Presidents from 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries agreed on Tuesday in Costa do Sauipe, Bahia (northeastern Brazil), that deeper integration is of the essence to face the global financial crisis, although the difficulties to reach agreements on specific areas were clear.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva kicked off a marathon of four summits, which began with a meeting that initially would be attended exclusively by Mercosur (Latin America's biggest trade bloc) countries, but ended as an expanded meeting with the rest of the nations invited to Sauipe, reported AFP.

As expected, the event focused from the beginning on Cuban President Raúl Castro, who is participating in his first summit since he took office in the Caribbean island and replaced his brother Fidel Castro in February last year.

"It is very important for us the presence of President Raúl Castro in this meeting, and I hope it will be the first of a series of meetings in which he will be with us," said Lula, who was applauded by the Heads of State.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who did not participate in the opening talks in the morning, arrived at noon for the meeting.