Castro visit changes tenor of trade summit
(AP)
Updated: 2006-07-21 20:57
A rare guest appearance by Cuban leader Fidel Castro has turned a routine
trade summit into a politically charged gathering of Washington's greatest Latin
American foes.
Castro's surprise visit to Argentina honors the induction of Venezuela into
Mercosur, the highlight of talks that start Friday. The addition gives the South
American trade bloc a decidedly leftist tilt a decade after it emerged during a
wave of pro-US free trade sentiment.
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In this photo release
by Miraflores Palace, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez , left, talks with
his Cuban counterpart Fidel Castro during a Mercosur summit in Cordoba,
some 700 kilometers (434 miles) from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday,
July 20, 2006. [AP]
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The communist leader, wearing his usual olive green military fatigues, slowly
descended the airplane Thursday to cries of "Fidel! Fidel!" from well-wishers
behind police cordons at the airport in the central city of Cordoba.
Castro - whose trip was announced after he was airborne - made no
public comments but saluted the crowd with a raised hand before heading to a
dinner of the visiting presidents.
The summit gives Latin America's staunchest free trade critics - Castro,
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's socialist President Evo
Morales - a chance to meet with the region's more mainstream leftist
leaders far beyond the influence of the White House.
It also gives them the opportunity to smooth over recent rifts. Among the
sharpest: Morales' abrupt nationalization of his country's gas industry two
months ago, a move that raised worries of energy shortages and price hikes for
Bolivia's biggest customers, Argentina and Brazil.
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