Bush to Push for Trade in the Americas

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 57 minutes ago

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina - President Bush will make his call for liberalized trade and increased entrepreneurship in Argentina, a country that adopted such reforms in the 1990s and saw its economy collapse.

Supporters of free trade say those policies aren't to blame for the financial crisis and resulting bloody riots four years ago. Instead, they point to other mistakes, chief among them government corruption and Argentina's heavy borrowing.

The thousands of protesters gathered in this seaside resort to protest Bush's visit represent the skepticism that many South Americans have toward U.S.-led negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas stretching from Alaska to Argentina.

Bush says open trade among nations in the Western Hemisphere and beyond would help alleviate poverty. He's pushing that agenda with the 34 nations gathered at the two-day Summit of the Americas.

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