|
 Hagel, who will meet his Canadian and Mexican counterparts in
Mexico City before traveling to Guatemala, said the three-day visit
will give him an opportunity to focus on relationship-building in a
vital area that often receives little attention.
"The region is important to America," Hagel told reporters aboard
his plane to Mexico City. "I don't think over the years we've
probably ever done enough to reach out to our Latin American
partners."
He said part of the reason was that U.S. relations in the region
have been stable and good in recent years, so Washington has tended
to focus its attention on the world's trouble spots.
The U.S. defense chief arrived in Mexico on Wednesday afternoon for
talks on Thursday with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts. It is
the second trilateral meeting of the ministers, coming two years
after the inaugural meeting of the group.
Hagel said the meeting would be an opportunity to add "muscle and
sinew" to the growing relationship, possibly by developing a
secretariat to help guide and follow through on the regular
sessions.
The U.S. defense chief is to travel to Guatemala late on Thursday.
He will meet with senior government officials there on Friday and
observe military exercises.
The U.S. military and other government departments have been active
in helping Guatemala develop an interagency task force involving
military, police and judicial authorities engaged in the effort to
reduce narcotics and people trafficking and other crime.
"There's nothing like actually coming out and spending some time in
these countries so they can see that we're committed to carrying
through on some of these programs," Hagel said.
"I do feel strongly ... that this capacity-building for partners is
really critically important for our future and I think for the
stability of the world," he added.
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The visit to Latin America comes just two days after the U.S. State
Department notified Congress that it plans to approve a sale of
Black Hawk helicopters worth about $680 million to Mexico to assist
in its fight against drug trafficking and organized crime.
U.S. officials say Congress has 30 days to respond if it disagrees
with the proposed sale.
Senior U.S. defense officials said the sale was important to
Washington because Mexico has often purchased Russian helicopters in
the past.
The principal contractors for the sale are Sikorsky Aircraft Company
in Connecticut and General Electric Aircraft Company in
Massachusetts.
Senior defense officials said the United States was discussing other
possible military sales with Mexico, including unmanned aerial
vehicles and other equipment. The issue was expected to come up on
Thursday as the North American defense chiefs assess threats they
face in common.
(Reporting by David Alexander; editing by Dan Grebler)
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