Sept. 19, 1961 - President Kennedy welcomed President Manuel Prado y Ugarteche (left) of Peru today and said their two countries stood "shoulder to shoulder" in the fight for "a world at peace, a world of law." The Peruvian President was the first head of state of another American country to visit Washington during the Kennedy Administration. Dr. Prado said he sought the closing of ranks in the Hemisphere "against infiltration by foreign and disruptive ideologies." This was an apparent reference to the regime of Fidel Castro in Cuba, which is Communist-dominated. Peru has broken diplomatic relations with Cuba after having opposed Castro almost from the beginning of his rule.
