Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's trip next week to four Latin American countries marks the rising importance of the region, German government sources said Thursday.

The growing economies of the region, with powerhouses like Brazil and Mexico, had added to its political significance, they said.

The highpoint of the chancellor's trip, which begins on Tuesday and ends on May 20, is to be her participation in the fifth European Union-Latin American and Caribbean Summit (EU-LAC) to be held May 16-17 in Lima.

Merkel arrives in Brazil on Wednesday for talks with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was a guest at the Group of Eight (G8) summit hosted by Merkel in Heiligendamm last year.

On May 15, the chancellor travels to Peru, which has not received a visit from a serving German chancellor for 30 years, to attend EU-LAC.

The summit, which has as its main themes poverty, inequality, sustainable development and the environment, is being attended by more than 60 countries from Europe, South and Central America and the Caribbean.

A visit to Colombia follows, and the last station on the trip is Mexico.

German government spokesmen pointed to economic growth for the region as a whole last year of some 5.6 per cent, with summit hosts Peru growing at 9 per cent.

German government sources indicated that the rise of leftwing nationalism in some countries in the region was cause for concern in Berlin, although they did not rule out the possibility that Merkel would meet some of the leaders of the countries in question during the summit. (dpa)