March 10 (UPI) — President Donald Trump will visit Latin America for the first time, the White House announced Saturday.
The trip will begin next month in Peru, where he will meet with President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and attend the Summit of the Americas, a White House statement showed.
“The trip will be the President’s first to Latin America,” the White House said stated. It demonstrates his “resolve to deepen our historical ties with our partners in the region and to strengthen our joint commitment to improve security and prosperity for the people of the Americas.”
Further, Trump is “looking forward to meeting with partners and allies who share our values and believe that the promise of a safe and prosperous future rests in strong democracies, fair and reciprocal trade, and secure borders,” it stated.
The Summit of the Americas is a meeting where heads of state and government from throughout North and South America will “discuss common policy issues, affirm shared values and commit to concerted actions … to address continuing and new challenges faced in the Americas” its website states.
From Peru, Trump will later visit Columbia and meet with President Juan Santos, who won the Noble Peace Prize in 2016 for the negotiating between the government and a group of left-wing rebels known as FARC guerillas.
An ABC News report noted the trip does not include a stop in Mexico. Tensions have flared with Mexico due to Trump’s campaign promise for a border wall between the two nations.
