With the U.S. election looming over their annual summit, North American leaders gathered on Monday for largely symbolic meetings likely to be dominated by questions about free trade.

At the two-day summit, U.S. President George W. Bush and his Canadian and Mexican counterparts are expected to defend the 14-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, which has come under fire in the United States amid concerns that the country is in or headed to a recession.

Shortly after arriving, Bush said he chose New Orleans for the summit to celebrate the "comeback of a great American city."

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Bush's administration was lambasted for its poor response to the August 2005 Hurricane Katrina -- the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. Critics have said recovery has been slow in the city once known mainly for its jazz and lively night life but now marked by memories of deadly flooding.

"I wanted to send a clear signal to the people of my country that New Orleans is open for business, it's a good place to visit and that after the devastation of Katrina, it's become a hopeful city," Bush said at a ceremony to reopen the Mexican consulate, which was shut down in 2002 in a cost-cutting move.

Aside from showcasing the city, analysts expect few concrete results from the "Three Amigos" summit with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper -- in part because Bush is leaving office in January.

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