We have President Stroessner here with his Foreign Minister and other dignitaries to participate in the signing of a treaty between ourselves and Panama. We had an opportunity to discuss subjects of interest to our country and to Paraguay, to reemphasize the historic friendship that has bound our countries together, to discuss the present plans in Paraguay for the development of the country's economy, and also we made plans, I believe, to alleviate any differences of opinion that might exist between our country and Paraguay.
The President outlined the plans for elections in February and offered us an opportunity to come and observe the elections there. I told him that I might learn how to conduct a better campaign if I could see how the elections were conducted in Paraguay.
We had a discussion about the question of human rights and the fact that it has been a problem. And the President outlined to me the progress that is being made in this area.
We were pleased to learn about the cooperation between Paraguay and the neighbors in Brazil and Argentina in the development of water resources. And the President outlined to me the size of the fish which he quite often catches in the beautiful streams of Paraguay.
But we had a good discussion, and we are very grateful that he could come.
Note: The President spoke at 3:45 p.m. on the South Grounds of the White House. His concluding remarks in Spanish were not included in the transcript.
The transcript of the remarks was made available by the White House Press Office. It was not issued in the form of a White House press release.
Jimmy Carter, Remarks to Reporters Following a Meeting With President Alfredo Stroessner of Paraguay Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/241523
