San Miguel de Tucuman, Argentina - Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner Tuesday opened the 35th summit of heads of state of the South American trade bloc Mercosur with a salvo aimed at financial investors who are speculating in rising food prices.

Speaking in the Argentine city of San Miguel de Tucuman, Fernandez de Kirchner charged there was a definite connection between the rise in the prices of foodstuffs and the downswing in the financial sector triggered by the US subprime mortgage crisis.

Generally speaking, analysts have linked rising food prices to rising demand by more affluent developing countries and to using more corn for ethanol fuel.

But Kirchner, whose government has provoked rebellion among its farmers by imposing increased export tariffs in order to keep more food in country and to benefit from rising prices on the international market, also saw the link to the financial crisis.

"When banks start to flounder, when no bank is reliable, speculative movements start in the food sector. The 'casino' economy, speculation, which was circumscribed to the financial realm, are now starting to move on to the world of foodstuffs," the Argentine President said.

In such an international context, Fernandez de Kirchner called upon Mercosur - of which Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay are members, with Venezuela pending legislative approval - to deepen its integration.

"The independence and growth in our region is strongly linked to the integration process among us," she said.

According to Fernandez de Kirchner, "if it was once a challenge," integration is now a strategic necessity "to defend our natural resources."

The summit host also criticized the European Union's new immigration rules, which she termed "inadmissible" and "far-removed from the history of humanity." (dpa)