MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Powell and Chile's Lagos get past Iraq tiff

Chilean President Ricardo Lagos and U.S.Secretary of State Colin Powell met in Santiago on Monday and managed to look past their differences over the war in Iraq.

The two discussed the Iraq war for the first few minutes of their 30-minute conversation at the La Moneda presidential palace while hundreds of demonstrators were outside protesting Powell's visit.

"We spent three minutes of the 30-minute meeting discussing Iraq and 27 minutes discussing the future, that's what we did," Lagos said afterwards.

Chile, as a temporary member of the U.N. Security Council, was a staunch opponent of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, but Washington's disappointment at that decision seemed to have already dissipated by the time Lagos and Powell met.

There was special concern at the meeting over the situations in Colombia and Venezuela, as well as governance in the region's still fledgling democracies.

Lagos explained that the two discussed hemispheric relationships, the advantages of geographic proximity and the challenges faced by the various countries in the region. The meeting was part of the 33rd annual meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) general assembly, attended by foreign ministers and other delegates from 34 countries in the hemisphere.

On bilateral matters, Lagos and Powell agreed to focus on the free trade agreement signed by both nations on June 6 in Miami, and further agreed that they must pressure both countries' congresses to ratify the agreement so that it becomes effective in January 2004.

They also said the treaty is an "important step" towards solidifying the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), a hemisphere-wide trade pact that Washington would like to see in place by 2005.

Powell was greeted at the presidential palace by some 50 protesters, who were disbanded quickly by the police, screaming pro-Cuba and anti-U.S. slogans and carrying Cuban flags and signs with pictures of Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Powell arrived in Chile Sunday night and said the United States is anxious to talk about the future and not the past," referring to the lack of support Washington received for the invasion of Iraq, particularly from Chile and Mexico, both of whom are rotating members of the U.N. Security Council.

"After all the time and attention that we spent on Iraq, the Middle East and elsewhere, we're looking forward to once again turning our diplomatic attention to our own hemisphere," said Powell.

Powell will leave Chile today Tuesday morning, but will stop in Argentina where he will meet with new Argentine President Nestor Kirchner.