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 -------------------------------------------------------- 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 -- -------------------------------------------------------- http://cyberjournal.org "Apocalypse Now and the Brave New World" http://www.cyberjournal.org/cj/rkm/Apocalypse_and_NWO.html Posting archives: http://cyberjournal.org/cj/show_archives/?date=01Jan2006&batch=25&lists=newslog Subscribe to low-traffic list: •••@••.••• ___________________________________________ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. 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