San Diego Union Tribune November 4, 2005 Bush faces tough road at Summit of Americas Unpopularity evident as two-day forum begins By Finlay Lewis COPLEY NEWS SERVICE MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina – President Bush and 33 other Western Hemisphere leaders will begin summit deliberations today at this seaside resort amid massive security preparations that underscore Bush's unpopularity across Latin America. Expectations are low for the fourth Summit of the Americas in 11 years, although the inclusion of Venezuela's fiery president, Hugo Chávez, might add an element of unscripted drama to the event. The summit's official agenda calls for the leaders to come to grips with problems arising from poverty and democracy. "I strongly believe that we have a great opportunity to deal with job creation or poverty by putting a system in place that encourages economic growth and entrepreneurship," Bush said in an interview with reporters from the region before his departure. He arrived in Argentina yesterday evening with his wife, Laura. Advertisement However, with federal budget constraints limiting Bush's options and regional trade talks at a standstill, the deliberations might not produce concrete results. The president had hoped the forum would revive long-standing plans to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas – comprising countries stretching from Canada to Chile – which stalled after negotiators missed a January deadline for wrapping up talks. Bush said the issue is unlikely to be revisited until after a new global trade deal is negotiated because both projects touch on many of the same issues. "From our point of view, the Free Trade Area of the Americas has defined the summit process," said Thomas A. Shannon Jr., assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere. The streets outside the five-star hotel where the leaders will meet are likely to be active during the two-day summit. Argentine authorities are bracing for an estimated 50,000 visitors, some of whom are coming for a Peoples Summit at a soccer stadium not far from the summit site. Fourth Summit of the Americas Nations: All 34 participating nations except for Panama and Honduras were to be represented by heads of state. Purpose: The meeting is to focus on creating jobs and promoting democracy. But Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez seeks the "final burial" of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas accord. Venezuela also wants the summit declaration to state that 37 million people live in poverty in the United States – a clause Washington rejects. Cuba is banned from participating in the summit. But Cuban parliament speaker Ricardo Alarcon showed up in Mar del Plata anyway, along with many protesters. Next: After the summit, Bush is scheduled to visit Brazil and Panama before returning to Washington on Monday night. Many will be drawn there by former Argentine soccer star turned TV personality Diego Maradona. He was planning to make the 250-mile trip from Buenos Aires to Mar del Plata, a city of 600,000, accompanied by a trainload of summit protesters. Maradona is expected to be joined at a demonstration in Mar del Plata by families of soldiers killed in Iraq and, possibly, by Chávez and Evo Morales, an Indian activist from Bolivia who is a front-runner in that country's presidential election next month. Many protesters are coming to demand an end to free trade and globalization, reprising a theme that has inspired mass demonstrations at international summits and other high-profile events around the world since 1999. But the level of anger over the war in Iraq could add energy and passion to the protests. "Iraq pollutes everything," said Manuel Mora y Araujo, a prominent Argentine pollster. "It produces an image of arrogance." The days leading up to the summit have been marked by demonstrations in major cities. One group of protesters in Buenos Aires handed out leaflets demanding that Bush be denied entry into the country and saying Bush is responsible for genocide. A sign strung across a freeway 150 miles from Mar del Plata read, "Bush=Hitler=Free Trade Area of the Americas." "Argentina has always been pro-American," said Javier Mendieta, 36, an executive of an oil services firm. "But since Bush came to power he's alienating people everywhere in the world." About 9,000 Argentine troops are being deployed in a ring around the hotels where the leaders will be staying. About 250 city blocks will be cordoned off by nearly 10 miles of iron fencing, and unauthorized aircraft will be kept 100 miles from the city. After leaving the summit, Bush will visit Brazil and Panama before returning to Washington. Protests are expected at both stops. Regional economic and political turmoil during the past few years has cooled the optimism that marked past summits, at which it was broadly agreed that prosperity and social progress would flow from embracing trade, privatization, budget austerity, competition and democracy. "That is a dream that has been shattered, evaporated," said Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank. That development has provided an opportunity for Chávez, a fierce opponent of regional free trade and a populist who helps sustain Fidel Castro's regime in Cuba with subsidized oil. Chávez has said he is worried that Bush might invade Venezuela like he did Iraq. Yesterday, Venezuela held a military exercise to defend against a mock invasion. With Venezuela ranked as the fourth-largest supplier of oil to the United States, Bush and his top aides appeared anxious in the days leading up to the summit to avoid giving Chávez any opening. In his pre-departure interview, Bush reacted mildly when asked about Chávez's controversial request to buy nuclear reactor technology from Argentina to bolster his energy sector. "I guess if I were a taxpayer in Venezuela I would wonder about the energy supply that Venezuela has," said Bush, adding: "But maybe it makes sense. I haven't really studied the proposal." Slumping in the polls at home, Bush arrives here with little public support across the region. In a recent survey, pollster John Zogby found that just 17 percent of Argentina's government, business and education leaders approve of Bush's job performance, while 12 percent of a similar group in Brazil gave him a good grade. Likewise, Chávez does not appear to have a sizable following in Argentina. "He is not very admired," said Mora y Araujo, the pollster. He added, however, that Chávez appears to have tapped a vein of anti-Americanism by portraying himself as a victim of an overbearing superpower. The diminished expectations for the summit appear to reflect the reality that ambitious action plans adopted at previous sessions did not prevent a series of financial crises across Latin America several years ago. And, while regional growth has resumed, a spike in poverty rates has diminished only slightly, unemployment remains high and income inequality has worsened. While no new developments on a regional trade deal are likely, the president is expected to talk to other leaders, either individually or in small groups, about forging ahead with more-modest efforts. The United States has recently carried out trade agreements with a Central American bloc and with Chile. During his stopover in Brazil, Bush is expected to discuss ways to accelerate the world trade talks when he meets with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bush will then fly to Panama for talks with President Martín Torrijos that could also touch on trade, but also on terrorism, corruption and narcotics trafficking. With U.S. shippers interested in expanding the capacity of the Panama Canal's locks, Bush also is to visit the Miraflores Locks at the Pacific entrance to the canal. »Next Story»