Angry Protests Greet Bush

As thousands of demonstrators denounced his visit to the annual Summit of the Americas, President Bush pressed his case Friday for expanded free trade and worked to improve the troubled image of the United States in Latin America.

On the first day of the 34-nation meeting, Mr. Bush commended host country Argentina for making "wise decisions" to improve its damaged economy.

He also thanked Argentine President Nestor Kirchner "for being a good host. It's not easy to host all these countries. Particularly, it's not easy to host, perhaps, me."

Nearby, an estimated 10,000 demonstrators shouting "Get out Bush!" marched in the streets of this seaside resort, illustrating 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.

One of Mr. Bush's top goals at the summit is to revive momentum for that free-trade plan, which he has acknowledged has stalled. He was making the call for liberalized trade and increased entrepreneurship while visiting Argentina, the summit host 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.

CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk said Mr. Bush faces a virtual perfect storm in Argentina, with three gripes coming together: the regional disputes over the value of free trade, complaints about neglect of the region and looming International Monetary Fund negotiations.

"Although there has been overall economic growth in the region, debt has grown along with poverty, and Latin America has not been on the U.S. agenda for several years," Falk reports.

In his appearance alongside Kirchner, Mr. 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 Mr. 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 Mr. 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."

But Mr. Bush clearly sought to stress common ground. He mentioned Manu Ginobili of Bahia Blanca, Argentina, a star guard who has helped the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association win two titles in the past three years.

"He's made a vital contribution to a basketball team from the state in which I live," Mr. Bush said. "But he's also a good ambassador for your country."

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.

Mr. Bush's trip comes as he faces the lowest job approval ratings of his presidency back home.

Security is tight in Mar del Plata, CBS News correspondent Thalia Assuras reports. The resort city of 600,000 is mostly a ghost town as a result of a huge lockdown. Some 7,500 police patrol fenced-off streets, some in riot gear in anticipation of potential violence. Men in uniform outnumber sunbathers on the prime beaches while special forces scour the waters.

"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."

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.

Mr. Bush highlighted his success by gathering Friday with leaders of Central American nations involved in a recently approved trade pact with the United States. Later in the day, Mr. Bush had a one-on-one meeting with the president of Chile, which negotiated a bilateral trade agreement with the U.S.

Mr. Bush and an outspoken critic, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, also were likely to meet Friday, shortly after Chavez's speech to a demonstration of mostly anti-Bush protesters. Chavez has joked about whether Mr. Bush is afraid of him and said he might sneak up and scare Mr. Bush at the summit.

Chavez has said he would use the meeting as a stage to denounce the U.S. as a "capitalist, imperialist model" of democracy that exploits the economies of developing nations.