83. Letter From President Reagan to Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau1
I congratulate you and President Lopez Portillo for bringing to the attention of our Cancun colleagues the need for their direct involvement in consultations on economic issues of global concern.2
[Page 229]Immediately after Cancun, Ambassador Kirkpatrick pursued the issue of global negotiations at the United Nations with the sense of urgency called for in your summary. The series of breakfast meetings that she initiated eventually led the President of the General Assembly, Ambassador Kittani, to circulate informally a draft resolution on the matter. I decided that the United States should accept this draft, provided other states agree to four amendments that we feel are necessary for meaningful progress.
With the exception of yourself, President Portillo, and a few other colleagues, no other state has, to my knowledge, considered our suggested amendments at the Head of State level. It is important that we treat these issues at the highest levels so they do not lose their significance.
The spirit of Cancun is one of commitment, concern and cooperation. I would emphasize with you the importance of ensuring that our countries foster this spirit wherever consultations and negotiations take place.
With warm regards,
Sincerely,
- Source: Reagan Library, Executive Secretariat, NSC Trip File, North-South Economic Summit Cancun Mexico 10/22/1981–10/23/1981; NLR–755–3–18–1–0. No classification marking.↩
- In a January 22 memorandum to Reagan, Haig reported that the Mexican and Canadian Ambassadors had given Stoessel a letter on January 22 from Trudeau and López Portillo urging that Reagan “take a direct interest in the consultations on global negotiations which will resume soon in New York.” The letter had also been sent to all other Cancun participants. (Department of State, Executive Secretariat, S/S–I Records: Haig’s Correspondence and Meetings with Weinberger, Casey, and the President, Lot 83D288: Evening Reading—January 1982)↩