 |
| Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel hosts an honor cordon to welcome Peruvian President Ollanta Humala at the Pentagon, June 11, 2013. The two leaders met to discuss issues of mutual importance. DOD |
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Secretary Hosts Peruvian Leaders at Pentagon
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, June 12, 2013 - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel hosted Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, Foreign Minister Eda Rivas and Defense Minister Pedro Cateriano at the Pentagon yesterday, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said.
In a statement summarizing the meeting, Little noted that Humala had met with President Barack Obama at the White House earlier in the day.
"Secretary Hagel affirmed the importance of the U.S.-Peru bilateral relationship and told President Humala that the Department of Defense is committed to increasing our cooperation, including in the areas of training and information sharing," Little said. Hagel also commended Humala on Peru's comprehensive counternarcotics strategy and recent operations to interdict narcoterrorists, he added.
Both leaders agreed that one of the key vehicles to deepening defense cooperation is an updated defense cooperation agreement that the United States and Peru began working on following then-Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta's visit to Lima last year, the press secretary said, and they agreed that representatives from both nations should work to finalize these consultations.
Hagel also thanked Humala for hosting the next Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas and conveyed that he looks forward to working with Cateriano on a successful meeting, Little said
