Trying some dance floor diplomacy Boris? Foreign Secretary heads to ‘darkest Peru‘ where he feeds a manatee and strokes a spider monkey in Latin America charm offensive
tried a spot of dance floor diplomacy and went close-up with a manatee as he kicked off his Latin America tour.
Mr Johnson has become first Foreign Secretary in over 50 years travelled to ‘darkest Peru‘ as he embarks on a five day charm offensive in the region.
The minister rolled his shirt sleeves up to get up close and personal with the exotic animals at a wildlife centre.
He hand fed one of the marine mammals - also known as sea cows - with leaves, and gave a manatee calf milk from a bottle.
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And he played with a little spider monkey and a three-toed sloth as he was given a tour of the Amazon Rescue Centre near the town of Iquitos.
Tweeting about his experience, Mr Johnson said: ‘Sadly I haven’t met Paddington Bear but I did encounter some truly majestic wildlife in deepest Peru, from manatees to the spidermonkey.
Boris Johnson (pictured with the animal) signed a wildlife agreement with Peru on the visit
‘We must all do more to support endangered species across the world and to end wildlife crime.‘
The Cabinet minister - well known for getting stuck into stunts - was also keen to get involved when he visited the village school at nearby Santa Marta, on the bank of the Amazon.
As school children performed a dance to a pounding drumbeat, the Foreign Secretary took the hand of infant class teacher Adriana Pinedo and led her out to the dance floor.
He twirled Miss Pinedo around to cheers from her pupils.
Mr Johnson‘s visit to the country is part of a Government‘s Brexit drive to beef up relations with Peru.
The Santa Marta school has benefited from a UK-funded solar power scheme to provide it with electricity.
And at the wildlife centre he signed an agreement for Peru to be a partner in a conference on fighting the illegal trade in wildlife being hosted by the UK in London in October.
Mr Johnson joked that the plump, slow-moving creature had reminded him of a particular Member of Parliament, but he refused to say who.
Manatees are threatened in the Amazon as local people hunt them for meat and use their young as pets.
Mr Johnson also stroked a baby black spider monkey - or maquisapa negra - rescued by rangers after its parents were killed by poachers, and met a three toed sloth hanging from a hand rail.
He later visited a stadium being constructed in Lima for next year‘s 2019 Pan Am Games athletic tournament, which Peru is hosting.
Britain is already using its experience from the 2012 London Olympics to support the project and UK firms are expected to be bidding for construction contracts as building work continues.
On Sunday, he is due to move on to Argentina, where he will become the first foreign secretary to visit since 1993.
The UK is trying to reset a relationship with Buenos Aires which was thrust into the deep freeze by the bellicose approach to the Falklands of presidents Nestor Kirchner and Cristina Kirchner between 2003 and 2015.
The arrival of Mauricio Macri as president has seen Argentina dial down its rhetoric on the disputed islands and seek engagement with the wider world, including by hosting the G20 this year.
Mr Johnson will attend a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Buenos Aires on Monday, and Theresa May is due to become the first prime minister since Tony Blair in 2001 to visit Argentina when she takes part in the leaders‘ summit in November.
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