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MONTERREY, Mexico (AP - January 12, 2004 11:30 PST) .-
Disagreements over free trade and penalties for corrupt nations caused
deepening rifts between countries Monday as leaders from across the Americas
opened a two-day summit.
U.S. President George W. Bush, who arrived in this
industrial, northern city with first lady Laura Bush, was pushing to penalize
corrupt nations and set a firm deadline for a free trade agreement of the
Americas.
Latin American nations are fighting those initiatives, with
Venezuela pushing for an international humanitarian fund that could be used to
help countries during financial and natural disasters.
Leaders from 34 American nations, excluding only Cuba, will
try to work out their differences after they inaugurate their Special Summit of
the Americas later Monday.
Bush will meet with Mexican President Vicente Fox and try to
smooth over a relationship that was strained by Fox's refusal to back the Iraq
war. The two were expected to talk about Bush's immigration accord, which would
allow some foreigners to work in the United States for at least three years.
"We have a good relationship with Mexico, and President Fox
is a good friend of the president's", Bush's press secretary, Scott McClellan
said. "Whatever differences we had in the past, we have a lot of common
challenges that we are working closely together on."
Bush also was scheduled to meet with new Canadian Prime
Minister Paul Martin on Tuesday, and Martin's spokeswoman, Melanie Gruer, said
it was "a chance to talk about mutual priorities."
"The prime minister recognizes we have a healthy economic
relationship with (the United States), but at the same time, he will be
protecting Canadian interests," she said.
Even before the summit started, several Latin American
leaders were complaining about U.S. policy.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he believed the summit
was a "waste of time" and he criticized U.S. officials for having "a lack of
information, great contradictions."
"We are working to make clear to the world what we are," he
told reporters after meeting with Jamaica's president. "Venezuela has a
vigorous, participative democracy with a country rebuilding itself from
scratch."
Chavez toned down his comments from Sunday, when he said
during his weekly television show that he was worried the United States would
promote his unconstitutional ouster if a recall referendum on his rule didn't
succeed.
"I imagine them in Washington, saying I'm an enemy of
democracy, that Chavez sabotaged the referendum, and therefore it's worth
ousting him," Chavez said.
He added that he has many reservations about the summit's
draft document, which leaves several contentious issues for leaders to resolve.
The United States wants to kick corrupt nations out of the
Organization of American States, arguing they should receive the same
punishment as undemocratic nations.
The United States also wants the summit declaration to call
for a firm 2005 deadline for finishing negotiations on a Free Trade Area of the
Americas, a hemisphere-wide trade zone that is one of Bush's top policy goals
for Latin America.
Brazil and Venezuela say the summit is not the place to
discuss it, and Venezuela instead is pushing for its humanitarian fund.
On Sunday, Fox indicated he didn't believe the trade pact,
known as the FTAA, should be included in the summit's agenda.
"The summit was not called upon to discuss the FTAA," he
said, adding that separate negotiations were being held on the proposed accord.
Another sticking point deals with remittances, or money sent
home by migrants living in the United States. While all OAS members agree that
the fees for sending money home should be cut in half, they haven't been able
to settle on a deadline to meet that goal.
Mexico's ambassador to the OAS, Miguel Ruiz Cabanas, told
reporters Sunday there was still "a strong willingness to reach an accord
before all of the presidents arrive." |
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