Henry Kissinger words: Destiny of Mexico and US are closely linked
Henry Kissinger, former U.S. secretary of state and Nobel Prize recipient, died Wednesday at the age of 100.
Kissinger was was guest speaker at the Temple Mount Sinai’s 100th birthday celebration at the Abraham Chavez Theater in Downtown El Paso.
Here is a link to his news obituary. The following is a May 6, 1998 report published in the El Paso Times detailing his speech:
May 6, 1998, El Paso Times, by Jim Conley
Kissinger says destinies of US, Mexico are closely tied
Former Secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Henry Kissinger professed to be a “great admirer of Mexico” Tuesday in El Paso, where he was the guest speaker for Temple Mount Sinai’s 100th birthday celebration.
“I believe the destiny of Mexico and the United States are closely linked,” he said at a news conference before the celebration. More than 1,000 people attended his talk at Abraham Chavez Theatre.
“Mexico has undergone a transition in the last decade, (and) with the expansion of NAFTA, the role of Mexico as a bridge between South America, Central America and the United States will be even more important,” Kissinger said.
More: Henry Kissinger, a statesman who indelibly shaped US foreign policy, dies at 100
He also said he sees the Mexican elections this year as being closer races than in previous years. “In past elections it was assumed the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) candidate will win,” he said.
Kissinger also said that he doesn’t like the annual process of certifying nations such as Mexico based on how well the United States determines they are dealing with drug problems.
At the evening gathering, Kissinger was flanked by about three dozen invited members of El Paso’s clergy.
Jews, Catholics and Protestants, as well as a Buddhist leader. Temple Mount Sinai Rabi Kenneth Weiss told the crowd that the scene was a reminder that 100 years ago Christians provided about half the donations that built the original temple.
“We praise you, Oh God, for the gift of life,” Weiss said as he opened the event with an invocation calling for members of all faiths to work together for the common goal of serving their one God.
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Kissinger’s deep, deliberate voice rang with both humorous and moving tales of his travels for peace.
The German immigrant said other nations often see us differently than we perceive. “China has had almost 5,000 years of self-government and we’ve had a bit more than 200,” he said. “So the Chinese have had no compulsion to take our advice on how to organize their government.”
He also said sometimes luck rather than skill wins the day. He said that once, when he couldn’t decide how to end an Israeli-Egyptian standoff over use of a road, “I came up with a plan I thought was really bad, but maybe it would get me through the weekend and I could come up with something better later.”
“I proposed that the Israelis could use the road Monday, Wednesday and Friday and the Egyptians Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and the U.N. Sunday. Well, they went for the idea, and it lasted for about four years.”
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Henry Kissinger spoke at Abraham Chavez Theatre in 1998
