A landmark summit of South American leaders concluded last Friday with a "Declaration of Brasilia" in which 12 participating leaders pledged to unite South America's two main trade blocs into a single free trade zone by January 2002.
The new free trade area would stretch from Colombia's Caribbean coast to Tierra del Fuego in Argentina, a common market of 340 million people.
The Brasilia Declaration included a carefully-worded "democratic clause" contemplating "consultation" between signatories and possible expulsion of nations which experience "institutional rupture".
That clause held particular significance for Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, in attendance at the summit, as he was elected to a third term of office last May after refashioning state institutions to extend his period of rule.
The two-day summit was attended by members of the region's dominant trade bloc Mercosur, composed of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, plus associate member Chile and Andean Pact nations Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru.
Colombian President Andres Pastrana used the forum to defend the controversial US military aid package, Plan Colombia, describing it as a crucial weapon to destroy the region's "common enemy", drug-trafficking.
Mr Pastrana dismissed fears that growing US involvement in the armed conflict could lead to military intervention. "As long as I am president there will be no military intervention," he told reporters at the summit.
Venezuela and Brazil expressed conditional support for Plan Colombia, provided that the central push was towards peace. Venezuela shares a 2,240 km border with Colombia, with leftwing rebels, government troops and displaced farmers spilling into Venezuela after armed confrontations. UN observers reported 500 displaced people arriving in Venezuela while the summit was taking place.
In behind-the-scenes manoeuvring President Chavez persuaded Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo to cancel a contract signed with a US company to build a satellite monitoring post in Esequibo, a border area at the centre of a territorial dispute with Venezuela. Mr Chavez feared that the satellite post could be used for launching missiles.
Mr Chavez ruffled Chilean feathers by publicly backing Bolivia's historic demand for a sovereign transport route to the sea. "We cannot accept the interference of third countries in bilateral issues," said Chile's Foreign Minister, who sent the offending leader a diplomatic note.
In his keynote address Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso said that South America had been "severely hurt by the protectionism of wealthier nations", emphasising the need "to break the circle of uncertainties from abroad and promote the participation of South American countries in the globalisation process".
"The journey toward democracy has been completed," Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, said delivering his final state-of-the-nation address last Friday. "Happily, I will be an ex-president who will have to work to support his family," he added, a discreet reference to previous presidents who left office with enormous and inexplicable fortunes. President-elect Mr Vicente Fox will succeed Mr Zedillo on December 1st.
The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), have agreed to start ceasefire talks on September 22nd, according to a joint statement issued yesterday. The two sides reached agreement late on Saturday, two months after they handed in sealed-envelope proposals and gave each other 30 days to study the content separately.