Mr. President--L.A.’s the Place : We know the perfect spot to hold your hemispheric summit

Because of Los Angeles’ history and location, we have long paid special attention to Latin America, from Tijuana to Tierra del Fuego--long enough to remember that visions of hemispheric unity have been promoted with regularity since the 19th Century.

And long enough to know that such idealistic visions have to be viewed with a healthy measure of skepticism. It isn’t easy to overcome historic rivalries like that between Argentina and Brazil. For that matter, even pro-U.S. Mexicans get gloomy when recalling the sometimes negative effect of their powerful northern neighbor.

But, that said, President Clinton has come up with a great idea in asking all the democratically elected American heads of state to join him next year for a hemispheric summit meeting, similar to the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Seattle. The President first broached the subject Tuesday in Washington, at a meeting with the seven Central American presidents. The proposal was made public in Mexico City the next day by Vice President Al Gore, who said that the recent North American Free Trade Agreement could be the start of a “Western Hemisphere community of democracies.”

Of course, before such a summit can be held, many important details have to be worked out. But one can be dispensed with early: Los Angeles is the appropriate, even ideal, city to host the summit. No other U.S. city can outdo us in terms of logistics or our cultural and financial ties to the entire Hemisphere. When it comes to a hemispheric summit--to quote a line heard around town during the ’84 Olympics -- “L.A.’s the Place.” Local civic and business leaders should start selling that idea to the President, who just happens to be in town this weekend.