Latin America forms bloc without U.S.

PLAYA DE CARMEN, Mexico – Latin America and Caribbean leaders united Tuesday to create a regional bloc excluding Canada and the United States, but its birth was undermined by a spat in which the Colombian president told Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez to “be a man.”

Many of the 32 Latin American and Caribbean countries participating in the summit have long called for a new organization that will not be dominated by the interests of their two wealthy northern neighbors. The Organization of American States, the largest diplomatic bloc in the Western Hemisphere, has been heavily influenced by the United States.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who hosted the summit, said the bloc “will consolidate and globally project a Latin American and Caribbean identity.”

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.

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.

The bloc’s formation is expected to take years and faces many challenges. The Latin American leaders agreed to meet again in Venezuela in 2011.

Latin America remains divided on whether to recognize the government of Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, who won November elections organized under interim leaders who took power after the June 28 ouster of then-President Manuel Zelaya.

Participants also disagreed on whether the bloc should replace the OAS.

But they did find common ground on some issues, rallying around Argentina in its condemnation of Britain’s oil exploration in waters surrounding the Falkland Islands.