EL SALVADOR: President George Bush arrived in San Salvador yesterday for a brief visit, during which he discussed trade and the fight against drug trafficking with Central American leaders.
President Francisco Flores welcomed the US President as he stepped off Air Force One. The two were to have a short meeting before being joined for a working lunch by the leaders of Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama and Belize.
Mr Bush was due back in Washington later yesterday. Some 11,000 police and military were on high alert for the five-hour visit, the final leg of Mr Bush's Latin American tour.
Mr Bush flew into El Salvador from his landmark stop in Lima, capital of Peru, where he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Peru's President Alejandro Toledo in the battle against terrorism and poverty.
Three days after a bombing killed nine people and injured 30 more near the US embassy, Mr Bush, on a day-long visit to Lima, expressed "deep sympathy" for the loss of life and said he and his host "share a common perspective on terrorism: we must stop it".
Mr Toledo said Lima and Washington were allies in "a war without quarter against terrorism and drug trafficking". He and Mr Bush shared "the energy and the stubbornness" required to achieve victory.
Peruvian authorities deployed an unprecedented security arsenal during the visit, placing its MIG-29 fighters on highest alert to intercept any wayward planes. Snipers patrolled the rooftops along the route and near Mr Bush's hotel. Helicopters tracked the Bush motorcade from the moment it left the military airport of Callao and then patrolled the skies above Lima.
Some 22,000 police were deployed on the city's streets - including 2,000 special operations forces, 70 members of which were trained for rapid intervention.
"We have experienced the effects of terrorism here for 20 years, the United States, on September 11th," Mr Toledo said.
Mr Bush and Mr Toledo put their back-slapping friendship on display during the visit, the first by a US head of state. The smiling leaders bantered about more trivial qualities they shared - like their almost identical blue ties, or their age - as they announced a series of agreements.
"I know you seem younger than I am, but we are both 55 years old," Mr Toledo said.
"We may be the same age, but el tiene pelo negro. Yo tengo pelo gris (he has black hair, I have grey hair.)," countered Mr Bush.
"President Bush has very good taste with regard to colour in ties ... he's also taller than I am," rejoined Mr Toledo.
Marshalling his visit's symbolic power to help his politically struggling host, Mr Bush praised Mr Toledo as a "leader who symbolises Peru's revitalisation".
The visiting president announced a resumption of Peace Corps missions to San Salvador, with the first volunteers expected in August after a 27-year hiatus; and a tripling of US counter-narcotics aid to Peru, the world's second-largest source of cocaine.
Bush said he had not decided whether to renew anti-drug surveillance flights over Peru, suspended last year after a Peruvian jet, acting on intelligence provided by a US surveillance plane, shot down a civilian aircraft, killing a US missionary and her daughter.
"We are reviewing all avenues toward an effective policy of interdiction," Mr Bush said, noting the incident had caused Washington to "step back" from the policy. - (AFP)