Miami Summit

I am a former citizen and lawyer from Argentina. I am now a very proud 83-year-old citizen of the United States.

I was very pleased and excited about President Clinton’s visionary summit to create a new free-trade “Partnership for Prosperity” among all the nations of our continent.

Clearly, the greatest accomplishment of the United States in promoting human rights, education, health, development and jobs for all people of the hemisphere would be to erase the suspicion and mistrust instilled in the soul of Latin America by the former policies of our government.

The hand of the United States outstretched to Latin America in such a partnership will cement peace, hope and a new friendship among all of us. This new environment of prosperity and cooperation is truly welcomed by me, particularly since I have worked toward this aim for more than half a century.

I want to especially thank President Clinton for remembering in his opening speech of the summit all of the courageous and innocent people who were tortured and killed by the military dictators who ruled several countries of the Latin continent for so long.

ELISA B. KAPLAN

Redondo Beach