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Bush, Toledo vow to fight terror, drug trade

The Bushes join Toledo and his wife, Eliane, Saturday.
The Bushes join Toledo and his wife, Eliane, Saturday.  


LIMA, Peru (CNN) -- President Bush and Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo pledged Saturday to strengthen ties on trade, education and the fight against terrorism.

Peru and the United States "understand that political and economic progress depends on security," Bush told reporters late Saturday afternoon in Peru's capital. "And that security is impossible in a world with terrorists."

Bush, the first sitting U.S. president to visit Peru, arrived shortly before 3 p.m. ET accompanied by his wife, Laura, and several administration officials. Toledo met Bush at the airport and the two leaders then left for a one-on-one meeting at the presidential palace.

Security was extremely tight in Lima for Bush's visit, particularly after nine people died in a car bombing Wednesday four blocks from the U.S. Embassy.

Both leaders addressed terrorism following their meeting and Bush thanked Toledo for his leadership and friendship to the United States since September 11.

Toledo tied terrorism in South America such as Wednesday's fatal attack to a wider, international "war with no ambiguities whatsoever against terrorism and drug trafficking."

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"I am stubborn, and I believe it is not incompatible to respect the law and to be strong-handed with regard to the issue of terrorism and drug trafficking," Toledo said, thanking the United States for its increased funding for drug interdiction.

Bush echoed Toledo's statements, saying he came to Peru "to support our mutual desire to fight terror and to help this good democracy thrive."

The president pledged increased economic support for Peru and its neighbors, promising aid and investment, promoting trade and funding training for Andean professionals in information technology.

Bush also said Peace Corps volunteers would return to Peru in August for the first time in 30 years and that the United States would help establish an Andean Center for Excellence in Teacher Training.

Bush was scheduled to meet later Saturday with the presidents of Colombia and Bolivia and the vice president of Ecuador, followed by a state dinner. As in his discussions with Toledo, the issues of trade, poverty and drug trafficking were expected to top the agenda.

Lima was the second stop on the president's four-day Latin American tour, which began with a visit to a U.N. conference on economic development in Monterrey, Mexico. Bush will fly to El Salvador Sunday before returning to Washington.

Bush calls bombers 'two-bit terrorists'

Hours before Bush arrived in Peru authorities detonated up to 10 small homemade bombs thrown into the street from a moving vehicle, police said. The explosions took place in the eastern part of Lima, well away from the presidential palace.

Peruvian officials linked Wednesday's car bombing to Bush's one-day visit and deployed at least 7,000 Peruvian security personnel around Lima.

U.S. officials said the attack appeared to be the work of the leftist Shining Path guerrilla movement, which was prominent in Peru during the 1980s and early 1990s and may be making a resurgence. (Full Story)

Bush said was not deterred by the violence, deriding Wednesday's bombers as "two-bit terrorists."

In his weekly radio address recorded aboard Air Force One en route to Peru, the president said his administration was committed to helping its southern neighbors "build an entire hemisphere that lives in liberty and trades in freedom." (Full story)

The fight against poverty has been a focal point of Bush's trip, highlighted by his proposal Friday to increase by 50 percent the "core development assistance" to poor countries over the next three budget years.

That translates into an annual $5 billion increase over current levels, he told more than 50 heads of state or government on the final day of the five-day U.N.-sponsored International Conference on Financing for Development.

But he warned that money alone will not solve the problems of developing countries, and being poor does not necessarily qualify nations for the money.

"We expect other nations to develop the habits that will lead to a better opportunity for their people -- rule of law, focus on education and good health care," Bush reiterated Saturday. "Unless we all focus on how programs benefit people directly ... it's likely to lead to failure."



 
 
 
 






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