work and that have come to have been realized on this trip, and the first focus that i have agreed upon with this leader, which is to move forward the two pillars of our work, our education and jobs, and so the first agreement we signed is to boost exchange between teachers and students, science and technology is another area. we would like to strengthen, and job creations, which we have discussed this morning. we have discussed the importance of increasing trade between our two countries. argentina has a lot to offer. we have a very low level of trade between the two countries, so we have spoken possibly to work to strengthen investment of their countries in argentina, u.s. companies, and also

to -- to promote small and medium-sized businesses, which are the main source of works, and once again i would like to congratulate president obama because for many -- for 70-some-odd months consecutively the u.s. has been creating jobs. in argentina it has been the opposite generally. if we could generate more jobs we would live better. and also we have pledged to work together, and this is the second focus of my government, which to work together to overthrow drug trafficking. i was mentioning this morning in this past decade, drug trafficking has moved -- has -- has become worse in our country, and we have decided to work together to exchange information, technology, conduct training, and conduct without [ inaudible ] a war on drugs and money laundering.

also within the framework of respect, dialogue, and collaboration , i would like to say that after -- as we commemorate the 40-year anniversary of the military coup, which was the most -- which was the darkest period of our history, that files will be declassified, and it has been exempted and we're all very grateful, because we all have the right to the truth, to know what the truth is, and for argentinians this was an important demonstration, and i want to stress if we enter -- engage in dialogue with other countries, and we do this seriously, with respect, countries immediately collaborate and respond to our question, such as in this case, in declassification of the files. and another focus of our conversation, and you -- you, president obama have been a

leader, you -- a huge leader with regard to defense of the environment, with regard to climate change, and there has been much progress that has come about in disseminating, and you have pushed forward renewable energy, and argentina is on your side in this regard, and as the head of government, it is my job to promote the importance of the green agenda, and in this -- in -- in the 21st century, we must fight against climate change and do everything possible, and i would like to say on your visit, that your visit is the beginning of constructive, smart relations. the only concern for both of us is to improve the quality of life of our people, and i'm sure that together, working together, we are going to achieve this.

thank you very much, and you are in your own home here, mr. president. [ applause ] >> good afternoon. it is wonderful to be in argentina for the first time, and i want to thank people in of argentina and the president and his team for hosting not only myself, but also my family to this beautiful city. as the president indicated, we just had an excellent conversation, and i can tell you that the president is a man in a hurry. i'm impressed because he has moved rapidly on so many of the reforms that he promised, to create more sustainable and inclusive economic growth and to reconnect argentina with the global economy and the world community, and today in a show

of confidence and argentina's new direction, many u.s. businesses are announcing tens of millions of dollars of new investment here in argentina which can be part of the broader package of investment that can lead to new jobs and economic growth here in this country, and what the president and his team have achieved in such a short time is a testimony not only to his remarkable energy, but also the willingness of people from different parties to work together, and that is impressive, given the history of political polarization inside of argentina, and that's something i know something about, political polarization. but i have told him and his -- his team that the united states stands ready to work with argentina through this historic transition in anyway that we can. in any way that we believe, and you believe will be helpful. and it's not just businesses

that are taking note of the changes underway here in buenos aires. the world has noticed as well. under this president, argentina is reassuming its traditional leadership role in the area and around the world. and we have discussed ways in which we can be strong global partners to promote the universal values and interests that we share. we share a commitment to freedom and security at home and around the world, and today the people of the united states and argentina stand with the belgian people and express our extraordinary sorrow for the losses that they have experienced. we understand the pain they feel viscerally because our countries as well have known the scourge of terrorism, and we have seen our own citizens impacted by these kinds of senseless vicious

