Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori met with President Arnoldo Aleman of the Republic of Nicaragua at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. This was the first visit to Japan by a president of Nicaragua since 1991, when President Violeta Chamorro had visited. President Aleman expressed his gratitude for Japan's invaluable assistance when Nicaragua was struggling to recover from the effects of civil war and for Japan's assistance in the wake of Hurricane Mitch in the autumn of 1998.