Handshakes, Hard Talk At Summit

Heads of Western Hemisphere countries awaited President Bush's arrival at a 34-nation Summit of the Americas on Monday with a slew of grievances in hand, ranging from trade to terrorism.

Compared to war with Iraq or the continuing nuclear standoff with North Korea, relations between Washington and its hemispheric neighbors are warm.

And some of Mr. Bush's scheduled session promised to reflect a warming of relations: Mexican President Vicente Fox was to discuss the Bush plan for temporarily legalizing some migrant workers, and new Canadian Prime minister Paul Martin is seeking better ties with Mr. Bush than his predecessor Jean Chretien enjoyed.

But Latin American nations butted heads with the United States until nearly dawn Sunday in failing to agree on several points of a draft document to be debated at the two-day summit.

The United States wants the draft to call for re-emphasizing a 2005 deadline for finishing negotiations on a Free Trade Area of the Americas, a hemisphere-wide trade zone that is one of Mr. Bush's top policy goals for Latin America. Brazil and Venezuela say the summit is not the place to discuss it.

The United States also wants to kick corrupt governments out of the Organization of American States, a move opposed by several Latin American nations.

Argentina's President Nestor Kirchner is upset about recent U.S. criticism over its warming relations with Cuba. U.S. officials privately worry that President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who warned U.S. officials on Saturday not to "stick their noses" in his nation's affairs, is working with Cuba to oppose pro-American democracies in the region.

Brazil, in retaliation for new security measures imposed on foreigners arriving at U.S. airports, imposed measures of its own against American visitors to its nation.

Some Latin American leaders accuse America of being heavy-handed. They argue that the United States has neglected social issues, such as raising the standard of living for some 200 million people — nearly one-half the region's population — who live in poverty.

"The region has sunk more into poverty than it was three years ago when the last Summit took place, and several countries in the region are in crises, including Venezuela and Colombia," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk. "They see the White House program as neglecting the region for the past few years."

However, the talks offer the hemispheric neighbors a chance to mend fences.

Mr. Bush and Fox's meeting Monday, just days after the White House announced a new U.S. immigration initiative, is a chance for the two leaders to end their strained relationship.

Mr. Bush annoyed Fox when he put immigration reform on the back burner after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. Their relationship further soured when Mexico failed to back the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Both men would profit from a positive session Monday.

"Fox has an opportunity to hail the Bush immigration proposal as a political victory, given that he has been asking for an immigration agreement since day one," said Armand Peschard-Sverdrup, director of the Mexico project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "I think to some extent, Bush will use it as a photo-op for reaching out to the Hispanic voters."

The meeting with Fox tops Mr. Bush's summit schedule. The two are expected to discuss border security, trade and the president's proposal for a temporary worker program for illegal migrants already in the United States and foreign workers who have been offered U.S. jobs.

After Mr. Bush announced his immigration proposal on Wednesday, Fox said it did not meet all his administration's goals. "We're going for more," he said. Fox softened his reaction on Fox News on Sunday, saying the proposal was "interesting."

Fox would eventually like to see free movement of workers between Canada, the United States and Mexico, But, he said: "I think that in life you have to get what is real and what you have at hand and not keep on dreaming all the time."

Mr. Bush will discuss the mad cow situation when he meets for the first time with Canada's new prime minister, Paul Martin, reports CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller. Both countries have reported cases of the disease in the past year, but some Canadian ranchers believe the United States has tried to pass blame for the Washington state outbreak up north.

Between other bilateral meetings with President Ricardo Lagos of Chile and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Mr. Bush's schedule Monday called for remarks at the summit's opening ceremonies. He planned to promote free trade, open markets, clean elections and anti-corruption steps to help strengthen democracy in the hemisphere.

An administration official said the United States also planned to announce it will return to Peru $20 million allegedly stolen by Vladimiro Montesinos, a former Peruvian intelligence chief, and stashed in American bank accounts.

Other discussion topics at the summit, held in Mexico's third largest city, include strengthening democracy, ending poverty, security and helping small businesses with low-interest loans.