(7 Nov 1997) Spanish/Nat
South American leaders have begun arriving on Venezuela's Margarita Island for the
Seventh Ibero-American Summit.
Security was stepped up for the arrivals on Thursday - with at least one bomb scare involving a car near to the central conference areas.
Over 4,000 soldiers and police fanned out across the tourist island of Margarita on Thursday.
They were preparing for this weekend's summit of 23 presidents and heads of state from Latin American, Spain and Portugal.
The number of security agents was expected to double to 8,000 by the time the leaders start arriving on Friday.
Officials are sharply restricting both air and sea travel to Margarita, located 450 kilometres (270 miles) northeast of Caracas.
The president of Venezuela, Rafael Caldera is hosting the summit.
He was not going to take any risks with security.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"We feel that in a world that everyday becomes more globalised, it is necessary that we ourselves become globalised, that we reach the complex world."
SUPER CAPTION: Rafael Caldera, President of Venezuela
A car suspected of carrying a bomb was later blown up by the bomb squad.
However it proved to be a false alarm.
The car had been left outside one of the main conference halls in Porlamar, capital of the Venezuelan island.
Eight Cuban exiles who planned to protest Castro's presence were expelled from the island Monday, but Venezuelan authorities later said it was a mistake and invited them back.
One of the eight who had returned to Margarita for the summit, made a statement to the press.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"It was explicitly informed that Venezuela and Margarita were open to Cuban citizens abiding to public order norms and that they could come to the island to express their views. This is not a demonstration, this is a press conference, a press conference as nervous and as hot as this island, but this is a press conference not a demonstration."
SUPER CAPTION: Norberto Fontanilla, member of the Cuban-Venezuelan Democratic Foundation
The meeting's topic is "Ethical Values in Democracies."
Cuban President Fidel Castro is amongst those scheduled to attend.
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