MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Majority of Argentines reject US policies

Only two out of three Argentines are pleased their country will host this week's Summit of the Americas, with over half expressing fears of a terrorist attack, according to a public opinion survey published this week by the Buenos Aires daily Pagina/12.

But the poll which interviewed 800 people across the country confirmed that a majority of Argentines disapprove of United States policies.

This Friday President George W. Bush will be one of the 34 hemispheric leaders participating in the two-day summit in the South Atlantic seaside resort of Mar del Plata, 250 miles south of Buenos Aires.

The survey showed that six out of 10 Argentines "disapprove or strongly disapprove" President's Bush visit and a similar percentage object to the U.S. sponsored Free Trade Area of the Americas, which would create a free-trade zone from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego with the exception of Cuba. And only 10% of interviews said they wanted a foreign policy "more aligned" with Washington.

Enrique Zuleta Puceiro from the Public Opinion, Markets and Services firm that conducted the survey said this was not surprising given Argentines staunch opposition to the war in Iraq.

Another controversial issue is the summit's commitment and which is outwitting diplomatic pragmatism trying to draft a final declaration, "Creating Jobs to Fight Poverty and Strengthen Democratic Governance".

Mr. Zuleta Puceiro said the issue brings back on the table governments' role as the engine of economic growth, considering that many of the region's countries adopted not too successfully market-oriented laissez faire economic policies in the nineties.

The opinion poll shows 72% of Argentines don't believe that the normal functioning of market forces is enough to substantially reduce unemployment and poverty.

"There's a very strong perception about these last years of strong growth in Argentina and the idea is that it required the decisive intervention of the government", indicated Mr. Zuleta Puceiro, recalling that the country's recent steady economic expansion followed one of the most severe recessions in history blamed on the aggressive free market policies of the nineties.