US:US president George W Bush met the leaders of Canada and Mexico at a luxurious cedar chateau yesterday to bolster economic and security ties, but protesters decried the gathering's secrecy and shouted for Mr Bush to go home.
Dubbed the "Three Amigos summit," the two-day meeting of Mr Bush, Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper and Mexican president Felipe Calderon was also expected to review the credit crunch and turmoil gripping global financial markets.
Canada and Mexico have been frustrated that growth in trade among the partners to the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, has been held back by the US crackdown on the border following the September 11th attacks in 2001. To try to tackle that problem, the countries have developed the Security and Prosperity Partnership, or SPP. But the agenda has upset activists on the left and the right who contend it will erode national sovereignty.
Further raising the ire of critics is a three-metre fence put up around the resort in Montebello along the Ottawa River where the leaders gathered.
More than 2,000 demonstrators showed up, chanting "Arrest the criminals inside the fence" and "George Bush go home" but they were kept at bay by a cordon of police in riot gear.
The protesters, who arrived in convoys of buses to the village about 70km east of Ottawa, said the talks were being carried out behind the backs of ordinary citizens and without any votes planned in the Canadian parliament or US Congress.
They also criticised plans for consultations with corporate leaders.
"I particularly oppose war criminal Bush seeking to annex Canada and Mexico, to put the armed forces and police services under US command. It's all very dangerous," said Dean Lawveri (39) of New York state.
Mr Bush arrived on a helicopter and shook hands with hotel staff before sitting down with Mr Harper to discuss bilateral issues. He was due to meet one-on-one with Mr Calderon later.
Mr Calderon had been scheduled to spend an extra day in Canada, visiting with Mr Harper in the Gatineau Hills in Quebec, but speculation that he might leave early arose as Hurricane Dean headed toward the Yucatan Peninsula.
Mexican officials declined to comment on whether the schedule in Quebec would be altered.
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said while there was no change in the schedule, "obviously we are staying in touch with them [ Mexicans] and would understand, certainly, if he needed to cut his visit to Canada short to return to Mexico to deal with problems there".
It will be the first face-to-face meeting between the US and Mexican leaders since an attempt to overhaul US immigration legislation collapsed in Congress and dealt a blow to a key issue for US-Mexico relations.