Bush ends three-nation Latin America tour

US president George W. Bush wrapped up his three-nation Latin America tour in Panama on Monday, urging most of the countries in the region to continue talks on the forming of the world's largest trade bloc.

He told reporters that 29 of the 34 countries of the Organization of American States (OAS) support continued talks on the establishment of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), a US-proposed project seeking duty-free trade across the continent.

If approved, the agreement would create the largest free market in the world, boasting 800 million consumers, 20 percent of world trade and 40 percent of world gross domestic product.

But controversy remains over Bush's father, former President George Bush, first proposed the FTAA in the 1990s.

Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, in a grouping known as Mercosur, alongside Venezuela, stand firm against an FTAA deal for the time being.

At the fourth Summit of the Americas in Argentina's resort city Mar Del Plata on Nov. 4-5, Mercosur countries demanded the shelving of the FTAA talks, while Venezuela, an outspoken critic of US policy in the continent, called for burying of the FTAA.

Argentina and Brazil, both major food exporters in Latin America, have made it clear that they do not want to join the FTAA as long as the United States refuses to remove agricultural subsidies.

They complain that Washington's agricultural subsidies would eliminate the competitiveness of farm products from other American countries and increase poverty in Latin America.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said that the FTAA is "dead" as it only helps large US companies at the expense of Latin American workers.

Bush, who was attending the summit in Argentina on his first leg of the visits, held separate talks in a bid to create closer ties thus improving the chances of an FTAA deal.

During his visit to Brazil on Sunday, Bush talked with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on ways to strengthen cooperation in the fields of technology, education, environmental protection and health.

Bush also urged the president to use his leadership to push forward free trade and democracy, largely perceived as a criticism of Chavez and Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

In the absence of an FTAA deal, the United States has been for years developing the regional free trade on several fronts.

It keeps a three-way North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, two other powerful economies in the continent.

In 2004, its free trade accord with Chile went into effect. It is also said to be planning a free trade area with Central America and the Dominican Republic in the near future.

Peru, Ecuador and Colombia are all trying to negotiate with the United States a free trade deal, which might also include Bolivia, reports say.

El Salvadoran President Elias Antonio Saca said at the OAS summit that if the Andean countries agree upon a free trade deal with the United States, then "we will have 80 percent of the FTAA."

Despite the failure to reach such a deal at the summit, the United States is looking to the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting next month in Hong Kong to break the stalemate.

Hope is shared overwhelmingly by OAS countries including the Mercosur group.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim expressed agreement with Bush on the sidelines of the summit that what mattered most was the result of the WTO meeting.

Meanwhile, Argentina has urged the United States to make concessions during the WTO meeting on farm subsidies.

Source: Xinhua