Peruvian President abandons Clinton at joint conference in Lima

Lima (Peru), June 9(ANI): U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in the midst of an awkward moment when Peruvian President Alan Garcia Perez walked out on her during a joint conference in Lima, Peru.

Clinton was in Peru, as part of her weeklong trip to Latin America and the Caribbean for the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), which bills itself as "the Western Hemisphere's premier multilateral organization".

Garcia made a statement in Spanish, praising Clinton for being "a woman who represents modernity, a woman who has fought a virtuous struggle for women's rights for a very long time", and then walked out of the room, leaving Clinton alone to wait for the translation of his comments.

Talking about Monday's incident, a Peruvian Embassy Political Department official said that it's "not rare" for Peruvian leaders to meet the press individually, but added that he didn't know the details of Perez's ditching of Clinton, Fox News reports.

Meanwhile, in his statement, Garcia cited Clinton's work as first lady, advocating for women's rights in Beijing and her unsuccessful bid for health care overhaul.

"So we know that she has a calling to serve women, to serve the poor, to serve the people, and that is why we are very happy to have her here to show that this is - her presence here shows that our friendship will continue our friendship with Peru and the United States," Garcia said. (ANI)