LIMA (AFP) - EU and Latin American leaders held talks Saturday on free trade deals that had become bogged down over differences between some South American countries.

The negotiations came a day after a summit between the heads of state and government in the Peruvian capital, Lima.

Mexico, which signed such an accord eight years ago and which became a "strategic partner" to the European Union from the weekend, has seen its trade with the European bloc grow from 19 billion dollars to 48 billion dollars.

But Europe is having a harder time with some of the other Latin American countries, which are grouped into several trade alliances, notably Mercosur, the Andean Community, and the Central American countries.

Rifts within the Andean Community in particular have proved problematic, with two of its members, Bolivia and Ecuador, opposing the other two, Colombia and Peru, on several issues.

As a result, they agreed to negotiate on a country-by-country basis with the European Union, rather than as a bloc, Peruvian President Alan Garcia told reporters.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero both stressed the EU's hopes of advancing talks with Peru and Colombia, both run by centre-right administrations.

Bogota has already signed a free trade accord with Washington, though that is being held up in the US congress.

Bolivia and Ecuador, in contrast, hew to the left and are resisting such accords.

The EU also wants to seal a deal with Mercosur, which comprises Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

But little headway has been made, with talks overshadowed by global trade negotiations taking place within the Doha Round of negotiations organized by the World Trade Organization.

The Europeans and South Americans will have to satisfy themselves with just "confirming their commitment to resume negotiations once a Doha result is forthcoming," said Alfredo Chiaradia, a senior Argentine government official involved in the talks.

European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said ahead of the summit that Europe was hoping for a breakthrough in the WTO talks within the next couple of months, before the "window of opportunity" is closed by US elections in November.

Developing countries, including those in Mercosur, want to see EU and US farm subsidies and import tariffs cut, while the richer countries are demanding better market access for their products and services.

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