Latin American countries, however, have competing interests of their own — a point driven home by bickering at the summit.
At a dinner Monday night, conservative Colombian President Alvaro Uribe started complaining about Venezuela's trade sanctions against Colombia, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because delegations at the meeting had agreed not to discuss the spat publicly.
He described the following incident to reporters: Chavez shot back that Venezuela was constantly threatened by paramilitaries in the neighboring country and suggested the Colombian government was involved.
Chavez then stood up from the table, ready to storm off, when Uribe told him to stay and "be a man."
Chavez told Uribe to "go to hell," according to Venezuelan state television.
After they calmed down, the leaders agreed to create a "group of friends" to mediate between the feuding presidents. Chavez and Uribe played down the incident Tuesday, promising to work out their differences.
Then, Bolivian President Evo Morales, one of Chavez's strongest allies, reignited tensions by suggesting Uribe was a U.S. agent sent to sabotage the bloc.
"What's my conclusion?" Morales said. "Since we are debating a new organization without the United States, the agents of the United States have come to bog this down to make this event fail."
