Argentina leader talks of regional unity

Posted on Mon, May. 26, 2003 By BILL CORMIER Kansas.com-Associated Press

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Argentina's new president, Nestor Kirchner, greeted a host of Latin American leaders on Monday, outlining his plans to reshape a nation gripped by deep economic woes.

Kirchner, a center-left politician, promises a more protectionist stance for South America's second-largest economy, vowing to defend jobs and industry in a country mired in five years of recession.

He spent his first full day in office meeting presidents Alejandro Toledo of Peru, Jorge Batlle of Uruguay, Alvaro Uribe of Colombia and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro, whose visit here almost eclipsed Sunday's inauguration, met with Kirchner for about an hour.

"Fidel! Fidel! Cuba, Cuba, Cuba! The people salute you!" hundreds of people shouted as he left the meeting, smiling at the crowd before he entered his limousine.

Many of the leaders meeting with Kirchner applauded his desire for greater regional ties among Latin American nations.

"We need to create a new bloc of nations to negotiate with the North," Chavez said. "It would be a Latin American front."

Kirchner is seen as the latest leader in Latin America whose left-of-center leanings underscore a renewed effort by regional governments to find answers to rampant poverty and troubled economies.

Many of the presidents arrived in Buenos Aires after attending a regional summit in Lima, Peru, where they called for greater unity among struggling economies and fairer trade practices from wealthier nations.

Toledo told reporters that Latin American countries need to find "new mechanisms for finance and investment in social programs" in countries afflicted by poverty and despair.

He said he and Kirchner share similar views on how to help rebuild Argentina, a country that defaulted on most of its $141 billion public debt as its economy unraveled 18 months ago.

In recent months, the economy has shown signs of an uptick, and analysts expect its gross domestic product to expand by up to 4 percent this year.

But Kirchner will be hard-pressed by international creditors to refinance the burdensome debt and also make good on promises for a multi-billion dollar public works project to build homes, roads and meet other social needs.

Half of Argentina's 36.2 million population now live at or below the poverty line, and Kirchner used his inaugural speech on Sunday to promise to seek ways to defend "national capitalism." He asked that international markets be patient while he seeks to resurrect the country's languishing economy.