The visit of President George W. Bush to Peru has great historic importance. It is the first visit to Peru by an incumbent President of the United States, as well as the first time President Bush travels to the South American continent.

Ambassador Wagner with President Bush

With this gesture, the Government of the United States sends a clear message of support for the democratic process our country is undergoing and signals its firm backing for our government's struggle against poverty, corruption and drug trafficking as well as for its commitment to providing quality education for all our people.

Our two countries are experiencing the highest point in their bilateral relations and share, as never before, many areas of agreement, in a framework of mutual respect and understanding. Both governments coincide completely in the need to strengthen democracy and have expressed their joint decision to foster full respect for human rights and to guarantee the rule of law as cornerstones of our national identities.

This is the opportunity to advance a new agenda between democratic Peru and the United States by adopting commitments that look toward the future and by creating bilateral consultation and cooperation mechanisms that will allow us to set goals and to put forward our common aspirations.

The fight against drug trafficking and its sinister ally, terrorism, are points of total agreement between our governments. For more than a decade, Peru suffered the tragic consequences of a scourge that claimed over 25,000 victims.

Although today the terrorist movements that ravaged our homeland have been defeated, we are firmly committed to the avoidance of any return of terrorism that may endanger our people's peaceful lives and democratic future. Given that experience, Peru resolutely supports President Bush's leadership in his struggle against global terrorism.

On the occasion of the visit by President Bush, a series of initiatives and cooperation programs will be adopted to strengthen even further the political, diplomatic, trade and cultural relations between our two countries.

We are also grateful for the steadfast support of the Administration to attain in the United States Congress, as soon as possible, the renewal and expansion of the Andean Trade Preferences Act in the conviction that it is not simply a trade tool, but also essentially a matter of national and regional security involving the countries of Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, as well as the United States.

The whole Peruvian nation and its representative institutions —governmental authorities, political parties, entrepreneurs, workers and civil society —are aware that this visit will be a unique opportunity to extend our warmest welcome to the President and the people of the United States of America and to launch a new and vital stage in the shared destiny.

Allan Wagner
Peru's Ambassador to America