President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner arrived at the Presidential Palace in Lima on Monday, becoming the first Argentine leader to visit Peru in 16 years. The visit was meant to restore ties that were damaged during Peru’s five-week war with Ecuador in 1995, when Argentina sold arms to Ecuador despite being a mediator in the countries’ border dispute.
The president called her visit with Peruvian President Alan García, “a visit of institutional apology and historic reparation,” and the two leaders signed a Strategic Association bilateral agreement. Fernández was scheduled to visit the Peruvian National Congress and meet with Lima Mayor Óscar Luis Castañeda Lossio on Tuesday.
The Argentine president was accompanied on her trip by 140 representatives of Argentine businesses, who worked with their Peruvian counterparts to establish a bi-national business council with the goal of expanding economic cooperation between the two countries. The Peruvian chapter will be led by Leslie Pierce Diez Canseco, general manager of Alicorp, with Franco Macri, president of the Macri group, heading the Argentine chapter.
