U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is winding down his six-day tour of several Latin American countries with a stop in Peru today. Gates will meet with senior Peruvian officials in order to “strengthen bilateral relations.” However, U.S. diplomatic sources denied that Gates’ visit has to do with the possibility of moving a U.S. military base from Ecuador to Peru.
Gates was originally supposed to visit the Americas in July but canceled it in order to face increased domestic criticism over policy in Iraq. Yet throughout his trip he has fielded many concerns over the U.S. occupation of Iraq including the role of private contractors and arms sales to the Iraqi military.
Yesterday Gates met with Chilean counterpart José Goñi Carrasco and praised Chilean peacekeeping efforts in countries like Haiti.
Earlier in the week, Gates visited El Salvador where he praised the country’s deployment of troops to combat in Iraq. He also observed training exercises of the Colombian military though he warned the country’s government to avoid hostage rescue attempts.
Image- Al Jazeera
Sources (English)- Bloomberg, AHN, AFP, Associated Press, Voice of America
Sources (Spanish)- Milenio, La Republica
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