President Biden & Prime Minister Trudeau- No Spoken Statements About Cuba Or Venezuela; Venezuela Mentioned In Written Statement; President Biden Personal Note About Juan Gonzalez

The White House
Washington DC
23 February 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Remarks by President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada Before Virtual Bilateral Meeting
Roosevelt Room (4:16 P.M. EST)

PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, before we go on, I want to make sure you know Anthony Blinken, our Secretary of State, sitting here. And the fellow down here on the right hand side is a guy named Jake Sullivan, and he's the National Security Advisor. And the National Security Council Senior Director for Western Hemisphere, Juan Gonzalez, who usually speaks Spanish to me, which I have trouble with as well.

NOTE: Juan Gonzalez is Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for the Western Hemisphere at the National Security Council (NSC) in The White House

I told you, Mr. Prime Minister, I took five years of French in school and college, as well. And when I -- every time I tried to speak it, I'd make such a fool of myself, I stopped trying. At least when I try Spanish and I make a fool of myself, they laugh with me. At any rate, thank you very much. And the press is about to leave the room here, and we can get to business.

Roadmap for a Renewed U.S.-Canada Partnership
Building Global Alliances

”The Prime Minister and the President affirmed their shared commitment to addressing global challenges, and reiterated their firm commitment to the United Nations, G7 and G20 as well as NATO, the WTO, and the Five Eyes community.

The two leaders discussed their shared concern about Russia’s egregious mistreatment of Aleksey Navalny and its repression of democratic processes, gross violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and destabilizing policies around the world. They also reviewed the situations in Venezuela, Myanmar, Iran, Yemen, and the Middle East.”

Left To Right: Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor; Vice President Kamala Harris; President Joe Biden; Secretary of State Antony Blinken; Senior Director Western Hemisphere Affairs at The National Security Council Juan Gonzalez.