Political differences loomed over a summit of European and Latin American leaders in Peru on Friday, threatening to undermine their efforts to fight poverty and global warming. Leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales differed with his regional counterparts over free trade in the run-up to the meeting, while Venezuela's Hugo Chavez ratcheted up tensions in a conflict with neighbouring Colombia.
Free trade proponents like Peru are losing patience with skeptics like Bolivia's Morales, who accused Peru and Colombia this week of trying to exclude his nation from talks between the European Union and Andean countries. "We can advance at different speeds, but let's advance," Peruvian President Alan Garcia said on Thursday, saying his country should be allowed to move faster with the EU.
Morales, a former coca grower, fears free trade deals could hurt peasant farmers in his impoverished country. "We want trade, but fair trade," he told reporters in Lima. Chavez frequently insults conservative leaders, especially US President George W. Bush. At a summit in Chile last year, Spain's king told him to "shut up."
Chavez is also embroiled in a dispute with Colombia that raised the specter of war in the Andean region in March. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe accuses him of supporting the leftist FARC guerrillas, and soon before leaving for Lima, Chavez said he was reviewing diplomatic ties with Bogota. Such feuds could dominate the fifth such gathering of leaders from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.
They may also struggle to find common ground on how to fight cocaine trafficking, as well as the use of food crops to make renewable biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels. Brazil is an advocate of the so-called greener fuels, but many poor countries blame them for pushing up food price.
However, the poor nations are increasingly worried about climate change and say rich states must cut carbon emissions. Peru created an environment ministry this week to help it cope with the impact of rising global temperatures, which are melting its Andean glaciers. Peruvian delegates to the summit will push for more concrete measures to combat climate change.
"Lots of governments have paid lip service to addressing the threat climate changes poses. We want to urge those governments to take real action," British junior Foreign Office minister Kim Howells told Reuters.