Bush urges Congress to approve free trade deal with Peru

U.S. President George W. Bush urged Tuesday the Congress to approve the free trade agreement with Peru as soon as possible.

Bush made the appeal after his meeting with visiting Peruvian President Alan Garcia at the White House.

"The central issue facing us right now is the passage of a free trade agreement. I assured the president that I will work with Congress as soon as possible to get this agreement passed," Bush said.

For his part, Garcia said Peru hopes to have a free trade agreement with the United States.

"We are looking for an agreement that does not just focus on the most modern or the most significant economic groups in the country. We are also looking to have a free trade agreement that is focused internally and that will benefit our entire population, all our productive sectors ...so that they may export to the world and to the United States in particular," Garcia said.

According to a report by the Washington Times on Tuesday, the Bush administration hopes to take advantage of the meeting with Garcia to help check the rising regional power of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. However, Garcia has shown little interest in spearheading an effort to contain Chavez.

Source: Xinhua