Since the end of the cold war, the United States has promoted the expansion of democracy in Latin America, and it can claim some credit for favorable outcomes: Aside from Cuba's Fidel Castro, the hemisphere's leaders, from Canada in the north to Chile in the south, are democratically elected and increasingly subject to the pressures of their constituencies.

But the results of this democratic transition may not all be to Washington's liking.

When President Bush meets with hemispheric leaders Monday and Tuesday in Monterrey, Mexico, for a special summit of the Organization of American States, he will stand beside the leaders of Mexico and Chile, two countries that heeded their public's opposition to war and opposed the US on Iraq in the United Nations Security Council last year.

And he will chat with the leader of Brazil, South America's dominant economy and a country balking at a hemispheric free-trade accord it fears would favor the US at the South's expense.

For decades the US could count on a compliant Southern Hemisphere to toe the line, but increasingly the region's democratically elected leaders are not so inclined.

"This is a mature group [of leaders]," says Robert Pastor, vice president for international affairs at American University and an expert on Latin America. "They don't feel a compelling need to take potshots at the US, but neither do they have to blindly follow when the US calls. Those days are gone."

The 34 nations of the hemisphere (absent Cuba) will discuss how to address the region's stubborn - and in some cases growing - poverty.

But at a time when relations between the US and Latin America are as strained as they have been in years, Mr. Pastor says the summit really stems from a Canadian desire "to redirect American attention to the hemisphere."

Because of poor US management of relations with the region and a lack of any bold proposals to jump-start hemispheric trade talks, however, the summit may turn into a "missed opportunity," says Pastor.

"The great tragedy is that there has never been a moment when the leaders of Latin America had more in common with the US than today," he says, "whether you're talking democracy or a commitment to human rights or adherence to market-oriented economies."

One reason for the low state of affairs is the focus on national security that has driven American foreign policy since 9/11.

Latin Americans initially understood the Bush administration's complete reorientation to addressing security concerns and terrorism, experts in the region say. But, they add, the continuing focus reminds many of the "big stick" America that dominated the region in the cold-war era. It is also a reminder that Latin America has not become the priority Bush said it would be when he took office.

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