Meeting With President Aparicio Mendez Manfredini of Uruguay Remarks to Reporters Following the Meeting

THE PRESIDENT. President Mendez would like to make a statement to the press, and I think I'll make a brief statement and then leave him here with you for questions.

It's a grand pleasure for us to have in our country President Mendez, representing the people of Uruguay. We had a very thorough discussion about matters that are important to both our countries.

One of the major discussions was about the question of human rights, and President Mendez described to us the progress that is being made in Uruguay and invited any representative from our country, or group of representatives from our country to visit Uruguay to inspect personally the situations that do exist there.

I pointed out to him that there is a very grave concern in our Nation about allegations or charges that have been made. And it's important to Uruguay and also to us to have these questions answered.

In addition we discussed the question of the export of leather goods to our country, and we arranged for early additional negotiations to take place so that we can understand the law in Uruguay, the subsidies that exist, and so that Uruguay can understand the special American laws that restrict imports here when large subsidies are given in the exporting country.

But these negotiations and discussions will be expedited in the weeks ahead. Again, thank you very much.

REPORTER. Mr. President, what is your feeling about the relations now between Uruguay and the United States?

THE PRESIDENT. I think I've described our position. We have very great concern about the status of human rights in Uruguay. But President Mendez has described to me the situation there, the reasons for the restraint, and his commitment to open up the country for observation by people from our country and to answer any questions. And my hope is that under his leadership the relationships can be improved very soon.