Remarks With El Salvadoran Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez Before Their Meeting
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
December 9, 2009
SECRETARY CLINTON: I want to welcome Minister Martinez to the State Department. I was very honored to represent President Obama and our
country at the inauguration of President Funes. And the United States is very proud to support the development and
democracy that is ongoing in El Salvador. We have a number of issues that we will be discussing that we are working on
together, but it is a real pleasure to see the minister again and to reaffirm the strong bonds between our countries.
FOREIGN MINISTER MARTINEZ: (Via interpreter) Thank you. It’s an honor for me, Madame Secretary, to be in the same room with you. It was also an
honor to have you in El Salvador for the inauguration of President Funes. And in fact, we do have a number of issues
that we’re going to be talking about here related to our strategic relationship between the two countries, and these are
issues which we hope to continue talking about, including in the future meeting that we’re working on between President
Funes and President Obama. So again, it is an honor for me to be here to begin this dialogue with you.
ENDS