Bush begins Latin American trip

WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush headed for Latin America on Thursday declaring that "two-bit terrorists" who exploded a car bomb and killed nine people outside the U.S. Embassy in Peru would not deter him from visiting Lima later this week. 

"You bet I'm going," Bush told reporters before he left the White House for the Texas border town of El Paso en route to Mexico, El Salvador and Peru. 

"I'm sure President Toledo will do everything he can to make Lima safe for our trip," he said, referring to Peru's President Alejandro Toledo. 

It was not immediately known who planted the bomb, but the attack bore the hallmarks of the leftist rebel assaults that scarred Peru in the 1980s and 1990s when the Shining Path and Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, or MRTA, guerrilla groups waged war on the state. 

Bush, who is scheduled to arrive in Lima on Saturday after attending a U.N. development summit in Monterrey, Mexico, hinted that U.S. intelligence had suspects in mind. 

"We might have an idea, they've been around before," he said. "You know, no two-bit terrorists are going to prevent me from doing what we need to do and that is promote our friendship in the hemisphere." 

Bush's four-day trip opens with a stop in El Paso where he will promise to tighten security along the porous U.S. border with Mexico without disrupting trade. 

He is expected to propose a nearly $4.5 billion increase in funding for airport and border security to keep out those who might try to launch attacks like those on Sept. 11. 

'SMART BORDER' PACT 

Bush was also set to announce a "smart border" agreement with Mexico aimed at letting legitimate trade and travelers through and keeping would-be terrorists out. 

U.S. officials see the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border with Mexico as a weak link in homeland defenses because of the heavy flow of illegal drugs and immigrants. 

Proposals to speed up legal traffic between the NAFTA partners include introducing "smart cards" for trusted cross-border commuters, and inspecting and sealing cargo loads at the point of origin so they do not need to be inspected. 

"The system is antiquated. ... It needs to be modernized for the good of both countries," Bush told reporters this week. 

The United States and Canada have already agreed to tighten security by developing permanent resident cards and a joint immigration database. 

U.S. officials fear the 5,500-mile (8,900-km) border with Canada could also be exploited by the al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, accused of masterminding the attacks on New York and Washington that killed around 3,000 people. 

Bush's top homeland security advisers have recommended merging the beleaguered Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Customs Service. 

But the administration still faces what may be an impossible task: screening would-be attackers without slowing down the roughly 500 million people, 11.2 million trucks and 2.2 million rail cars that cross into the country each year. 

DEVELOPMENT AND TRADE 

From El Paso, Bush will fly to Monterrey to attend a U.N. development conference to tout his plan to boost aid to poor countries in the face of long-standing criticism of Washington for its meager foreign aid budget. 

Bush was expected to tell leaders that increased aid could help ease the despair that fuels Islamic militancy. 

He also will discuss ways of improving immigration with Mexican President Vicente Fox, and will meet with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien. 

Bush will be the first sitting U.S. president to visit Peru, where on Saturday he will meet with Toledo, and with the leaders of Andean nations Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador. 

After the bombing in Lima, Toledo said he would guarantee Bush's safety with more than 7,000 police expected to be deployed. 

While no one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, it recalled attacks by the leftist rebel groups in the 1980s and 1990s that killed thousands. 

With Colombia also descending into worsening violence, Bush is seeking authority from Congress to use U.S. aid to help Bogota fight rebel insurgents, as well the drug trade that has fueled four decades of violence and supplies much of the cocaine in the United States. 

And on Sunday, Bush will discuss trade and migration with leaders of Central American countries -- Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama -- in San Salvador, before returning to Washington. 

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