Eurabia came about the same way: the EU, trying to undercut the international influence of the US, made suicidal accords with the Arab League. “South American, Arab Leaders Hold Summit,” from ABC News:
BRASILIA, Brazil — Banding together to undercut the international influence of the United States, South American and Arab leaders opened their first summit Tuesday to usher in a new wave of political and economic cooperation.
With 9,000 soldiers posted around the Brazilian capital and military helicopters buzzing overhead, 15 heads of state and top officials from 34 South American, Middle Eastern and North African nations converged for the first Summit of South American-Arab Countries.
“We are facing a historic opportunity to build the foundation for a bridge of solid cooperation between South America and the Arab world,” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said.
Pushing a policy goal he has pursued since becoming the first elected leftist leader of Latin America’s largest country, Silva urged the participants to fight for free-trade rules that help the developing world’s masses who live in misery, instead of benefiting only rich countries and multinational corporations.
But the summit lost some of its luster with the absence of some of the strongest voices in the Arab world, including the leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria. Even Lebanon’s president was a no-show.
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa had been hoping more leaders would attend, but said the presence of seven of the 22 Arab heads of state was a positive “gauge of the importance of the conference.” Eight of the 12 South American leaders were participating.
Moussa denied speculation that the United States had pressured some leaders to boycott the event, which was to issue a declaration at odds with U.S. policy on issues ranging from terrorism to Israel.
Brazilian media widely reported that the United States was refused permission to attend as summit observer, but U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Tuesday he did not know whether the United States ever requested to observe the event.
State Department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Washington had asked if it could be an observer at the meetings and Brazil refused…