RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - Latin American leaders kicked off a two-day summit Thursday with talks on a larger peacekeeping force for Haiti and the impact on the region from US President George W Bush's re-election.

While Latin American countries have contributed the bulk of troops to the United Nations peacekeeping force in Haiti, it still stands at about half the 8,000 personnel recommended by the UN after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled the conflict-ravaged island in February.

Latin America was a top focus for Bush after he won his first term in 2000, but important issues like immigration for countries south of the United States border took a back seat to terrorism after the September 11, 2001 attacks and the war in Iraq.

"I hope President Bush will start looking more closely toward the south," Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo told reporters before opening the summit.

With Bush's re-election, negotiations over a free trade agreement stretching from Alaska to Argentina are likely to go into high gear - a key goal of many Latin American countries who want to boost their exports to the United States.

Senator John Kerry wanted to shelve talks on the 34-nation Free Trade Area of the Americas to study it more.

The summit comes only five days after Uruguayan voters strengthened South America's political tilt to the left, electing their first leftist president out of disenchantment with US-backed free-market policies and economic upheaval.

But experts say Uruguay's new president, Tabare Vazquez, and the other new left-leaning Latin American leaders are largely seen as pragmatists who know they must have better relations with the United States to boost their economies and raise living standards.

While Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez periodically alarms some with harsh anti-US rhetoric, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chilean President Ricardo Lagos have won praise from investors for sticking to free market policies while emphasising a greater role for government in helping the poor.

Before leaving Chile for Rio, Lagos congratulated Bush on his victory.

"Chile and the United States share common values and with that in mind we will work together," Lagos said in a statement.

Chavez, a self-professed revolutionary, stayed true to form, lashing out at the United States after an early morning seaside stroll on Rio's famous Copacabana Beach.

"The American way of life, damn that, it's the road to hell," he said. "They want to impose it on us with bombs and bayonets."

Rio Group leaders are also expected to discuss lobbying for an expansion of the UN Security Council. They want a seat for a Latin American nation a permanent seat alongside the current five permanent members: United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

Both Brazil and Mexico want a permanent seat, though Brazil's effort is likely to receive more attention in Rio since Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is the host.

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