violence. as i told belgian's prime minister yesterday, the united states will continue to offer any assistance that we can to help investigate these attacks and bring attackers to justice. we will also continue to go after isil aggressively until it is removed from syria and removed from iraq, and is finally destroyed. the world has to be united against terrorism, and we can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security not only of our own people, but of people around the world. that's a top priority of ours, and i know the president shares those beliefs. that's one of the reasons why the president and i agreed to work together to disrupt terrorism. to do more to choke off the terrorist financing mechanisms that are in place, and to keep our people safe when they travel. u.s. federal agencies will lend

their support of the counter terrorism intelligence, and we will contribute to peace keeping missions including by supporting u.n. efforts to protect vulnerable populations. and the united states is very proud to support this effort through training and equipment. the president has also committed argentina to help address the syrian refugee crisis. and i'm very encouraged by his efforts to combat drug trafficking, reduce crime, and make argentina's streets safer. the united states and argentina also share a commitment to protecting this planet for our children and grandchildren, and great grandchildren. the president showed me pictures of his wonderful children, including the little one, who i understand was a facebook sensation. [ laughter ] >> and i can see why.

so we want to make sure that she just like my daughters and future grandchildren, that they have got a -- the beauty of an argentina or united states that has not been irreversibly impacted by climate change. the president's support for the paris agreement was critical to its success. his commitment to sign the agreement and pursue its ratification this year will be critical to bringing it into force. argentina has set impressive targetings for producing clean energy, and they plan ambitious argets for reducing carbon emissions, and because we have experienced since i came into office, tripling the amount of energy we get from wind, and increasing the amount of energy we get from solar power 20 times, and the work we have done on shale oil and gas, we have been effective partners, and we

will provide any technical assistance that he thought would be useful in developing the incredible resources and clean energy strategies he is interested in pursuing here in argentina. we also share a commitment to global health security. we have agreed to work together on our response to the zika virus which is obviously affecting so many in this hemisphere, we agree to support the broader global health care agenda. in a world that is interconnected if there are diseases that are developing even in remote villages in africa or asia because of global travel, ultimately they could be a significant threat to our populations. we can't present that somehow it's just their problem. it is our problem as well. and we're going to work together to improve our capacity to detect and respond to, and ultimately prevent the threat of new diseases. it's also gratifying to see

argentina champion our shared commitment to human rights. i hope we'll work together to strengthen the organization of american states and the inter-american human rights system to promote civil liberties, independent judiciaries, government transparency and accountability throughout the hemisphere. and finally after i leave today, i'll visit the metropolitan cathedral to lay a wreath, and visit the moving memorial to the horrific bombing to the jewish community center almost 22 years ago. i told the president that the united states offers whatever help we can to hold these attackers accountable, and we will do the exact same thing in going after those who carried out those terrible attacks in belgium. i do recognize that this week marks the 40th anniversary of

the military coup. and tomorrow to underscore our shared commitment to human rights, i'll visit a memorial to the victims of the military dictatorship, and recognize argentina's historic and continuing efforts to make things right, to make sure that we acknowledge the incredible heroism, and courage of those who stood up against those human rights violations, and to prove this is more than just a symbolic gesture on my part, as the president indicated, i'm launching a new effort to open up additional documents from that dark period. for the first time now, we'll declassify military and intelligence records as well. on this anniversary and beyond, we are absolutely determined to do our part as argentina continues to heal and move forward as one nation. and i hope this gesture also

helps to rebuild trust that may have been lost between our two countries. that's a principle message that i have not only for argentina, but for the entire hemisphere. i obviously came here from cuba. we have put a great emphasis on making sure that some of the ideologies, the disputes of the past that they are frankly acknowledged, but that we also are able to look to the future and not just behind us, and that's why this visit for me is so personally important. it's also important because i have been a big fan of argentinian culture. when i was in college, i read a lot of argentinian literature, and i am proud to announce that i just tried mate for the first time. [ laughter ] >> because i would read these people and they were drinking

