Peru's new govt unveils pro-integration foreign policy

Lima, Aug 3 (IANS) The new peruvian government's foreign policy will promote Latin American integration based on the principle of mutual respect and reciprocal benefit, Foreign Affairs Minister Hector Bejar said."We will strengthen Latin American integration and cooperation, without ideological distinctions. We will revalue the Andean Community in its special economic, trade, social, cultural and physical integration aspects," Bejar said.In his first meeting with the press at the Foreign Ministry, Bejar highlighted Peru's participation in the Pacific Alliance trade bloc with members such as Colombia, Chile and Mexico, reports Xinhua news agency."We export to the Andean Community an amount equivalent to the Pacific Alliance, another vital area of regional integration, but it is the main regional market for our export manufacturing companies," he noted.Bejar, a sociologist graduated from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, was appointed Foreign Minister by President Pedro Castillo, who took office on July 28.Bejar stressed that Castillo's foreign policy will also seek to strengthen the Union of South American Nations."We will promote its reconstitution and modernisation, as the cooperation and consultation body that affirms the entity of South America in world politics," he said."We will vigorously reinsert the Peruvian presence" in the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and "we will work to strengthen it and boost its capacity for action"the Minister added.
--IANS ksk/