2005 Press Releases

Counter-Terrorism Efforts in the Organization of American States

February 11, 2005

FOREIGN PRESS CENTER BRIEFING WITH UNDER SECRETARY ASA HUTCHINSON, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; AND AMBASSADOR JOHN MAISTO, U.S. PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES

THE WASHINGTON FOREIGN PRESS CENTER, WASHINGTON, D.C.
3:00 P.M. EST, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2004

MR. MACINNES: Good afternoon. Welcome to the Foreign Press Center for one of our series of briefings. This briefing will be in English, so if you have questions in Spanish, Ambassador John Maisto is available to do stand up one-on-ones afterwards. But we ask you to keep it in English throughout this briefing. And if you have any telephones, please turn them off.

We also welcome today our Foreign Press Center in New York, who joins us via DVC. If they have questions, they can also call and let us know.

Today, we are going to be talking about the upcoming session of the Organization of American States Inter-American Conference on Terrorism (CICTE). We have the Under Secretary from Homeland Security, Asa Hutchinson, who does borders and transportation security, and Ambassador John Maisto, U.S. Permanent Representative to the OAS.

Without further ado, I'll introduce Ambassador Maisto.

AMBASSADOR MAISTO: Thank you very much. It's my pleasure today, as U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States, to introduce the head of delegation for the United States to the fifth regular session of the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism, which will be held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, February 16th to 18th of this year.

Asa Hutchinson is Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Secretary Hutchinson was appointed to his current position by President Bush and confirmed by unanimous vote of the United States Senate in January 2003. As Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security at the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Hutchinson leads a directorate of over 110,000 employees and he is responsible for coordinating the enforcement activities of U.S. borders, transportation and immigration systems.

Secretary Hutchinson has worked to modernize border inspections through the use of biometric technology, the development of US-VISIT, which is a comprehensive entry-exit system for foreign visitors, and through the reorganization of border agencies into a unified inspection force.

The Under Secretary serves as representative of the United States Government, playing a critical role in building worldwide partnerships to ensure elevated international aviation security measures, while enforcing existing security guidelines to screen passengers thoroughly and to secure all areas of airports.

The border and transportation security part of our Department of Homeland Security serves as a catalyst in sharing critical information with our international partnerships, in order to enhance security. Secretary Hutchinson recognizes that it is in the international community's interest to protect, of course, all people and all countries with whom we engage from the evils of terrorism.

I would add, one final note. Secretary Hutchinson has had many, many opportunities to meet with and to work with people involved in security from North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. So he is going to be seeing and dealing with people that he knows and whose issues he knows very well. And we are very, very fortunate to have Asa Hutchinson lead our delegation, and I am honored to be able to accompany him.

Mr. Secretary.

UNDER SECRETARY HUTCHINSON: Thank you, Ambassador. It is good to be back at the Foreign Press Center, and, as I have been here before, emphasizing the fact that this is not a United States campaign against terrorism, but it is a global campaign against terrorism. And terrorism threatens our democratic way of life, and just as significantly, the rule of law that supports it. The Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism or CICTE, is an outstanding and, perhaps, the best example of a region pulling together to defend itself and its freedom to live and prosper peacefully and to support each other in that effort.

Today we'd like to briefly discuss the U.S. Government's participation and goals for CICTE's fifth regular session on February 16th through the 18th in the Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. At the outset, we'd like to express our deepest thanks to Uruguay for the chairmanship of CICTE over the past year. Under their leadership, CICTE has continued to build upon its impressive record of enhancing counterterrorism capacity, cooperation, information sharing and technical expertise.

We also support the nomination of Trinidad and Tobago to serve as the next CICTE chair. Trinidad and Tobago has demonstrated its leadership and commitment to working with the United States and our hemispheric partners to combat terrorism.

I am personally honored to lead the U.S. delegation to CICTE's next regular session. Ambassador Maisto, our Permanent Representative to the OAS, will join the delegation. Also joining us will be the State Department's Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism Bill Pope and our Department's Homeland Security International Affairs Ambassador Chris Arcos. Many others will be joining the delegation.

This fifth session will give the United States and the other 33 members an opportunity to include document security in CICTE's mandate, which will complement ongoing efforts on border, transportation and cyber security, as well as terrorist financing. We will continue to encourage stronger cooperation and partnership among CICTE's members with respect to aviation security, including enhanced security measures that can be taken with flights that have specific security concerns. We'll continue to promote enhanced use and sharing of biometrics, which have proven to be a reliable tool for identity confirmation or access control.

