If the White House ever nursed a hope that the fourth Summit of the Americas would boost Mr Bush’s flagging image, that hope died as the talks in Argentina petered out late on Saturday without clear agreement on how or when they might resume.
Mr Bush’s follow-up bilateral with President Lula da Silva in Brasilia yesterday ended in warm words, but no sign of a meeting of minds on the stalled Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
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President Kirchner of Argentina urged the creation of globalisation that works for everyone, not just a few. Brazil showed that it was the real muscle behind the scenes by leading opposition to Mr Bush’s desire to set a date for the resumption of full FTAA talks. Senhor Lula said that he preferred to wait until next month, for the next ministerial meeting in the World Trade Organisation’s Doha Round of trade talks, when world agricultural subsidies are on the agenda. He won the day against the US and 28 other countries supporting a firm date to relaunch the pan-American free trade zone.
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The South American press criticised not only Mr Bush, the most unpopular US President in the region since polling began, but also his host. Argentina’s leading broadsheet, La Nación, called the summit an “all-out failure”. It said that Señor Kirchner had been “navel-gazing” when, at its inauguration, he blamed US policies for Argentina’s economic crash in 2001. La Nación criticised Señor Kirchner for not concentrating on the “common conflicts” of Latin America, such as social inequality.