U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday congratulated Alan Garcia, a social democrat from the Peru Aprist Party, on winning the Peruvian presidential election, White House Spokesman Tony Snow said.

Bush called Garcia from his official airplane, Air Force One. "They talked first about congratulations on winning the election, the president passed them on," White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters.

The two leaders also "talked about defending and extending democracy in the region; and also working together on issues of free trade," Snow said.

Garcia, 57, was re-elected head of state in a vote on Sunday, 21 years after he was elected president of Peru.

Bush also telephoned Salvadoran President Antonio Saca to discuss immigration, Snow said, amid debate in the U.S. Congress over legislation to deal with the estimated 11.5 million illegal immigrants, who came mostly from Latin America.

Source: Xinhua