U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched a new initiative to seek consensus on limiting large-scale arms procurement in Latin America and cementing security alliances recently strained by Russian, Chinese and Iranian overtures and Venezuela's rhetoric of U.S. military expansion in the region.
Clinton's second trip to the continent this year began with participation in the two-day general assembly of the Organization of American States, which is meeting in the Peruvian capital to consider challenges posed by the formation of the Union of South American States.
The 12-member UNASUR elected former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner as its first secretary-general in May and has announced plans to promote South American economic and military integration with the exclusion of the United States and Canada.
Clinton has been critical of Latin American arms purchases and clashed with Latin American leaders on approaches to Iran, lack of regional leaders' support for newly elected Honduran President Porfirio Lobo and called for closer cooperation in the war on drugs and cross-border crime.
Latin American governments led by Brazil have publicly disagreed with Clinton on sanctions against Iran, Honduras and Cuba. The last UNASUR summit also defied the United Nations, the United States and Britain to pledge Argentina support for its sovereignty claim over the Falklands.
However, neither Honduras nor Falklands was on the agenda of the OAS conference, which prepared to issue a joint statement calling for limiting regional purchases but falling short of concrete measures against military procurements.
Peru is leading a campaign against arms procurement, arguing Latin America is buying weapons superfluous to need and calling for resources to be channeled into development.
Clinton has scheduled talks Tuesday with Ecuador's left-wing President Rafael Correa and will travel next to Colombia to meet with President Alvaro Uribe and the two presidential candidates, Juan Manuel Santos and Antanas Mockus, who have a runoff June 20. Santos is widely expect to win and continue policies pursued by Uribe, who signed wide-ranging defense agreements with Washington in 2009.
After her visit to Colombia, Clinton will travel to Barbados, where she will discuss crime and security with leaders of Caribbean nations. ?
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