Mexico becomes conference hotspot: latest international summit confirms Mexico as a top destination for bigshots.

GUADALAJARA -- While Vicente Fox may not go down in history as the Mexican president who has carried out the most meaningful reforms, he looks certain to break one record: as the Mexican president who hosted the most international summits.

With the latest 58-nation summit in Guadalajara, which took place from May 28 - 29, there have been five major international conferences on Mexican soil since Fox took power in December 2000. The most important world organizations--including The United Nations, the World Trade Organization and The Organization of American States--have all discussed their business in Mexico's finest resorts from Los Cabos to Cancun.

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However, not everyone is happy about the achievement. At the latest shindig, where leaders from Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union gathered in Mexico's mariachi and tequila capital, police sealed off the whole center of Guadalajara for security. Many local businessmen were irate they could do no trade under the circumstances.

"My sales have been zero during the conference week," complained clothes-shop owner Jose Sahadi, as police stood at the end of his street clutching high-powered rifles and only letting people with summit badges pass. "What do they achieve in these meetings anyway?" Sahadi said angrily. Many analysts are asking the same question.

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NO-SHOWS IN CONTROL

The Guadalajara meeting was dominated by two personalities who weren't there: U.S. President George W. Bush and Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The former wasn't invited while the latter announced he would not come to what he said would be a worthless debate.

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The most heated part of the discussion among the delegations from the 58 nations was how best to criticize Bush's go-it-alone security policy and war in Iraq. Finally, the nations agreed to sign an accord that called for a multilateral approach to problems, without mentioning the United States by name. The accord also contained an article that criticized the prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq. But again, the United States was not mentioned by name and the word "torture" was not used after lobbying from European Union delegates.

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Cuba subsequently released a statement saying European Union leaders were cowards who were "complicit in the crimes and aggressions of the United States." However, Mexican political analyst Jose Antonio Crespo said that while the Guadalajara declaration was written cautiously, it was a clear criticism of the Bush administration and its pre-emptive strike security policies.

"The European Union wants to criticize U.S. policy, but it does not want to confront the United States head on," Crespo said. "It has too much to lose in terms of trade and business with America."

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MEXICO IN MERCOSUR

In terms of trade developments at the summit, the most important news was the announcement by Mexico that it plans to sign a free-trade accord with the Mercosur trade bloc.

According to Fox's office, a break-through agreement was made in a closed-door meeting between Fox and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the Guadalajara summit.

However, a formal accord will not be signed until a Mercosur trade meeting scheduled to be held in Buenos Aires on July 8, officials at Fox's office said. Mercosur is currently made up of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, with Chile and Bolivia as associate members. Mexican investment in these countries is over US$8 billion.

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Ioan Grillo is a correspondent in Mexico for the Houston Chronicle.