South Americans' Discontent Portends a Chilly Reception for Bush

But the new heads of state are not necessarily anti-American or isolationist. Brazil's Lula, who made his name as a labor leader, has embraced free trade and encouraged fiscal discipline to pay for social programs. President Ricardo Lagos of Chile, a socialist, has been praised in Washington for his business-friendly policies.

"While the new leaders were elected as leftists, they are actually acting as pragmatists," said John Zogby, an independent pollster who recently completed a survey of South American opinion leaders. "It's not a hard leftist ideology, but rather a market ideology with a human face," he said from his office in New York.

The officials who will meet Bush this weekend generally have a more sympathetic view of the United States than their constituents do, according to analysts. The Zogby poll indicated that Lagos is the most respected of the South American leaders, followed by Lula. The two most vocal opponents of the U.S. government -- Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Cuba's Fidel Castro -- ranked near the bottom.

Such results may not translate into direct support of Bush, but they suggest that the continent's policy-makers are open to the sort of economic deal-making that the United States comes hoping to promote.

"We are engaged with our fellow summit participants to use this opportunity to highlight the importance of pro-growth policies and a proper enabling environment for the private sector to flourish," John F. Maisto, the State Department's summit coordinator, said in a recent speech. "This approach is the only way to sustainably generate more, better-quality jobs."

Bush's visit to Brazil could be instrumental in restarting trade negotiations and encouraging smoother relations throughout the region. Brazil's opposition to subsidies for U.S. farmers is a primary reason the talks have sputtered.

Good relations with Brazil also could help the United States neutralize the influence of leaders who seek to aggravate anti-American sentiments. Chavez, for example, apparently hopes to capitalize on the negative U.S. image as a way to kill or discourage FTAA-style trade pacts.

The Venezuelan leader plans to lead a stadium rally Friday in Mar del Plata to spread his message that the trade deal would benefit U.S. corporations at the expense of Latin America's poor. Chavez envisions a regional economy less dependent on the United States and has signed pacts to sell oil to some Caribbean countries in exchange for payments partly delivered in the form of agricultural products or social services.

"The FTAA is dead," Chavez said Sunday on his weekly television program. "It will have to be buried. The people of this continent will bury it, and another model of integration will emerge."