MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina (AP) November 4, 2005 — Thousands of people chanting “Get out Bush!” swarmed the streets of this resort on Friday, as presidents from around the Americas gathered for a summit overshadowed by a philosophical clash between President Bush and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a socialist close to Cuba’s Fidel Castro.

The summit will provide a brightly lit stage for the clash between the two leaders’ rival visions of where the Americas should go economically and as societies. While Bush and Chavez, whose nation’s oil wealth has given him clout in the region, were not expected to meet one-on-one, they were to attend several joint sessions.

Bush, for his part, told reporters that “I will, of course, be polite. That’s what the American people expect their president to do.”

Chavez has joked about whether Bush is afraid of him and said he might sneak up and scare Bush at the summit. Even before the summit formally starts, Chavez was planning to address a rally of mostly anti-Bush protesters.  

Chavez plans denunciation

Chavez has said he would use the summit as a stage to denounce the United States as a “capitalist, imperialist model” of democracy that exploits the economies of developing nations. On Thursday, Venezuela staged a mock U.S. invasion on its shores.

Bush is making his call for liberalized trade and increased entrepreneurship in Argentina, a country that adopted such reforms in the 1990s and saw its economy collapse.

Supporters of free trade say those policies aren’t to blame for the financial crisis and resulting bloody riots four years ago. Instead, they point to other mistakes, chief among them government corruption and Argentina’s heavy borrowing.

'No to Bush,' 'No to FTAA'

More than 8,000 security forces were dispatched to maintain order ahead of the summit. Navy ships sailed along the coastline and helicopters clattered overhead. Most summit hotels were in a section of the city that has been cleared of pedestrians and traffic and surrounded by guards.

The 10,000 protesters gathering Friday to protest Bush’s visit represent the skepticism that many South Americans have toward U.S.-led negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas stretching from Alaska to Argentina.

“We’re going to say ‘No to Bush’ and ‘No to FTAA,”’ said Argentine labor leader Juan Gonzalez. “We don’t have any confidence in anything he might propose here. Whatever it is will only prolong hunger, poverty and death in Latin America.”

Bush says open trade among countries in the Western Hemisphere and beyond would help alleviate poverty.

Chavez has said free trade is being forced on Latin American countries and the deal would only help the rich. Instead, he has pushed for an anti-FTAA deal based on socialist ideals.

Chavez has strained relations with Washington and regularly claims the United States is trying to overthrow his government, an accusation U.S. officials dismiss. He has used Venezuela’s oil wealth to push for regional solidarity, offering fuel with preferential financing to various Caribbean and Latin American countries.

Venezuela is the world’s fifth largest oil exporter as well as a major supplier to the U.S. market.

Mexican President Vicente Fox said Friday that a majority of nations in the Western Hemisphere will consider moving forward with negotiations to create a free trade zone without the participation of dissenting countries like Venezuela.

Speaking to reporters, Fox said 29 of the 34 countries participating in the event support such a move. Aside from Venezuela, the dissenting countries include Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, Fox said.

Castro not invited

Castro was snubbed by the summit’s organizers, but though their country was not invited, the communist island’s Parliamentary speaker Ricardo Alarcon showed up in Mar del Plata anyway.

“They are going to take a good photo with Bush, have lunch, eat dinner, and gab some more. What is happening over there is a plan that does no good for the people of the Americas,” he said.

Bush has acknowledged that the FTAA, which was once one of his highest trade priorities, has stalled. Thomas Shannon, the new assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, said aboard Air Force One on the flight to Argentina that the U.S. is still promoting the FTAA even though it has been “slowed down,” but also is pursuing regional and bilateral agreements to move the president’s free trade agenda.

Bush highlighted regional pacts by gathering first Friday with leaders of Central American nations involved in a recently approved trade pact with the United States.

‘Candid’ talks with Argentine leader

He later met with the host of the summit, Argentine President Nestor Kirchner.

Appearing with Kirchner before reporters, Bush didn’t specifically mention the free trade agreement. He urged Latin American governments to commit to democratic governance.

“The United States has common ground with countries that promote democracy and freedom and believe in the rule of law,” he said.

Relations between Bush and Kirchner, a populist leader elected in the political upheaval that followed Argentina’s economic collapse, have been chilly. The Argentine was an opponent of the war in Iraq and said before their meeting at the last Summit of the Americas that he would “win by a knockout” in his private meeting with Bush.

Each leader referred repeatedly to how “candid” their discussions were, and the pair took no questions from reporters.

“I’m leaving this meeting feeling very satisfied because it wasn’t a meeting looking for nice words but to speak the truth,” Kirchner said. “Each us did just that.”

Bush advice on loans

Argentina’s economy is recovering faster than many leading analysts expected, in part because of a boom in exports. But the country still suffers from double-digit unemployment and high poverty.

Bush applauded Kirchner, the populist leader who was elected in the political upheaval that followed the economic collapse, for being a good steward of the people’s money. But he said Kirchner shouldn’t look to the United States to help Argentina reach a new financial settlement with the International Monetary Fund.

“Since he has proven himself to be capable of performing, it seems like to me that the best policy ought to be for the Argentine government to deal directly with the IMF, without the U.S. having to be a middleman,” Bush said earlier this week.

Relations between Bush and Kirchner have been chilly. The Argentine was an opponent of the war in Iraq and said before their meeting at the last Summit of the Americas that he would “win by a knockout” in his private meeting with Bush.

Still, Argentina remains the only country in Latin America that holds “major non-NATO ally” status with the United States, exempting it from certain sanctions. The country has cooperated with the United States on fighting drug trade and terrorism, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said.