a pretext to say we are not going to have any position. we present a position. we send aid. we need a democratic solution to this conflict. we propose with several to organize an agenda with a time period from the starting point and to have a ,eview on electoral processes freedoms, and several important issues. we propose this idea. different point of

view and those who support the intervention idea, military intervention, which would be a great mistake, or the people who beect the regime is going to defeated only by sanctions or -- ofo wait for venezuela. there are two. the oneness what i have described. another is to make some thing similar to what mexico proposed in the 1980's and 1990's. organize dialogue. to have results on the dialogues. there are different ideas in order to solve the conflict. it is not to say we are not here. it is not to have that position.

by the way, i came from the left, but we are a democratic people. they are not with the maduro regime. thank you. >> hello. on the issue of immigration, to saynt trump continues is doing the dirty work on immigration for the u.s..

central americans in mexican territory, trying to stop them from crossing international bridges. view, theint of government has never been so clear on what exactly you are doing, what you discuss or agree with the trump government. clearly,lease explain what exactly are you working with the u.s. government? >> there are two different approaches on migration issues. quite different, i should say. you have different approaches, you have tensions. if you don't have tensions, there are similar approaches.

there are no concerns. ,f you have tweets every day recently that we have different points of view. the facts are you have more people coming to the united states from central america. that's true. .ou have the reports we defend not exactly what the difference -- we are not in favor of open doors. no border policy in the case of mexico. this is not because of the united states. each personregister who enters mexico today. but we are not going to put migrants, on the criminal side just because they want to move. this is the difference. the main one.

we are talking all the time with ..s. authorities migration is a great issue between mexico and the united states, at least 40 years. we present our points of view. mainly about,view it does not work to decrease aid to central america when you have increased flows to the united states because the united states has a good economic situation. >> spanish or english? english? ok.

i was wondering if mexico is willing to support actions regarding the persecution of people linked with the maduro regime. investigations, people linked with crimes against humanity trying to hide themselves, trying to see mexico. neutrality,e this or leverage on this neutrality policy. to my mind, as desmond tutu said , when you are neutral, you choose the side of the oppressor. there are many specific cases i can talk to about one. former majord by a

of a district elected in mexico, no less, and i do not know if you are going to do something about it. sec. ebrard: the mexican position is not about no position. we have a position. proposal with 15 countries to have a dialogue. we are talking with mr. quite so and also the regime. you need to speak to each other. it is important to reach an agreement, to start with little things.

if you are asking me if mexico neutrality position, which i explained is not the case, toows someone from foreigner have -- of course not. if there is any kind of illegal activity from venezuela or other countries, we are going to present charges. >> i would like to ask one last question and end on mexico. then we have to end. your ambassador is doing a great job. is veryate sector enthusiastic about usmca getting approved in the united states congress. in your mind as you said in mexico, what is your greatest

the pathwalking down of getting this approved in mexico, canada, and the u.s.? expect and we have worked really hard to convince our the usmc.o ratify nafta two or whatever. the more optimistic wonder for have a different step towards this future in order to increase the value of our moremy and to fulfill productive ties with the united

states economy. the industry in mexico is growing very fast. for medical services. or ourapacity -- capacity to increase in the short term. in severale gap fields in coalition with the united states is not about commercial trade. it is about something more sophisticated. that mr. secretary, i want to thank you for flying from mexico to be with us today and for your comments on so many issues that are important in the relationship between the united states and mexico, but most importantly, your vision of development and your vision for

north america. thank you very much. [applause] announcer: the annual conference on the americas concluded with remarks by acting homeland security secretary, who talked about the flow of migrants from central america and other immigration priorities for the trump administration. [applause] >> i am going to work on that. that is a good goal. thank you everybody. i know you have had a very engaged set of discussions today.