South American Leaders Hold Summit

Eight South and Central American chiefs of state gathered in Cordoba, Argentina from July 20-21 for the Southern Common Market summit, also known as the MERCOSUR.

Argentine President Nestor Kirchner was the host, and other attendees included presidents who are full and associate members, plus a special guest, Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

The meeting was the first with Venezuela as a full member, and its president, Hugo Chavez, received the regional block's support for the Venezuela candidature to the U.N.'s Security Council.

For the smallest countries in the block, Uruguay and Paraguay, the final resolution promised to respect their differences from the larger nations and to protect their weak economies.

Also present was Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Bolivian President Evo Morales, both associate members of MERCOSUR.

Cuba obtained an agreement that allows the communist nation to buy 2,700 products at preferential prices. This would be a rupture of the economic blockade that the United States has maintained for the island since 1962.

The final resolution also called for the elimination of the agricultural subsidies that the United States and the European Union gave to their producers.

The next step is to add Mexico as an associate member to increase intra-regional commerce.

For Argentina and Brazil the challenge is to legitimize Morales and Venezualan President Hugo Chavez's administrations, which are viewed with distrust by the European Union.

The only contentious point of the summit was the request that the Argentine government made to Cuba to allow dissident Hilda Molina to be free to leave the island, as he has relatives in Argentina.