Secretary of State Hillary Clinton traveled to Quebec today to meet the foreign ministers of Canada and Mexico to discuss the North American economy, regional security and energy, and climate change, among other issues.
Accompanying Clinton is Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela, Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual, and Ambassador to Canada David Jacobson. The meeting with foreign ministers Lawrence Cannon of Canada and Patricia Espinosa of Mexico was taking place in Wakefield, Quebec.
State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said the meeting is an opportunity to “reinforce the close relations among the three nations and to identify common objectives and strategies to ensure greater security and well-being, as well as economic prosperity.”
The three foreign ministers will go over a possible agenda for a presidential summit expected early next year, Valenzuela said.
“It’s a very compressed meeting. The agendas are very difficult,” he said, adding that trade and economic competitiveness, drugs, and border security will be among the issues discussed.
A rising threat from drug cartels in Central America and economic and humanitarian recovery and recent elections in Haiti also will be discussed, he said.
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