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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | October 2006 
Calderon Promises Stronger Regional Ties
 Associated Press
| | Chile's President Michelle Bachelet, right, listens to Mexico's President elect Felipe Calderon at La Moneda government palace, in Santiago, Chile, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2006. (AP/Santiago Llanquin) |
Mexico's incoming government will strengthen ties with its Latin American neighbors, President-elect Felipe Calderon said in Peru on his first international tour since winning election in July.
"I decided to be in Peru to endorse our clear Latin American calling," Calderon said Wednesday at the government palace after a private meeting with Peruvian President Alan Garcia.
The region's leaders share "a challenge to create a more dignified and higher-quality standard of living for those they govern," Calderon said.
The conservative former energy minister, who was declared the winner last month of the narrowest presidential election in Mexican history, takes office Dec. 1.
Calderon said his administration would seek closer economic and cultural ties with Peru and other nations to promote development "without renouncing a Latin American identity."
Garcia toasted Calderon with pisco, a grape liquor popular in Peru, and noted that "there's no wall separating us or Latin America" — a reference to U.S. plans to construct hundreds of miles (kilometers) of fencing along its southern border. U.S. President George W. Bush earlier in the day signed a bill authorizing US$1.2 billion (€950 million) in funding toward construction.
"It is a great honor that the president-elect of the Mexicans would come to Peru on his first trip away from his country," Garcia added.
Calderon was scheduled to meet with President Michelle Bachelet in neighboring Chile on Thursday. |
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