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THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                        (Boston, Massachusetts)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                   February 2, 1999

STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY

                Meeting with President Mahuad of Ecuador
                     and President Fujimori of Peru

President Clinton will meet jointly with President Mahuad of Ecuador and President Fujimori of Peru at the White House on Friday, February 5. Presidents Mahuad and Fujimori are visiting Washington this week to secure international assistance for a 10-year border integration plan to bolster the October 1998 Ecuador-Peru settlement. The Ecuador-Peru settlement marked the end of the last and longest running source of armed international conflict in the Western Hemisphere. The United States, along with Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, served as a broker and Guarantor of that settlement. U.S. military personnel, along with those of the other Guarantors, also made a vital contribution in manning the international observation force which monitored the cease-fire and helped maintain peace in the disputed area.

The President will stress to the two Presidents his strong support for the Ecuador-Peru peace settlement and join in launching the border integration plan.

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