Ixtlilco el Grande, Mexico Text of Remarks at the Town Square.

Governor and Mrs. Bejarano, Secretary Roel, Secretary Merino, Mayor Flores, and all my new friends of Ixtlilco el Grande:

Rosalynn and I are very happy to be here with all of you today. You have been so kind and warm and considerate that we do not feel like strangers at all, but as if we were at home in our own village.

I know that during the past week it has been difficult for you to prepare for our visit. You have welcomed the people from my staff who came here to work with you in making preparations. I thank you.

I have had a busy and interesting visit here today. You showed me some of the finest tomatoes and onions and corn and cantaloupes and watermelons and rice that I have ever seen. And you showed me your peanuts. As you know, I have been a peanut farmer for much longer than I have been a President—and the peanuts of Ixtlilco el Grande look just as good as the ones on my own farm.

Cuco Sanchez and his family demonstrated the irrigation pump and explained to us how it benefits everyone in the village. At the school, we met Professor Sanchez and Maestra Vergara and some of the boys and girls who are so important to the future of Ixtlilco el Grande and to Mexico.

And what a delicious meal. We love the cooks.

Rosalynn and I are very fond of Mexican food. At the White House, in Washington, we have a Mexican meal every week, but the dishes you have served us today are the best I have ever had. I hope you will give Rosalynn the recipes.

Everything I have seen here has impressed me very deeply. Through the Program for Integrated Rural Economic Development, you are building a better life for yourselves and your children.

I know how much progress like this can mean. Rosalynn and I come from the small farming community of Plains, in the State of Georgia, which is not even half as big as Ixtlilco el Grande. When I was a boy our village had no electricity and no irrigation, and our facilities for education and health care and for marketing our crops were very poor. It made a great difference in our lives when we began to have these things, and I can see that it has also made a great difference here in Ixtlilco el Grande. Your government has helped, but it is really the great efforts of the people of Ixtlilco el Grande that have made this program a success.

What you are doing here meets basic human needs, and my country admires that achievement. Again, I want to thank you—our new friends—for your hospitality and your kindness and your consideration. I will never forget this day. ! Viva Mexico! !Viva Ixtlilco el Grande!