San Salvador - Eight presidents left the Iberian American Summit in San Salvador before it closed Friday, in a mass escape that made the gathering's last day lacklustre.

Between midday Thursday and early Friday, the leaders of Brazil, Nicaragua, Argentina, Panama, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and the Dominican Republic left the Salvadorian capital. The presidents of Venezuela, Cuba and Uruguay directly skipped the summit.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva missed the opening ceremony late Wednesday and left after the first session of debate, at midday Thursday. He travelled to Cuba, for a visit of less than 24 hours.

On Thursday, the countries meeting in San Salvador demanded a greater presence in global financial decisions at a time of crisis.

Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Argentina, among other countries, called for a fairer multilateral world order that would take into account the views of emerging countries in the face of a crisis that developed in industrialized nations and threatens to hit developing countries particularly hard.

"The crisis has made the under-representation of emerging economies in the governing of multilateral credit institutions unsustainable," said Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

The next Iberian American summit is set to be held in Portugal November 30-December 1, 2009, under the motto "Innovation and Knowledge."

Iberian American summits have been held annually since 1991 to bring together Latin American nations with Spain and Portugal. (dpa)