The meeting will also allow us to reaffirm the connections that exist between terrorism and illegal transnational activities such as trafficking in arms, asset laundering, organized crime and drug trafficking. All of these activities pose serious threats to the security of our hemisphere. We continue to encourage member-states to implement the counterterrorism commitments adopted in Mexico City in October of 2003 under the Declaration on Security in the Americas. This declaration calls on states to strengthen their capacity to prevent, punish, eliminate terrorism and the safe havens that support them, and to prosecute all terrorists and bring them to justice.

We also encourage CICTE and its members to continue to enhance the collaboration with other OAS entities such as CICAD and CIFTA, international organizations such as the UNCTC, G-8's Roma, Lyon Groups and Counterterrorism Action Group, PAHO and APAC and outside the hemisphere as in Spain and Israel.

I would also add that last year's Colombia's three foreign terrorist organizations -- the FARC, the ELN and the AUC -- were responsible for murdering 3,000 people, mostly Colombians. We encourage member-states to stand with Colombia and support the efforts of the Uribe administration to defeat terrorism in Colombia.

Of course, this important work cannot continue without the necessary financial support of CICTE members. Voluntary contributions are the lifeblood supporting the Executive Secretary and its programs. We appreciate the contributions the member-states have given and we continue to encourage their personnel and in-kind technical or other assistance that can be contributed. This support will pay future dividends in a secure homeland, safe trade and expanded tourism, which is so important to the regions that are represented at this conference.

The United States is fully committed to developing CICTE as a premier multilateral vehicle providing assistance, facilitating information sharing and serving as an effective technical body of counterterrorism and homeland security experts. We look forward to this important meeting.

I personally look forward to being there and engaging in the discussions and continuing our investment in CICTE's future; and we have the greatest confidence in Trinidad and Tobago as the next country chair.

Thank you very much. I'd be happy to respond to any questions, and Ambassador Maisto also will be happy to join me.

MR. MACINNES: I'd ask you to identify yourself and wait for the microphone, please.

QUESTION: Raghubir Goyal. Asia Today and India Globe. Good to see you again, Mr. Hutchinson.

I understand that things -- last year we met and now things have changed as far as border security and transportation is concerned, and your department doing a good job. But still, we have a long way to go because terrorists always find the loopholes and the back doors.

So where do we stand as far as terrorism is concerned, because we are still facing terrorism in Afghanistan? And also, I understand, according to reports, that some al-Qaida members are still in Pakistan. So where do we stand now to stop and so we don't have to face anymore 9/11 or something similar like that? Thank God that we are still safe and sound.

UNDER SECRETARY HUTCHINSON: Well, thank you. And you're absolutely correct. We have made great progress in border security areas, both in biometric technologies, document security and international cooperation.

What we have to do in the future is to continue to adjust to new tactics of the terrorists. The key element is information sharing, intelligence sharing and continuing to build international standards of security.

We have many forums that can accomplish those objectives in different parts of the world. This conference, obviously, will be a helpful tool in that. But the cooperation that we receive from our partners overseas is essential to building effective border security.

QUESTION: Santiago Tavara from Notimex.

I'd like to ask you if -- on immigration -- if the legalization of undocumented worker is good or bad for national security, and what do you think about those who compare undocumented immigrants with terrorists?

UNDER SECRETARY HUTCHINSON: Well, there needs to be a clear distinction between an undocumented immigrant that might be crossing the border illegally for economic reasons and someone who tries to come into our country for terrorist purposes. As the President has indicated, we need to be able to focus on the terrorism threat and provide a better legal means for legitimate workers to come to our country.

This is a security issue as well as a humanitarian issue, and in terms of the security issues we have to make sure that we do have effective border security in order to have an effective temporary worker program. And the President's first proposal, or first principle, is that America must secure its borders. That's the security aspect. Once that is in place, then I think there will be the confidence to move that initiative forward.

QUESTION: For Mr. Maisto, Ambassador Maisto. Are you going to address or how are you to address the conflict between Venezuela and Colombia? I don't know if you can give us a comment on this.

