 It has again been an honor and a pleasure to welcome Mario Suarez to the White House. He came here a year ago as Vice President of the Socialist International and now returns as Prime Minister of Portugal. He's truly an international personality, a valiant supporter of Western values and ideals, and a man of great personal courage. As Prime Minister of Portugal, he represents a close and valued ally, one of the founding members of the North Atlantic Alliance. We regularly seek his counsel, and again today we've had valuable and extensive discussions. Prime Minister Suarez and I examined economic matters of importance to both our peoples. I assured the Prime Minister that the United States will continue to do all that is feasible to assist Portugal in meeting its difficult economic challenges. In another vital area of cooperation, we discussed the bilateral mutual security arrangements renewed last December. Under these arrangements, Portugal is playing a significant role in protecting the freedom of the Western democracies and maintaining world peace. The responsibility she demonstrates reflects well on the character of Portugal's people and her leaders. And today, I reaffirm to Prime Minister Suarez that the United States stands ready to help modernize the Portuguese armed forces. We applaud Prime Minister Suarez and Portugal's commitment to a strong and effective NATO alliance, and we wish them well as they move to join the European communities. The Prime Minister and I exchanged views on the present situation and outlook in the Middle East, Central America, regions in which he has had a long and deep interest and concern, and certainly we benefited from his insights. We had an especially useful discussion of the outlook for peaceful settlements of the conflicts in Southern Africa. Portugal's historic interest in Africa and her cultural, economic and political ties of today add much weight to Prime Minister Suarez's judgments in this area. We agreed that regular consultations between our two governments on African questions are useful for us both, and we will continue this practice. I want to thank Mario Suarez for his visit and our forthright exchange of ideas. He is a special friend, as well as an important leader, and I wish him Godspeed and look forward to our meeting again. During this period, we learned to respect his qualities, Mr. President, in the form of a struggle, as he faced the delicate situations, always having in mind the defense of the fundamental interests of the Western world, inseparable from the defense of freedom. The contacts between the governments of the two countries, which must be considered normal, dealing with the two allied countries in the middle of NATO, which keep, since long ago, the right to cooperation relations, take on this particular importance, given the desire that there are both the parts to face our relationship to a new dynamic that has now been given an important impulse to our cooperation in the control of the defense after the renewal of the law. The solidarity of relations between Portugal and the United States of America is not explained by an occasional position or by the momentary coincidence of 13, but by the sincere and profound communion of values ​​and ideals such as freedom, democracy and respect for the rights of man in which we believe and live. For the friendship that unites us, many contribute, the members of the American light community who live in this country and who here give testimony of the feelings that the Portuguese nourish by the American people. Among the issues we had the opportunity to address, I wanted to highlight those that relate to the situation in the austral Africa, the region of the world where they are giving at this moment very important steps on the path of peace. Portugal that keeps the peoples of this region, namely as Sambique and Angola, circular friendship relations, has indicated to the areas very particular attention, after the decolonization process, which ended in 1974 and which has made all possible efforts in the sense of contributing to the creation of a dialogue and peaceful solution climate of the problems. We also addressed the situation in Central America and South America. I think that the initiatives of the countergroup, as well as all those who were to be taken in the sense of stimulating the democratic process and the installation of regimes of authentic freedom in the countries of the region, must be all our support. Given the cultural ties existing between the Iberian countries and the countries of Latin America created by a long communion of history and by the use of the same language, Portugal has accompanied the evolution of the situation in these countries and kept in contact with the democratic forces that fight for the defense of the principles of freedom. Mr. President, I would like at the outset to express my appreciation to the President of the United States for his invitation to make this official visit to Washington and to say how pleased I am to have been afforded this opportunity to renew, now as head of the Portuguese government, the contacts and friendly relationships which I established in the past with President Reagan and the American administration. During this period we have learned to respect your leadership qualities and the straightforward way in which you have handled delicate situations while always keeping in mind the fundamental values of democracy. Relations between the leaders of our countries which should be considered normal between two NATO allies which have maintained close relations over a long period now assume special importance in view of the readiness of both parties to imbue our relationship with a new dynamic following the important impetus to our cooperation in the defense area provided by the renewal of the Lages-Base Agreement. The sound relations existing between the United States and Portugal are not the result of occasional identical positions or passing convergence of interests. They are rather the result of a sincere and profound sharing of values and ideals such as freedom, democracy and respect for human rights, principles in which we believe and which we practice. The Luso-American community residing in this country, which here bears witness to the affection in which the Portuguese hold the American people, greatly contributes to the friendship which unites us. Among the issues which we have had the opportunity to address, I wish to emphasize those related to Southern Africa, a region of the world where important steps on the road to peace are now being taken. Portugal, which maintains centuries old ties of friendship with the people in this region, namely with those of Mozambique and Angola, has devoted particular attention to the problems of this area following the process of decolonization carried out in 1974 and has spared no effort to contribute to the creation of a climate of dialogue and peaceful solutions to the problems of the region. We also consider the situation in Central and South America. I believe the initiatives of the Contadora Group, as well as all those directed towards advancing the democratic process and establishing regimes guaranteeing true freedom in the countries of the region are deserving of our support. The cultural ties existing between the Iberian countries and Latin America stemming from a long-standing commonality of history and language lead Portugal to take profound interest in the evolution of the situation in the countries of this region and to maintain close contacts with those forces seeking to uphold the principles of liberty in that part of the world. It was very gratifying for me to note that the United States and Portugal share very similar points of view regarding East-West relations and the need to strengthen the Atlantic Alliance in order to resist expansionist threats and contribute to peace.