Japanese PM leaves Mexico, heads for Trinidad and Tobago

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He comfortably won re-election on Sunday. PHOTO | ALFREDO ESTRELLA

What you need to know:

  • The new agreements include one between Mexican state oil firm Pemex and Japan's development bank, and another between Pemex and the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation.
  • With Japan on the lookout for new power sources after the Fukushima disaster forced the shutdown of its nuclear reactors, energy is high on the prime minister's trip agenda.

MEXICO CITY

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe left Mexico Sunday having struck a series of energy deals and headed for Trinidad and Tobago, his next stop on a tour of Latin America.

The Japanese leader and his wife received a red-carpet sendoff flanked by soldiers at the presidential hangar, and were bid farewell by Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Meade, according to a statement.

Abe, whose five-country visit comes on the heels of Chinese President Xi Jinping's, met Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto for talks during his two-day stay that ended with the signing of a raft of deals Friday.

The new agreements include one between Mexican state oil firm Pemex and Japan's development bank, and another between Pemex and the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation.

With Japan on the lookout for new power sources after the Fukushima disaster forced the shutdown of its nuclear reactors, energy is high on the prime minister's trip agenda.

Abe's nine-day tour of the region will also take him to Colombia, Chile and Brazil.