Creation of a regional peacekeeping force emerged Wednesday as a key issue at a U.S.-hosted meeting of Central American defense and security ministers on how to confront threats ranging from drug trafficking to disease epidemics, AP reported. Guatemala's defense minister, Gen. Carlos Humberto Aldana, said creation of the battalion-strength peacekeeping force would bring greater economic security and political stability. He suggested that it be ratified by treaty among the Central American nations and include specific financial and personnel commitments from each. «We want to focus on a universal soldier _ a soldier of peace,» Aldana said. «This will undoubtedly be the right path to go down.» The force would be used for military peacekeeping missions but also for such things as rapid response to natural disasters, such as the recent mudslides in Guatemala that killed more than 650 people. The U.S. military would not be directly involved but would have observer status, according to Pentagon officials. U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was hosting a two-day conference with the ministers from all seven Central American countries, calling it a «unique moment for the Americas.» «The opportunities ahead are limited only by our countries' commitment to defending our free systems that so many have fought so long and so hard to secure,» said Rumsfeld. «Drug traffickers, smugglers, hostage-takers, terrorists, violent gangs _ these are threats that are serious. But our countries are combatting them, and together I think we can defeat them over time.»
