PANAMA CITY, Panama (By Nedra Pickler, Associated Press) November 7, 2005 — President Bush acknowledged Monday that it would be difficult to push any U.S.-Panama trade deal through Congress, but said getting one completed remains a top priority for his administration.

Bush celebrated the progress on reaching agreement with Panama on a bilateral free-trade pact, welcoming an enthusiastic partner in President Martin Torrijos after days of Latin America resistance to freer trade in the hemisphere.

"We just got to continue to work it and to get it done," Bush said after the two met in the Casa Amarilla, a government guest house across the street from the presidential palace.

Torrijos wasn't as strongly supportive as Bush, but said an agreement for freer trade between the two nations would bring "advantages and opportunities."

Bush said the deal would likely run into resistance in the U.S. Congress, singling out for criticism the Democrats who often oppose trade deals.

"One area that we need to make progress with is the Democrat Party," Bush said. "Panama can help reinvigorate the spirit."

The Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, was recently ratified by Congress, but it came on a narrow vote that required aggressive lobbying by the White House. The president and vice president paid personal visits to Capitol Hill, and Republican leaders held open the vote to leave time for more arm-twisting.

Panama is not a part of CAFTA because Bush negotiated that pact with a pre-existing trading bloc of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

Bush also encouraged Panama to update the Panama Canal, which could undergo a nearly $10 billion expansion so that it can be used by more ships if voters approve the project. The Bush administration's position had been to say nothing more than that expanding the canal is a decision for the Panamanian people.

"I think it is wise for the government to consider modernizing the canal," Bush said.

The canal, which Bush was visiting later in the day, now is too narrow to accommodate 10 percent of the world's ships today.

The United States opened the canal in 1914 to help ships avoid a long trip around the southern tip of South America, but handed over control of it to Panama in 1999.

Torrijos brought up one tricky subject _ Panama's contention that the U.S. government, which built military bases in the Canal Zone to serve regional strategic military purposes, left behind unexploded ordnance.

"There will not always be agreement, such as in the unexploded ordnance issue," he said. "But there will always be a frankness, sincerity between us so that we can discuss as friends on the various viewpoints of our countries."

The U.S. military dropped 31,000 mustard and other chemical munitions on Panama's San Jose island in 1944-47 tests. The Pentagon long claimed it left none behind, but in 2001 Panama's government said seven intact weapons were found. Researchers believe hundreds more lie unexploded in the uninhabited rainforest.

Panama rejected Washington's offer to clean up the seven weapons, saying the whole island must be cleared.

"We had obligations under the treaty and we felt like we met those obligations," Bush said. "There is a difference of opinion and so we have a disagreement that we will continue to discuss."

On trade, White House aides said going into the meetings that they did not expect to leave with a completed agreement. But they expected more progress with Torrijos than Bush achieved with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brasilia and during a weekend summit of Americas leaders in Argentina.

Thirty-four countries failed to reach agreement to restart talks on a proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA, during the summit, in part because of Silva's objections.

Bush's first stop in Panama represents what has been his multitrack strategy for opening up world markets. Even as the FTAA is stalled and worldwide trade talks are embroiled in thorny issues of farm subsidies, the president has set his sights on individual countries that are eager to do business with the United States, the world's largest economic power.

"I told the president this free trade agreement is important for America, as he told me it's important for Panama," Bush said.

The president and his wife, Laura, also planned to lay a wreath at the Corozal American Cemetery, where nearly 5,200 canal workers and U.S. service members are buried. Also on their schedule was an event with Panamanian baseball players from the major leagues and about 100 young players.