Two articles below on the Americas summit, one from the
BBC, and one from the Washington Post.
Excerpts from BBC article:
President George W Bush is among those attending the
talks. He is expected to be targeted by left-wing
protesters.
Thousands of people are due to stage a protest rally that
will be addressed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
What a setting: Chavez with the support of the massed
people, while Bush is their target: home-team advantage!
The rivalry between Mr Bush and Mr Chavez is expected to
dominate the meeting.
For years Castro has been making impressive speeches at
international forums, and always the U.S media has ignored
him. For some reason, fortunately, Chavez is getting much
more international media attention.
In his keynote speech, Mr Bush will argue that the way to
guarantee prosperity is by encouraging free trade and a
flourishing private sector and by deepening democracy, the
BBC's Jamie Coomarasamy in Mar del Plata reports.
I almost feel sorry for Bush. Chavez will tear Bush's
speech to shreds, to much applause. Bush has the
unenviable task of selling exploitation to the exploited.
rkm
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4403202.stm
Battle ahead at Americas summit
Leaders from 34 nations have begun arriving in Argentina
for the fourth two-day Summit of the Americas.
They are meeting in the coastal resort of Mar del Plata
amid much uncertainty about what can be achieved on the
summit's main aim of job creation.
There are deep divisions over free trade, with the US
championing it as the best way to relieve poverty.
President George W Bush is among those attending the
talks. He is expected to be targeted by left-wing
protesters.
Thousands of people are due to stage a protest rally that
will be addressed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Argentine former football legend Diego Maradona and
Bolivian left-wing presidential candidate Evo Morales will
also take part in Friday's demonstration.
A train that will take Maradona and dozens of other
well-known people such as Bosnian filmmaker Emir Kusturica
and Cuban singer Silvio Rodriguez is to leave Buenos Aires
late on Thursday.
The train dubbed "Alba Express" will be joined by road by
hundreds of buses carrying members of political and social
organisations.
The caravan is expected to arrive in Mar del Plata early
on Friday. Anti-globalisation and anti-US activists have
been holding a parallel "People's Summit" there.
Foreign ministers from the region have been holding talks
ahead of the summit.
Poverty
More than 8,000 police officers are guarding the venue of
the Summit of the Americas.
The rivalry between Mr Bush and Mr Chavez is expected to
dominate the meeting.
In his keynote speech, Mr Bush will argue that the way to
guarantee prosperity is by encouraging free trade and a
flourishing private sector and by deepening democracy, the
BBC's Jamie Coomarasamy in Mar del Plata reports.
Although, Mr Bush has acknowledged that efforts to form a
Free Trade Area of the Americas have stalled, our
correspondent says.
The Venezuelan government has said that it will reject any
summit declaration which contains references to free trade
in the Americas.
Some 96 million people in the region are surviving on less
than $1 per day, according to the United Nations.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2005/11/04 00:14:19 GMT
© BBC MMV
--------------------------------------------------------
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/03/AR2005110302157.html
washingtonpost.com
Bush Arrives for Hemispheric Summit, Planning to Pitch Free Trade
By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 4, 2005; A16
MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina, Nov. 3 -- President Bush arrived
in this seaside resort Thursday night for a summit with
other leaders from the Western Hemisphere, during which he
hopes to promote lower trade barriers as a tonic for
poverty and joblessness throughout the region.
The fourth Summit of the Americas was to open Friday under
tight security. Thousands of police officers were
stationed behind barricades that cordoned off large
sections of this city, as officials sought to prevent the
two-day meeting from being overwhelmed by demonstrations.
The Bush administration had hoped the meeting would help
revive stalled plans for a Free Trade Area of the
Americas, a zone that would stretch from Alaska to
Argentina.
"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.
But that message was at odds with the sentiment in much of
Latin America, where millions of people have yet to
realize the promised benefits of democracy and free trade.
Across the region, half a dozen populist leaders have been
elected in recent years, often supported by constituencies
that blame U.S.-backed economic policies, private
investment and international trade as sources of continued
poverty and widening income disparities.
"What we're looking to do is find ways to unlock some of
these economies so they get the kind of investment they
need, they get the kind of trade they need and they have
the flexibility within their labor markets to generate
employment," Shannon said.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who for years has
swapped harsh rhetoric with the Bush administration, has
described the proposed free trade zone as an "imperialist
plan" to enhance U.S. economic dominance over Latin
America and the Caribbean.
In its place, Chavez is calling for greater integration of
South American economies, a vision he has pursued by
offering oil from his nation's vast reserves to
Venezuela's neighbors at reduced rates.
Chavez has said he wants to debate the U.S. economic
approach during the summit. He plans to address a rally
Friday denouncing the free trade plan.
Bush is scheduled to visit Brazil and Panama after the
summit, then return to Washington Monday night.
(C) 2005 The Washington Post Company
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