As residents in Buenos Aires and the Argentine seaside resort of Mar del Plata spent their Sunday scrubbing off graffiti and boarding up smashed shop fronts left by anti-Bush protesters officials taking part in the weekend's Summit of the Americas were left trying to put a brave face on things.

Rafael Bielsa, Argentina's foreign minister, told journalists that his government "is satisfied with the result of the summit". He added that the 34 countries taking part had approved "the entire document that was being negotiated", and had "removed the obstacles that stood in the way of defending decent jobs and tackling poverty".