End of Americas summit uncertain

Nov 5, 2005, 21:15 GMT

Mar del Plata - The end of a two-day Summit of the Americas in the Argentinian seaside resort of Mar del Plata remained open the Saturday after several heads of state departed and a closing press conference was cancelled.

Hundreds of journalists worlwide had waited more than three hours for the start of the briefing.

Delegations from 34 countries attending the summit were still wrangling to reach a compromise in the dispute over the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

It remained unclear when and whether a final declaration could be expected.

More than 20 members of the Organisation of American States (OAS) attending the summit had pushed for a schedule to put the FTAA in place thus backing U.S. President George W. Bush. The free trade zone would extend from Canada to the tip of Argentina.

Meantime, Bush's departure Saturday was imminent.

Sources said Argentina led calls Saturday by Mercosur trade zone members Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay - and Venezuela for the slashing of agricultural subsidies in the U.S. - a matter which is up for discussion at World Trade Organization talks in Hong Kong next month,

The second and last day of the summit had been set to focus on how Latin America's 200 million poor could benefit from the region's economic upswing.

Police on Friday detained 87 protestors who targeted foreign banks and American fast food restaurants in Mar del Plata and Buenos Aires. Public employees in Argentina also went on strike Friday to signal their opposition to the FTAA.

Mexico suggested Friday the FTAA, originally slated to be in place by January 2005, might have to be reviewed, given the ongoing opposition to it among Mercosur members.

Mexican President Vicente Fox suggested that a free trade area of pro-FTAA countries could be formed as a first step.

'There are almost 30 countries which agree (Mexico included) in this direction, and three or four countries which don't agree,' Fox said.

The U.S., anxious to forge ahead with the FTAA, has already started to build a piecemeal free trade zone through regional trade agreements with Central America and other countries.

Observers said the FTAA might be completely left out of the final declaration and instead a commission set up to formulate the corresponding passage within 60 days of the summit's end.

By that time the WTO talks in Hong Kong might have yielded progress on the issue of agricultural subsidies, which has pitted the U.S. against the European Union.

Friday's violence in Argentina erupted after a peaceful rally at a stadium in Mar del Plata, where Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez - Bush's nemesis in Latin America and a summit participant - said U.S.- backed plans for a vast regional free trade area were dead.