Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be looking to turn the page on his widely criticized trips to China and India 香蕉视频直播� and land some new trade partners for Canada 香蕉视频直播� when he embarks Thursday on a major 10-day foreign tour.

The stakes will be high, starting with Trudeau香蕉视频直播檚 first stop in Peru for the 8th Summit of the Americas, which plays host every four years to more than 30 countries across the Western Hemisphere.

There had been speculation that Canada, the U.S. and Mexico would announce some form of an agreement in principle on a new North American Free Trade Agreement.

But while high-level talks are still expected to take place, the absence of U.S. President Donald Trump 香蕉视频直播� he香蕉视频直播檚 staying home, ostensibly to oversee the possible American response to a chemical attack in Syria 香蕉视频直播� has dampened talk of ceremonial surprises.

Instead, the meeting is likely to be dominated by the political crisis in Venezuela, where president Nicolas Maduro, who will also not take part, has abandoned all pretence of democratic rule, cracking down on dissent in the face of spiralling economic calamity.

Canada has been an outspoken critic of Maduro and will no doubt join the chorus of condemnation in Peru while pushing for a tougher stand against corruption throughout the Americas.

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Trudeau will also meet with leaders from the Pacific Alliance, a trade bloc comprising Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, all of which have free trade deals 香蕉视频直播� and close political relationships 香蕉视频直播� with Canada. He香蕉视频直播檒l also get a rare chance to meet with Latin America香蕉视频直播檚 largest trading bloc, Mercosur, which counts powerhouse Brazil as well as Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay among its members.

With the fate of NAFTA up in the air and efforts afoot to diversify trade away from the U.S., Canada and Mercosur quietly held a first round of free trade talks in March.

University of Ottawa professor Roland Paris, formerly Trudeau香蕉视频直播檚 foreign policy adviser, says advancing trade discussions with Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance would top his to-do list.

Indeed, Trump香蕉视频直播檚 absence could offer the perfect chance for Trudeau to speak freely with Mercosur leaders and other potential trade partners, said Pablo Heidrich, an expert on Latin America at Carleton University in Ottawa.

香蕉视频直播淗e may be able to have a more direct conversation with Latin America,香蕉视频直播� Heidrich said. 香蕉视频直播淭hat could open more space for Canada to further its negotiations in trade agreements and to try to sell something to other countries or to the same countries that Canada is already interested in.香蕉视频直播�

Trudeau, however, can香蕉视频直播檛 afford the sort of missteps that plagued him in China and India.

Observers will be watching to see how far he goes in opposing Trump香蕉视频直播檚 controversial comments on Latin American immigrants, as well as in promoting western democratic values without coming across as arrogant or preachy.

香蕉视频直播淟ecturing is what really brought Trudeau down in China and in India,香蕉视频直播� Heidrich said. 香蕉视频直播淎nd so I hope the Canadian diplomacy does not go into lecturing, because it is not going to go well.香蕉视频直播�

Officials say the prime minister will also likely make Canada香蕉视频直播檚 case, both during his visit to Peru and throughout the rest of the trip, for a UN Security Council seat in 2020.

Following two days of meetings in Peru, Trudeau will travel to Paris for his first official visit to France. There he will meet French President Emmanuel Macron, address the French National Assembly and hold several speaking engagements.

The visit will include a heavy emphasis on business, particularly in the context of the new Canada-EU free trade deal, but is also expected to include discussions on climate change, Russia, Syria, rising nationalism and Mali.

Canada has committed six military helicopters to the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, where France has been conducting counter-terror operations for years alongside troops from several neighbouring African countries.

The prime minister will end his tour in London, where he will meet the Queen and British Prime Minister Theresa May before joining leaders from 52 other nations for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where trade will top the agenda 香蕉视频直播� particularly in the face of Britain香蕉视频直播檚 imminent departure from the EU and a natural impulse to look to its former colonies as new trade partners.

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press

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