By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, Oct. 6, 2012 – The United States is
committed to deepening its defense relationship with Peru, U.S. Defense
Secretary Leon E. Panetta said today.
Secretary
of Defense Leon E. Panetta, left, speaks with Peruvian Defense Minister
Pedro Cateriano Bellido in Lima, Peru, Oct. 5, 2012. DOD photo by Erin
A. Kirk-Cuomo
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. |
|
During his first visit to the country as defense secretary, Panetta
discussed areas of common interest with Peru’s highest political and
military officials, including President Ollanta Humala and Defense
Minister Pedro Cateriano Bellido.
“We were able to build on
significant progress that has … strengthened the bilateral relationship
between our two militaries,” Panetta said during a press briefing in
Lima at the Peruvian Ministry of Defense, known locally as the
Pentagonito.
“Peru is a strong democratic partner of the United
States, and I’m pleased that the relationship between our two militaries
continues to grow closer, especially in recent years,” he said.
The visit to Peru is the first stop during a weeklong trip for the
secretary to South America and to NATO headquarters in Brussels to meet
with his counterparts and other officials in both regions.
This
morning, as he left the hotel for meetings at the presidential palace,
Panetta took photos with and shook the hands of U.S. Embassy staff
members and Marines who gathered in the lobby to see him.
After
meetings at the palace with the Peruvian president and other officials,
Panetta shared a stage with the Peruvian defense minister, the U.S.
Ambassador Rose Likins and Peru’s Ambassador to the United States,
Harold Forsyth.
“Our two countries are friends; our two countries
are partners in trying to advance the prosperity and security of this
region … and the prosperity and security of Latin America,” Panetta
said. “My goal is to do everything I can to strengthen that partnership
….”
About his hour-long meeting with Humala, Panetta said, “I
told him in particular that the United States is embarked on a new era
in the relationship with this great hemisphere. The principal thrust of
our new defense strategy is aimed at reaching out and developing
partnerships and alliances throughout the world, particularly in this
region of the world.”
The United States is part of the family of
the Americas, all of which face some common challenges, the secretary
said, including terrorism, drug trafficking, meeting the needs of
victims of natural disasters and protecting maritime rights.
To
Humala, Panetta conveyed the regards of President Barack Obama, who
indicated that the United States will do whatever it can to work with
its friends in Peru.
“I ended the meeting with the president
using the words of my Italian father,” the secretary said, speaking a
phrase in Italian that means, ‘step by step we can go a long way. ’“And
that’s what I hope to do in the relationship between the United States
and Peru,” he added.
Later in the afternoon, Panetta traveled to
the Peruvian Defense Ministry, where Peruvian service members held an
arrival ceremony for the secretary.
They stood in military
formation while Panetta reviewed the troops, and then a military band
played the Star Spangled Banner and their own national anthem.
During a press conference there with Cateriano, Panetta said he and the
Peruvian leaders in their meetings had a chance to discuss areas of
common interest where opportunities exist for more collaboration,
including humanitarian assistance, internal security, defense reform,
U.N. peacekeeping and regional security.
An example of
cooperation in humanitarian assistance, Panetta said, is Joint Disaster
Response training provided by a recently completed New Horizons exercise
that involved 420 U.S. and 100 Peruvian service members.
The
exercise also provided nearly $8 million in humanitarian aid to
vulnerable communities recovering from the country’s 2007 earthquake, he
added.
“I want you to know that 26,000 Peruvians were able to
receive medical and dental care as a result of that exercise and our
strong partnership,” the secretary noted, adding, “We want to be able to
continue to build that capacity for the future.”
In terms of
internal security, Peru has conducted successful operations against
narcoterrorists, illustrating the value of joint operations in close
coordination with the Peruvian police, Panetta said.
“The United
States stands ready to work with Peru on joint planning, information
sharing [and] trilateral cooperation with Colombia to address our shared
security concerns in this area,” he added.
On defense reform,
the United States is committed to working with the Peruvian Ministry of
Defense in this area, he said. “I believe our two militaries can
exchange important lessons on ways to improve the functioning of our
respective defense establishments.”
Peru has been a regional leader in contributing to U.N. peacekeeping operations, Panetta said.
“I want to commend the Peruvian military for its contribution with an
all-female unit in Haiti,” he said. “That is a groundbreaking step and
one that demonstrates Peru’s commitment to deploying effective
peacekeepers across the region and beyond.”
The secretary said he
and the Peruvian defense minister together will attend the 10th
Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas this week in Uruguay,
offering that venue as an example of cooperation in regional security.
The conference, he said, “is a very important mechanism to discuss
issues of common concern for all the nations in this hemisphere, such as
enhancing coordination in the area of humanitarian assistance and
disaster relief. Peru will host the CDMA in 2014 and I want to thank
Peru for its willingness to serve in that capacity.”
Each of the
five areas offers opportunities for greater collaboration between the
U.S. and Peruvian militaries, the secretary said, adding that the
nations can bolster such cooperation by working to update their Defense
Cooperation Agreement, which was signed in 1952.
“The U.S. is
committed to working with Peru to do that, and it will improve our
ability to conduct joint activities and do training and other exchanges,
and ultimately help us deal with shared security challenges in the
future,” he said.
After the press conference, the Peruvian
officials honored Panetta by presenting him with the Peruvian Military
Order of Ayacucho, awarded mainly to military, civil guard and
republican guard personnel for distinguished service in positions of
command. During the ceremony, the defense secretary received a red and
white sash and the Grand Cross, a bronze gilded and enameled medal.
Panetta said he was honored to receive the award and accepted it on
behalf of the brave men and women who serve in the U.S. military and who
are part of the Defense Department.
“I consider [the honor] a
reflection of the very close relationship and bonds that we have between
the people of the United States and the people of Peru,” the secretary
said.
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