Peru president, APEC host, warns of threats to free trade

Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski speaks during a meeting with the president of the foreign trade company of Peru, Jose Luis Noriega, during the closing ceremony of APEC SME Summit in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation APEC are meeting in Lima this week. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) (The Associated Press)

Cranes of the port of El Callao, Peru, are seen through a window on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation will meet in Lima Nov. 19-20 to discuss the future of international trade policies, growth and improvement of life conditions for more than a third of the world's population. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix) (The Associated Press)

The president of Peru has started off an Asian-Pacific trade summit with a warning about what he sees as a growing threat to global free trade.

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said recent elections in the U.S. and Britain are evidence that "protectionist tendencies" are gaining ground. The economist and former Wall Street investor said anyone who wants to promote protectionism should, in his words, "read an economic history of the 1930s."

He did not directly mention U.S. President-elect Donald Trump or his opposition to free trade deals.

Kuczynski spoke at Friday's opening of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Lima, Peru. The summit is drawing leaders from around the world, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama for his final global summit.