Bush vows to help Latin American nations fight terrorism.(Chicago Tribune)

LIMA, Peru _ Three days after a car bomb killed nine near the U.S. Embassy, President Bush arrived here Saturday vowing to help Peru and other Latin American nations battle terrorism and build the democratic, capitalistic societies that he said would reduce the influence of terrorists in the region.

Bush, the first sitting U.S. president to visit this Andean nation, came bearing hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to assist local efforts to combat terrorism, drugs and poverty. He said he would dispatch Commerce Secretary Donald Evans on a trade mission to Peru later this year.

The president also announced that he would re-establish the Peace Corps here for the first time in 27 years to help with a variety of health and education projects. The first volunteers are to arrive in August, he said.

Bush …