MR. BUSH GOES TO PERU

President Bush proved his mettle today by visiting Peru in the wake of
Thursday's lethal car-bomb attack.

Terrorists had tried to wage psychological warfare on the Peruvian people
and send a sinister message to Mr. Bush through the bombing, which killed
nine people.

But Mr. Bush countered with a pithy message himself: "Two-bit terrorists
aren't going to prevent me from doing what we need to do, and that is to
promote our friendship in the hemisphere," he told reporters in the Oval
Office. "You bet I'm going."

Mr. Bush's tour of Latin America - which also included a stop in Mexico and
will bring the president to El Salvador on Sunday - will represent the
start of Mr. Bush's fresh engagement of the region. Although the Bush
administration has rhetorically highlighted Latin America's geopolitical
importance to the United States, the White House has failed to take
concrete steps to demonstrate its stated commitment. One measure, on which
the White House had staked much, was the ill-advised amnesty for illegal
immigrants, mostly from Mexico. Thanks to the efforts of Sen. Robert Byrd,
who is blocking it in the Senate, the president will not be able to tout
that. Certainly, Mr. Bush's tour is a promising step in the right
direction, but the administration must quickly follow it up with decisive
action.

Terrorism in Latin America, which is increasingly linked to narco-
trafficking, is quickly becoming an international threat.

According to a study by the Heritage Foundation: "Too few realize that
Latin America, not the Middle East, was the world's leading region for
terrorist activities in 2000 and that drug-traffickers and guerrillas are
increasing their ties with and financing international terrorism."
Alarmingly, the poor economic conditions that conspire against government
attempts to combat terrorism could get worse this year. According to the
Heritage Foundation's study, economic growth in the region "will likely
slow in 2002 along with a decrease in global economic growth and the U.S.
recession."

For this reason, the White House must reclaim its leadership on global
trade. Unfortunately, Mr. Bush made his trip to Peru without sucessfully
prodding Congress into renewing the Andean Trade Preferences Act (ATPA),
which allows Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia to ship 6,000 products to
the United States tariff-free. These preferences expired in December and
amid controversy over an expansion of the preferences; the deal was renewed
in February for only 90 days.

Mr. Bush should also seek to neutralize speculation regarding the CIA's
alleged links with former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos, who is currently
being detained in Peru on corruption and drug-trafficking charges. Peru's
foreign minister, Diego Garcia Sayan, urged the United State to declassify
its documents regarding Mr. Montesinos' activities during the 1990s, a
reasonable request.

The Bush administration must take a lead in helping Latin America combat
terrorism by bolstering transparency and accountability. It should also
allow the region to empower itself economically by expanding trade ties.
Mr. Bush demonstrated guts and commitment by visiting Peru today.

Let's hope this is only the beginning of more vigorous engagement in the
days to come.