Gates was due to hold talks in Santiago with his Chilean counterpart, Jaime Ravinet, before heading to Bolivia this weekend for a conference of regional defense ministers in Santa Cruz, press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters.

Chile is among Washington's "closest partners in the hemisphere" and the two countries share "a mutual desire to develop regional mechanisms to support disaster relief," Morrell said Thursday.

Chile's capabilities "were on full display to the world this year from its remarkable response to the earthquake and tsunami that struck in February to the extraordinary rescues of the 33 miners trapped underground for 70 days," he said.

At the conference of defense ministers from the Americas in Santa Cruz, officials were expected to focus on "the need for a hemisphere-wide mechanism to more effectively channel disaster relief," he said.

Gates "believes this forum can and should play a vital role in fostering cooperation with other governments and militaries in the Western Hemisphere," he said.

On the sidelines of the conference, Gates will meet with defense ministers from Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil and El Salvador.

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