Noboa meets new conservative leaders of Peru and Colombia with hopes of forging anti-crime strategies

President Daniel Noboa said he looks forward to “an era of improved regional relationships” following a Tuesday afternoon meeting with Peru’s new president Keiko Fujimori. Earlier, he met with Colombian vice president-elect José Manuel Restrepo, who will be sworn in with president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella on August 7 in Bogota.

President Daniel Noboa attended the inauguration Tuesday of Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori.

Noboa was in Lima to attend Fujimori’s inauguration.

In a social media statement, Noboa said he was “laying the foundation for a joint work agenda” with the new Peruvian and Colombian governments with an emphasis on fighting drug and arms trafficking. He added that he welcomed the change in “ideology” with Ecuador’s neighbors.

Noboa said that Fujimori agreed to strengthen controls on the Peruvian-Ecuadorian border. “More than 70% of the illegal firearms entering Ecuador cross that border and historically inspections have been lax on both sides,” he said. “Many of the transport trucks entering from Peru do so under the facades of legal businesses when, in fact, they are operated by criminal gangs transporting arms and drugs.”

He added that officials from the two governments will meet “as soon as possible” to update border controls.

Noboa’s meeting with Restrepo also focused on controlling the movement of arms and drugs.

Foreign Minister Roberto Kury, who joined Noboa in the meeting, said the discussion including plans to “create a binational work agenda” to combat international drug trafficking. “We face enormous challenges in our joint war against international criminals and with improved relations we will be in a greatly improved position to meet the challenges.”