President Clinton will be attending the second Summit of the Americas later this week without fast-track authority -- legislation that would allow him to negotiate free trade agreements with other nations.

The failure to pass fast-track authority means the U.S. may not play a leadership role in negotiating the trade liberalizing Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) or make progress on admitting Chile to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Analysts say Latin America and the Caribbean are among the fastest growing areas in the world, and the United States has been a principal beneficiary of this growth.

• Between 1988 and 1997, U.S. goods exported to the region tripled, rising from more than $46 billion in 1988 to more than $134 billion in 1997.

• Total NAFTA-related trade rose from $293 billion in 1993 to more than $475 billion in 1997 -- an increase of 62 percent.

• In 1997, U.S. exports to Canada totaled $151.4 billion, and U.S. exports to Mexico were $71.3 billion.

The 33 heads of state who participated in the first Summit of the Americas in Miami in December 1994 agreed to use NAFTA as the benchmark for creating an FTAA by 2005.

To get free trade negotiations back on track, analysts say Clinton should seek fast-track authority again this year.