Is the Rio Group Reflecting the State of Politics in Latin America?
By Odeen Ishmael The annual summit of the Rio Group of countries should have been held on August 25-26 2005 in the Argentine mountain resort town of Bariloche. However, because only 9 of the 19 Presidents signaled their intention to attend, the meeting was postponed and is now expected to be rescheduled for December 2005. The decision to postpone the summit followed consultations between Argentina, Brazil and Guyana, who currently are members of the Rio Group troika . Argentina is the temporary chair of the Group while Guyana will be the site of the summit next year. The Rio Group leaders were expected to use this summit to coordinate their positions with respect to November s fourth Summit of the Americas for which they are still hoping to present a minimum joint position on the agenda. In their place, the Group s Foreign Ministers met in Bariloche on August 25-26 to iron out agenda matters and other issues expected to be raised at the Summit of the Americas. This larger forum, to be
