Bush leads call for Americas unity

Leaders of 34 American nations pledged to strengthen democracy, fight poverty and corruption, and unite against terrorism, despite regional conflicts and cross-border disputes that threaten the unity of the hemisphere.

As one of the first speakers at the two-day Special Summit of the Americas, held in Monterrey, Mexico, US president George Bush reached out to the rest of Latin America, saying his government was committed to “embracing the challenge ... to bring all the hemisphere’s people into an expanding circle of development”.

Bush added that all countries “must work to provide quality education and quality health care for all our citizens, especially for those suffering from HIV/AIDs”.

But the president also referred to the issues that have led many Latin Americans to criticise his administration, including a proposal to ban corrupt nations from the Organisation of American States.

“Today, I signed a proclamation denying corrupt officials entry into my country. I urge other countries to take similar actions.”

He took aim at Venezuela, whose president, Hugo Chavez, recently accused the United States of “sticking its nose” into his country’s affairs when it urged that he allow a referendum on recalling him from office.

Bush said the “support of democratic institutions ... gives hope and strength to those struggling to preserve their God-given rights, whether in Venezuela, or Haiti, or Bolivia”.

Chavez told reporters yesterday that the United States was suffering from a “lack of information” and suffered ”great contradictions” in its attitude towards his country.

“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 ousting if the recall referendum did not succeed.

In addition to opposing the US anti-corruption initiative, both Venezuela and Brazil have argued against setting a firm deadline in the summit declaration for a free trade agreement of the Americas. Venezuela, which opposes the pact all together, has pushed instead for a humanitarian fund that could be used to help countries during financial and natural disasters.

On Sunday, Fox indicated he didn’t believe the trade agreement should be included in the summit’s agenda.

Although disagreements on various issues threatened to hold up the summit’s final declaration, leaders made an effort yesterday to show that relations between their countries were growing stronger.

The most visible example of that effort came when Fox reiterated his support for Bush’s new migration programme and Bush asked his counterpart to visit him at his Texas ranch in March. Fox accepted the invitation.

Fox’s spokesman, Agustin Gutierrez, said the tone of the bilateral meeting marked a “180-degree turn” from recent months.

Fox told Bush his migration proposal, which calls for giving out temporary work visas to migrants, was a “very courageous step forward”, Gutierrez said.