mate and i didn't know what this was. so i knew when i finally arrived in buenos aires, i would try some, and i just had some, and it was quite good. [ laughter ] >> so i -- i may take some home with me when i go back to the united states. i -- i don't know what kind of import and export controls i may be violating, though, but on air force one i can usually do what i want. so thank you very much, mr. president. [ applause ] >> thank you. [ applause ] >> translator: we begin the press conference. firstly, lillyana franco. >> reporter: welcome to argentina i will make my

questions in spanish, because i am in argentina. sorry. >> reporter: the first question, you spoke about entering into a -- the start of the free-trade agreement between the united states and argentina. and for president president what is the role played by the president in view of the situation with brazil. okay. we have begun -- we have begin as i was mentioning to president obama, this is -- only less than 1% of imports are coming in, and

so we have to think about a free trade -- a broader free trade agreement with the united states eventually, but what we feel that where there's a huge space for working together, and there's many opportunities that are opening up. we all think -- are thinking about the same thing to generate jobs for argentinaintes. >> we have been incredibly impressed by the work the president has done in his first hundred days. and we speak good relations for all of the countries in the hemisphere, but argentina historically one of the most powerful, largest countries in the hemisphere needs to be a critical partner with us for us

to help our own people and also to help promote prosperity, peace, and opportunity in the region as a whole. and i am absolutely confident that given president macri's interest in transparency and democracy here in argentina that he is setting an example for other countries in the hemisphere. and his engagement and engagement and willingness to have frank and constructive relations and conversations with the world community on critical, multi-lateral issues like climate change, i think promises to heighten argentina's influence on the world stage in settings like the g-20. so i am saddened that i'm only going to have nine months of overlap with him.

he -- he is at the beginning of his administration, i'm coming to the end of mine, but what we can do is to start on an effective path that i think will sustain itself into the future. trade is an example of an area where we have already organized a working group between our delegations. they are going to identify all of the areas where currently there are barriers that have impeded progress in our trading relationship, and we will systematically work through those, you know, organizing an entire free trade agreement may be at the end of the process. i think at the beginning right now, there's a lot of underbrush, a lot of unnecessary trade irritants and commercial irritants that can be cleared away administratively, and that's some of the work that we intend to do right away.

was there a second part to the question? >> reporter: [ inaudible ] hold out -- >> oh, so with respect to the holdouts and the bondholders, this is working its way through the court system, and i know president macri has also initiated a proposal being considered by your parliament. i have to be careful not to comment on the issue, because of the nature of our legal system. these are judges typically that i appoint, and so in order for them to remain impartial, if there is a pending case i do not talk about it publicly. what i can say is the constructive approach that president macri has taken has

opened up the possibility of a resolution. and a resolution on this issue will stabilize argentina's financial relationship internationally in a way that can accelerate many of the other issues that are of great concern. you know, to some degree this is viewed as high finance, so ordinary people say why does it matter? but if you are talking about foreign investment, and trade, and all of the things that produce jobs and economic development and provide more revenue in order to reinvest in education or science and technology, that requires the kind of financial stability that is so important. and look, i have been through this. when i came into office in 2008, the world financial system was going down the toilet, as we

say. and we had to take a lot of efforts and make difficult choices. and they weren't always popular at the time. but because of the steps that we took, our banks recovered faster than european banks, for example. our economy began to recover faster. we started producing more jobs. so sometimes short-term pain and -- and -- and taking decisive action early is the right thing to do, rather than putting it off to tomorrow, and then you end up having a perpetual set of problems, and you never restore the stability and trust that is necessary. >> first question from the u.s. delegate will come from josh letterman with the associated press. >> thank you, mr. president. you have resisted calls to alter your strategy to fight the islamic state. but the attacks keep happening.

