November 7, 2005
Latin American Press on Americas summit

(BBC News) - " (...) Several editorials argue that the summit's failure to back Washington 's free-trade proposals was a personal triumph for Mr Chávez (...)".

Argentina's Clarin  

Nothing that is happening could be considered unpredictable: the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chávez, has become the most charismatic figure at the summit, while his US colleague, George W Bush, the contemporary leader whom so many people love to repudiate, has become his antithesis. How could the dark-skinned David, who had no doubts about putting himself up against the intimidating and clear-skinned Goliath, not capture the popular imagination? It was expected.

Colombia's El Tiempo

The main player at the counter-summit was, of course, President Chávez, who has clearly demonstrated that he has the charisma, the boldness and the money - lots of money - to unleash his crusade. Apart from his populism... summits like the one in Mar del Plata underline the growing international profile of the Venezuelan president, whose effective oil diplomacy has made him the most the influential political leader in the hemisphere.

Brazil's Folha de Sao Paulo

Chávez did not use his football stadium language in front of Bush because, rhetoric aside, the fact is that the US is the biggest consumer of Venezuelan products (on account of its oil). And, for that very reason, Chávez can attempt to bury the Free Trade Area of the Americas without a care: he doesn't need it to open up the North American market, which is already open for Venezuelan oil - and will remain so, with or without the Free Trade Area of the Americas... That's what summits are like: above all else, one big talking shop.