AMBASSADOR MAISTO: Well, the position of the United States is that we look to the two countries to resolve that issue themselves. There has been some progress in that direction. At the same time, there is a very basic principle here, and the basic principle goes to the heart of working together against terrorism in our hemisphere. And we must remember that our countries, all the nations in this hemisphere -- and we're going to see this manifested at the CICTE meeting -- are committed to working together and to share information and to share intelligence about terrorist activities to enhance the effort, the mutually supportive effort that goes on in our hemisphere to deal with this problem.

We certainly expect Venezuela to be responsive to legitimate Colombian concerns with regard to the presence of terrorists from Colombia in Venezuelan territory.

QUESTION: Yes, Jose Carreno with Universal, Mexico.

Secretary Hutchinson, this is inside the issue, but a bit outside at the same time. At the end of January, the State Department expressed some concern about the possible existence or the possible loss of a number SA-7, anti-aircraft missiles. And I wonder if the Department of Homeland Security has any concern about those supposedly lost weapons, if you have had any information that confirms that they are lost or not, or they are coming to or going away from the United States.

UNDER SECRETARY HUTCHINSON: I don't have any specifics to offer you at this time. We'll be glad to give any follow-up information. Obviously, whenever you have intelligence that is operationally significant, that information is immediately given to our border security inspectors, it is provided to our agents in the field, and they act on that daily. So the important things are that information is shared, it's put into the hands of the people who act upon that, and I don't have any additional or updated information to provide you.

QUESTION: My question is on immigration again. Where do you stand, as a Homeland Security official, as far as people illegally who are already in this country and they were really victims of greedy lawyers, and some of those lawyers are already in jail, but these people are still waiting that what action the INS -- now Homeland Security -- will take and where do they stand as far those issues, and bills are in the Congress and the President supported them? So what they should do now?

UNDER SECRETARY HUTCHINSON: Well, I think the important message, one of the important messages from that is that anyone who would consider entering the country illegally exposes themselves to criminal organizations, unscrupulous individuals who prey upon the vulnerabilities of those immigrants. And so it's not a good idea to try to pursue illegal means to come into our country or any country.

Obviously, once these unscrupulous individuals take advantage of them, the individuals become victims, but they're still in violation of law and the process, the system, immigration courts have to continue to operate on each, individual case. And so they'd be handled individually with appropriate consideration for any asylum requests as well as any other circumstances that should be considered.

QUESTION: Sorry. Just taking advantage that you are going to this Inter-American conference, which are the regions of concern for homeland security in terms of possible terrorist threats?

UNDER SECRETARY HUTCHINSON: Well, I think we have to be mindful that we're all bound together in terms of terrorist threats. And so we want to emphasize at this conference that this is not a United States threat, it's not a Colombian threat, but it is a regional threat. And we have to work together, be bound together to address it.

And whenever there is one vulnerability in one country with the interconnectedness of our transportation industry, whether it is cargo containers or whether it is aviation; that becomes a vulnerability to all of us. So that's the point we would want to emphasize.

Clearly, there are some areas of our region that has a greater concentration of terrorist activity or illegal activity than others. And I think that's fairly well known, but that would certainly be part of our discussion in terms of sharing of information as well.

QUESTION: (Inaudible), but for instance, there has been some expressions of concern about the, what was the trilateral area: Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil. There have been some concerns about the U.S.-Mexico border; there have been concerns about Colombia.

Obviously, for a number of reasons, the Mexican border is perhaps the most -- the area of most concern. However, would you agree with that point that the U.S.-Mexico border is, for you, at this point, the largest concern, the largest matter of concern, or the biggest worry?

UNDER SECRETARY HUTCHINSON: Well, it is a chief concern. Because when you look at the border, for example, you could have a individual that is a threat to the United States come into Brazil and then have a plane ticket to Mexico City with the intention to cross the land border. And obviously, those types of paths, of whether they are human-smuggling organizations or terrorist paths, we have to be concerned about those. And so this is an example of whether it is Brazil, whether it is Ecuador, whether it is a Caribbean nation -- all of those can be avenues of access that will ultimately lead to the southern border between the United States and Mexico.

So, whenever we talk about the border as being a concern, it has to be more than a geographic line. That border has to be protected whenever you have access to this hemisphere. And that's why it takes that type of cooperation.

MR. MCINNES: Okay, other questions?

I think that's about it. Okay, thank you very much.

UNDER SECRETARY HUTCHINSON: Thank you.

MR. MACINNES: I appreciate the time.