Peru increases security ahead of APEC forum

World Today

Peru has increased security to host world leaders at the 2016 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

CCTV America’s Dan Collyns takes a closer look.

Using the presidential jet, the Peruvian Air Force runs through a drill for a potential attack ahead of the arrival of heads of state for the APEC meeting.

They’ve been trained for hostage situations and fire fights.

“All the training that we are seeing is the training that the Air Force has done for the APEC summit, which will begin soon. Training of our personnel is basically constant, especially for unpredicted situations which could arise,” Luis Gonzalez, Air Force General said.

More than 11,000 police officers have been deployed to guarantee the security of those attending the forum.

Roads have been cordoned off around the convention center which will host Russian president Vladimir Putin, outgoing U.S. president Barack Obama and the President of China Xi Jinping, who will stay on for an official state visit.

Peru’s government has declared two days of public holiday as a sizable part of the city has been effectively shut down. A security plan has registered residents living around the APEC venue so they can come and go as they please.

Meanwhile, some eight hundred thousand Lima residents are expected to take advantage of the long weekend and get out of the city.