(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel will be traveling to Colombia, Chile, and Peru for six days starting Thursday, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.
The trip involves discussions on security cooperation and emerging threats.
In Colombia, Hagel "will meet with Colombian leaders and reinforce our close and wide-ranging defense relationship," Pentagon Spokesperson Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters. "Colombia continues to expand its role as a security exporter across the region, and Secretary Hagel will underscore the United States' continued support for these efforts, as well as Colombia's internal counterinsurgency operations as the government pursues a peace process.
"He will also seek new avenues for future security cooperation and visit a Colombian military base to observe training for Colombian Special Forces and aviators," Kirby added.
From there, Hagel will head to Chile, a country Kirby described as "another longstanding defense partner of the United States and a regional leader in humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and peacekeeping.
"In meetings with Chile's leadership, the secretary will explore ways that the United States can expand our partnership with Chile in these areas and seek to identify new areas for cooperation in the broader Asia-Pacific region," Kirby said.
On the third leg of the trip, Hagel will attend the 11th Conference of the Defense Ministers of the Americas in Peru, "a biennial conference that is the Western Hemisphere's premier venue for senior leaders to discuss regional defense issues," Kirby noted.
He added that Hagel "will stress the United States' commitment to partnerships that strengthen national defense institutions and confront hemispheric security challenges, including ungoverned spaces, organized crime and narcotics trafficking," as well as the Pentagon's "emerging strategy for adapting to the impacts of climate change." Bilateral meetings with Peru's leadership are also on the agenda, Kirby affirmed.
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