LatAm leaders gather under cloud of economic crisis

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COSTA DO SAUIPE, Brazil, Dec 17 (AFP): Latin American presidents today were to wrap up a two-day summit in Brazil dominated by deep concern over the accelerating global economic crisis.
The meeting of leaders of 33 Latin American and Caribbean nations-including, for the first time, Cuban President Raul Castro-came as the region's governments grapples with slumping currencies, plummeting trade, shaved growth and mounting debt.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hosted the event in the sunwashed northeastern coastal resort of Costa do Sauipe, in Bahia, with regional integration and development on the agenda.
It was preceded by brief, smaller regional summits looking at trade and policy issues.
Delegates hailed the decision to call the main summit without setting a place for the United States-the traditional powerplayer in Latin America-as has been the case in past gatherings of this scale.
"It's great to be in Bahia and not in New York, summoned by the (US) empire," Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez said as he arrived.
"A new era is starting," said the sharpest critic of the United States.
Significantly, the summit was the first multilateral event abroad to be attended by Raul Castro.
Though Latin America is widely regarded as being relatively well-placed to weather the global crisis there are signs times will be tough in 2009.
Brazil, the region's biggest economy, last week announced an emergency fiscal package of over eight billion dollars to try to reverse a startling and sudden dive in consumer spending, as evidenced by a 26-per cent drop in car sales in November.