GUADALAJARA, Mexico: US President Barack Obama attends his first North American leaders summit in Mexico on Sunday with the economic crisis and swine flu on an agenda overshadowed by Mexican drug violence.

Hundreds of Mexican soldiers and police deployed in the western city of Guadalajara for the summit in which Obama, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper were due to touch on a wide range of topics affecting the region of almost 450 million inhabitants.

Measures to help recovery in the three major economies that have been tied by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) for 15 years were a top priority.

Like the United States, Mexico has sunk deep into recession, with much of its industry tied to the worst-affected areas of the US economy -- cars and construction -- and migrant workers north of the border sending less money home.

In the two-day meeting, Canada and Mexico -- the first and third-largest US trading partners -- were expected to pressure Obama over a "Buy American" clause in the US economic stimulus plan.

Mexico also sought to resolve an immigration dispute with Canada over the recent imposition of visas for Mexicans, and a trade dispute involving Mexican trucks operating in the United States, officials said here.

Some 1,200 federal police officers were deployed around the city for the meeting, as well as around 1,000 Mexican presidential guards and other troops, Mexican officials said.

Local rights and environmental groups planned demonstrations in the city on Sunday.LINK