Protected by a ring of steel from angry protesters, leaders from every country in the Americas bar communist Cuba gathered in Quebec today to discuss building a free trade zone underpinned by democracy.
The three-day Summit of the Americas brings together some of the biggest and smallest countries in the world, the most prosperous and the poorest.
It will mark US President George W. Bush's first major encounter with Latin America, a region he has pledged will be a priority for his administration.
"Our goal in Quebec is to build a hemisphere of liberty," Mr Bush told reporters at the White House before leaving for the summit."We must approach this goal in a spirit of civility, mutual respect and appreciation for our shared values," he added.
The summit will also bring together Venezuela's controversial leader, Mr Hugo Chavez, with other presidents such as Andres Pastrana of Colombia -- whose civil war threatens to draw in its neighbors and the United States -- and Fernando Cardoso of Brazil, a sleeping giant in the world economy.
Overshadowing the summit was the presence of thousands of activists who oppose plans to create the world's largest free trade zone, stretching from Canada to Chile.
Determined to avoid a repeat of the anti-globalization riots in Seattle in December 1999 and in Prague last September, Canadian authorities have deployed around 6,700 police and 1,200 troops.
A 10-foot (3-meter)-high chain-link fence some 4 miles (6 km) long has been erected round parts of the historic old city that contain the summit venues.
Several thousand demonstrators gathered today at Laval University to march to the security fence north of the summit venue. Organizers designated three zones -- red, yellow and green -- where protesters could head, depending on how much violence they were prepared for.
Dubbed the wall of shame by activists, it has emerged as the symbol of the deep divisions over the so-called Free Trade Area of the Americas.
FTAA proponents say tearing down trade barriers will create jobs and alleviate poverty among the 800 million people of the Americas. The 34 leaders at the summit are expected to commit themselves to completing negotiations by January 2005.
Opponents, who include labor and human rights groups as well as militant anti-capitalists, say the FTAA will help big corporations get richer by exploiting the poor. Destruction of the environment will also be hastened, they say.