MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Rio Group Summit end in Costa Rica.

The 16th Rio Group Summit ended Friday in Costa Rica with a call for a reduction in defense spending in order to better fight poverty.

The summit, which began Thursday with a foreign ministers meeting, focused on Venezuela's political crisis, which brought the ouster of President Hugo Chavez early Friday morning. Participants in the summit also denounced terrorism, drug trafficking and corruption, and called for the opening of international markets to Latin American products and services. The summit's final resolution notes that the Rio Group countries will promote policies and strategies to fight poverty and strengthen the family structure, and expresses concern that "the migratory phenomenon causes the disintegration of the family." Participants also denounced the interruption of constitutional order in Venezuela and asked Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Cesar Gaviria to call a meeting of the OAS permanent council to discuss the Venezuelan situation.However, the participants, during a press conference, were careful not to call the situation in Venezuela a "coup." The summit was inaugurated Thursday by Costa Rican President Miguel Angel Rodriguez, who hosted the meeting, and Chilean head Ricardo Lagos. The meeting was closed by Rodriguez and his Peruvian counterpart Alejandro Toledo.The Rio Group includes 19 Latin American nations and the rotating presidency of the group this year will pass from Costa Rica to Peru. Participating in the summit were 13 Latin American heads of state and four vice presidents. Not present, however, were Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Ecuadorian President Gustavo Noboa, Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso, Nicarguan President Enrique Bolaños, Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo and Chavez, who by the meeting's end was under arrest at a Caracas army base.