The German chancellor and Venezuelan president, who crossed verbal swords over the past week, sat far apart at the opening Friday of the fifth European Union-Latin America and the Caribbean (EU-LAC) summit, dpa reported.
Chancellor Angela Merkel had the place of honour next to Peru's President Alan Garcia, who gave the opening speech - a clear signal of her lead position at the gathering.
Meanwhile, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who provoked his usual flurry of attention with charges earlier this week that Merkel drew support from the same right wing that supported Hitler, sat 20 places away in the group of leaders on the stage of the modern National Museum.
In a toned-down gesture, however, Chavez, instead of wearing his usual red shirt of the revolutionary tradition he purports, chose a conservative blue suit.
That the two leaders found themselves among representatives of 60 countries - 33 from Latin America and the Caribbean and 27 fom the European Union - was in and of itself one of the most important accomplishments of the summit. Until shortly before the summit opened, mediators were still trying to reach an agreement about the final statement.
Also attending were Spain's President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and several Latin American presidents as well as European Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso.
The focus of the summit is the fight against poverty and climate change.
Of the delegations present at the summit, 37 are headed by heads of state or government, although some leaders like French President Nicolas Sarkozy and prime ministers Gordon Brown, of Britain, and Silvio Berlusconi, of Italy, were conspicuously absent.
Debate to take place behind closed doors, with the Lima Declaration set to be signed late Friday.
In his opening address, Garcia mentioned an initiative to tax oil and natural gas to raise funds for reforestation and to combat climate change.
"With a few cents (tax) we could create a fund of 20 million dollars per year and reforest 50 million hectares that capture 2 billion tonnes of carbon," said Garcia.
The summit host, who had already discussed his idea in bilateral talks with some of his colleagues, stressed the need to find concrete solutions that go beyond words.
Garcia asked for unity within Latin America and mentioned Europe as an example of how a solid bloc can be built despite diversity and a history of conflict.
"Let that which unites us dominate, instead of prioritizing that which pulls us apart," Garcia told his colleagues.
Shortly before the start of the meeting, Merkel spoke in favour of a stronger European involvement in Latin America.
"Latin America puts great hope on the partnership with Europe. We Europeans face the challenge of promoting it," Merkel said.
She did not, however, mention her ongoing verbal clash with Chavez, and stressed only that this is set to be a good summit.
No comprehensive aid programmes were expected to be announced at the summit, the German delegation said, although there would be contributions from Europe to the fight against poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The summit was also not expected to deliver significant progress towards the free-trade and association agreements between the EU and Latin American and the Caribbean, which have stalled for years. The German delegation said this was due to the lack of a unified front in the counterparts of the EU.