did brussels change anything for you? and if not, would you like -- do you think that americans should see more attacks as being inevitable? and what would you say it says about the state of our debate on this, when you have a major presidential candidate calling for surveillance of muslim americans. and president macri what do you expect that those documents will reveal about america's role in this painful chapter in your country's history? >> josh, i think it is important to recognize that this is my number one priority. i have got a lot of things on my plate, but my top priority is to defeat isil and to eliminate the scourge of this barbaric terrorism that has been taking

place around the world, and we see high-profile attacks in europe, but they are also killing muslims throughout the middle east. people who are innocent. people who are guilty only of worshipping islam in a different way than this organization. they are poisoning the minds of young people everywhere, not just in europe, but in the united states, and undoubtedly in argentina people are looking on these websites. so there's no more important item on my agenda than going after them and -- defeating them. the issue is how do we do it in an intelligent way? and our approach has been continuously to adjust to see what works and what doesn't.

what has been working is the air strikes that we're taking on their leadership, on their infrastructure, on their financial systems. what has been working is special operators partnering with iraqi security forces and going after leadership networks and curriers and disrupting the connection between their bases in raqqa, and their bases in mosul. we have recovered, taken away from isil about 40% of their territory, and isil's leadership has been hunkered down, and we are going to continue to press on them until we are -- we have driven them out of their strong holds, and until they are destroyed. while we are doing that, we're

also extraordinary vigilant about preventing attacks on our homeland, and working with our allies to prevent attacks in places like europe income but as i have said before this is a difficult war. it's not because we don't have the best and brightest working on it, it's not because we're taking the threat seriously, it's because it is challenging to find, identify, very small groups of people who are willing to die themselves, and can walk into a crowd and detonate a bomb, and my charge to my team is to find every strategy possible to successfully reduce the risk of such terrorist attacks even as we go after their beating heart in placings like iraq and syria. and as our strategy evolves, and

we ziaddy shunnal opportunities, we will go after it. but what we don't do, and what we should not do is take approaches that are going to be counterproductive. so when i hear somebody saying we should carpet bomb iraq or syria, not only is that inhumane, not only is that contrary to our values, what if that would likely be an extraordinary mechanism for isil to recruit more people willing to die and explode bombs in an airport or metro station. that's not a smart strategy. as far as what some candidates have said, i think i have been very clear on this. one of the great strength of the united states and part of the reason why we have got seen more attacks in the united states is

we have a extraordinarily successful, patriotic, integrated muslim-american community. they do not feel ghettoized. they do not feel isolated. their children are our children's friends, going to the same schools. they are our colleagues in our workplaces. they are our men and women in uniform, fighting for our freedom. and so any approach that would single them out or target them for discrimination is not only wrong and un-american, but it also would be counterproductive. because it would reduce the -- the strength, the antibodies that we have to resist terrorism. as far as the notion of having

surveillance of neighborhoods where muslims are present, i just left a country that engages in that kind of neighborhood surveillance, which by the way the father of senator cruz escaped for america, the land of the free. the notion that we would start down that slippery slope makes absolutely no sense. it's contrary to who we are. and it's not going to help us defeat isil. last point i'll make on this. i understand when we see the sight of these kinds of attacks, our -- our hearts bleed, because we know that could be our children. that could be our family members, or our friends or coworkers who travel to a place like brussels.

and it scares the american people. and it horrifies me. i have got two young daughters who are growing up a little too fast, and i want them to have the freedom to move and travel around the world, without the possibility that they would be killed. so i understand why this is the top priority of the american people, and i want them to understand this is my top priority as well. it is the top priority of my national security team, the top priority of our military, the top priority of our intelligence officers, the top priority of our diplomats, but we are approaching this in a way that has a chance of working, and it will work. and we're not going to do things that are counterproductive simply because it's political season. we're going to be steady. we're going to be resolute, and

ultimately we're going to be successful. >> excuse me, but i don't think that it will help in any sense that i voice an opinion about what we are going to find. let's wait, study the documentation, and then we can make comments on it. thank you. >> translator: martine [ inaudible ]. >> morning mr. president. we'll talk in spanish. >> translator: we -- we like to ask you what you think that the role of the dictatorships was in the region? do you believe there should be any self criticism of the united states with regard to the role of the united states during the dictatorships? and i would like to ask both presidents, have you discuss