US Defense secretary Robert Gates has concluded his tour of Latin America, during which he tried to give US military assistance programs in the region a more human face.
Gates is scheduled to travel to Moscow this coming week, where he and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will have talks with their Russian counterparts on missile defense and other issues.
Rice will then travel to the Middle East.
In his last stop in Suriname Saturday, Gates said the US Defense Department will likely increase its humanitarian efforts in Central and South America, as well as its support of local police and military forces to help allies in the region combat narco-terrorism and illegal drug and arms trafficking.
He said the new initiatives are part of an "evolving mission" of the US Southern Command.
The secretary also announced the end of the four-month, 12-country humanitarian mission of the US Naval Ship Comfort, which left Surinam Sunday to return to its home port of Baltimore, in the US state of Maryland.
"I think that this is part of the evolving mission of Southern Command, in terms of not just providing medical care and training, as the Comfort has done, but also training and professionalizing the military officers and militaries in other countries, building bilateral cooperation in dealing with transnational threats and building partnerships when dealing with the wide range of challenges that face us," Gates said.
"I think that these are the kind of missions that we have in mind: to focus on building partnerships and increasing the capabilities of the individual countries in being able to deal with those challenges," he added
Meanwhile, Suriname President Ronald Venetiaan said he mentioned to Gates at their meeting Suriname's concerns regarding signing the International Criminal Court (ICC) agreement next year.
Suriname will sign the Article 98 bilateral agreement with US, Venetiaan said.
But "we have raised the question of getting a waiver by the US as other countries received and the US congress will likely agree on this," he added.
"The US defense secretary did not have any special wishes for the Surinamese government and we just spoke about the good cooperation", Venetiaan said.
During their 30 minute meeting behind closed doors, the US option to test vehicles in the country's dense forest also came up.
According to the Suriname head of state, other issues raised were the international threat of terrorism and port security.
"Developing countries as Suriname are doing their part in the process by preserving its forest and we ask back from countries as the US to give back development option for our natural resources," Veteniaan said.
Before talks with Venetiaan and his Defense Minister Ivan Fernald, the US defense secretary visited the USNS Comfort.
During a joint press conference at the presidential palace, Gates and Fernald expressed the importance of good and close cooperation as signal to the region.
Gates left Suriname Saturday evening with a delay of two hours as his plane faced some technical problems.
