President Bush arrived in Chile late Friday for a meeting of the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, or APEC. This year's summit will focus on efforts to end North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
President Bush's first trip abroad since his re-election was met by
thousands of protestors in the Chilean capital demonstrating against the globalization of trade and the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
The president and Mrs. Bush saw none of the demonstrations as they arrived in the evening amid tight security with more than 5,000 Chilean forces deployed throughout the city. The president spends the night in Santiago before a full day of meetings at the start of the APEC summit on Saturday.
He will hold one-on-one sessions with the leaders of China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Canada and Russia. Mr. Bush is expected to push for increasing pressure on North Korea to give-up its nuclear weapons program, especially from Chinese President Hu Jintao who is one of the few leaders with any real influence in Pyongyang.
The United States, South Korea, China, Japan, and Russia are part of six-party talks with North Korea on dismantling its nuclear weapons. North Korea says it wants security guarantees that American forces will not invade the country from their bases in South Korea.
On Sunday, President Bush meets with Mexican President Vicente Fox and takes questions from reporters alongside summit host Chilean President Ricardo Lagos.
This session of the 21-member APEC group will also focus on expanding trade throughout the Pacific Rim and continuing to coordinate efforts to fight terrorism.
After APEC, President Bush visits Cartagena, Colombia on Monday for talks with President Alvaro Uribe. They will take questions from reporters at Colombia's naval academy before President Bush returns to his Texas ranch.