Obama with President of Panama says send the next Rivera to the White Sox

4:26 pm, ET, 4/28/11, "Remarks by President Obama and President Martinelli of Panama After Bilateral Meeting"

"PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I want to welcome President Martinelli to the Oval Office, to the White House. As I think all of you know, the relationship between the United States and Panama is a historical relationship, and a strong friendship that isn’t just at the government level, but it is the person-to-person level.

Obviously, there are a lot of Panamanian Americans who live here. At the same time, President Martinelli was just informing me that 7 percent of the Panamanian population is from the United States. And so that constant contact between people I think is part of what has made us such strong friends and allies for generations.

Also, obviously, we share an interest in baseball. And if, Mr. President, you have somebody who is the next Mariano Rivera, make sure they go to the Chicago White Sox.

PRESIDENT MARTINELLI: The White Sox, not the Yankees. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Not the Yankees. They’ve had enough. In building on that friendship, we discussed a wide range of issues in our meeting today. Obviously, one of the most important ones is how do we grow the economies of both countries. And in that regard, we are very pleased by the progress that we’ve made in moving forward a U.S.-Panamanian free trade agreement."...

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