Latin American Presidents Urge Trade Pact OK : Treaty: Congressional approval of agreement between U.S., Mexico and Canada is called crucial.

Eleven Latin American presidents, ending a two-day summit here Saturday, rallied behind President Clinton in his campaign for congressional approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“We consider that the activation of the free trade treaty among Mexico, Canada and the United States of America will open up new possibilities for free trade and development in the entire hemisphere,” the presidents said in a joint declaration.

Some of the presidents portrayed the congressional decision on NAFTA as crucial to U.S. relations with all of Latin America, a region of 450 million people.

Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari said the decision will be seen as a test of U.S. will “to collaborate in a mutually beneficial way with Latin America.”

In a press conference, Salinas added that “Latin America is looking toward the approval of the treaty to see whether the United States will be capable of setting a long-term policy of closer relations with the region. Latin America hopes that the United States will show with facts if it is going to have a new, constructive, as well as respectful, attitude toward its neighbors of the continent.”

The leaders also stated their support for a U.N. embargo on Haiti after the country’s military refused to honor an agreement to restore democratic rule.

The U.N. Security Countil has voted to reimpose an arms and oil embargo on Haiti and freeze the military leaders’ assets unless they adhere to the accord by Monday.

In Saturday’s closed summit session, Salinas reported, one leader said that past U.S. initiatives for a closer relationship with Latin America have been more words than concrete acts.

Another leader, he said, observed that past U.S. initiatives have emphasized aid.

But “Latin America doesn’t want aid,” he said. “It wants trade. Free trade.”

Salinas noted that a clause in NAFTA provides that other countries in the hemisphere may join it in the future.

“Latin America sees in this trade treaty a true, substantive option for making the whole hemisphere, the whole continent, a great economic area that would be able to compete with other regions of economic integration in the world,” he said.

The agreement aimed at abolishing restrictions on commerce among the three North American countries is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1 if approved by Congress, where opposition has been vigorous.

Opponents argue that it will subject U.S. industry and workers to low-wage competition from Mexico. Proponents say NAFTA will stimulate all three countries’ economies and form the world’s biggest economic bloc.

Earlier in October, Salinas warned that any attempt to delay or renegotiate NAFTA would signify “cancellation” of the accord.

But Saturday, he dodged reporters’ questions of what would happen if Congress delayed or rejected the proposed agreement.

“We are working for the treaty to be ratified,” he said.

After his press conference, he told The Times: “There is enormous concern among the chiefs of state over the signal that they (the U.S. Congress) will send to Latin America if they don’t ratify the treaty.”

While Salinas spoke in a downtown hotel, other Latin American presidents gave a press conference in Chile’s Foreign Ministry.

Chilean President Patricio Aylwin emphasized summit support for approval of NAFTA and, echoing Salinas, said the U.S. congressional decision on it “will be seen as an indication of the future U.S. global policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean.”

The summit took no position on what to do if Congress rejects NAFTA, Aylwin said. “There is no reason to put on the bandage before the wound. We hope the wound won’t occur and we won’t need a bandage.”

A letter from Clinton to the summit pledged his commitment to “freer hemispheric trade as a long-term goal.”

The President added: “The passage of NAFTA will be the first step in achieving this goal throughout our hemisphere.”

The summit was an annual meeting of the Rio Group of nations, named for a 1986 conference in Rio de Janeiro.

Presidents attending this year were from Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Argentine President Carlos Saul Menem missed the summit after having an emergency operation Thursday to clear a blocked artery.

The foreign ministers of Argentina and Jamaica also attended the summit.