Washington – The White House confirmed Wednesday that President Bush will attend a summit of Latin American heads of state in Argentina next month, ending speculation that he would skip the event because of security concerns or to avoid an encounter with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Bush will be in the beach town of Mar del Plata for a meeting of 34 hemispheric leaders Nov. 3-5, part of a regional integration project launched in Miami more than 10 years ago. He will then travel to Brazil and Panama.
The trip by Bush, often criticized for ignoring Latin America, will be his fourth visit to the region, compared with six trips to 12 countries by former President Clinton.
Bush has visited Chile, Peru, El Salvador and Colombia and made two trips to Mexico.
Bush also has hosted Mexican President Vicente Fox and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe at his Texas ranch and has met most Latin American leaders at the White House, including Argentina’s Nestor Kirchner, a sometime critic of Bush’s policies. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Treasury Secretary John Snow also have traveled to Latin America.
The announcement put to rest speculation that Bush would not attend the Summit of the Americas because of plans by Argentine radicals to stage massive protests against him.
