The United States said on Monday that it has "very important" ties with Latin America amid an ongoing trip by U.S. President George W. Bush to the region.

"We have very important ties with Latin America. They are long- standing," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.

"And they involve everything from trade issues to issues of elevating poverty and job creation to moving ahead with initiatives like the biofuels project that the president announced in Brazil to working on counterterrorism and security cooperation, counternarcotics and a full range of issues, including work together with those countries and the UN Security Council on matters of global concern," he said.

Bush kicked off his week-long tour of Latin America on March 8, the longest Latin American trip since he became president. The visit is believed to show U.S. cares about ties with Latin America.

Latin American countries have complained that the United States focuses too much on the war against the terrorism and has ignored Latin America.

Source: Xinhua