President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Mexico

U.S. President Barack Obama, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper enjoyed folk dancing and a mariachi band late Sunday and now are getting down to business at a North American summit.

They hold talks with all three feeling the heat from an economic downturn.

The leaders, sometimes referred to as "the three amigos," are expected to issue a joint communique stressing their shared commitment to keep a predicted resurgence in the H1N1 virus this autumn as limited as possible.

As the White House traveling press corps arrived Sunday to cover the North American Leaders Summit in Guadalajara, Mexico, they were greeted by the sight of Mexican health officials wearing masks and urging awareness of the H1N1 flu outbreak. The group was posted outside of customs at Guadalajara International Airport and handed out free masks, as well as a pamphlet outlining steps to protect against the virus.

At least 300 people on Sunday demonstrated against the Fifth North American Leaders' Summit, being held in Guadalajara, capital of western Mexico state Jalisco.

    Ahead of late Sunday meeting of leaders of the United States, Mexico and Canada, members of the Alternative Social Organizations Movement rallied to demand a renegotiation of the three nations' main treaty, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which came into force 15 years ago.

    "We demand another development model for Mexico," Jose Luis Sanchez Gonzalez, one of the organizers told Xinhua. The demonstrators protested at the cross roads of main streets Chapultepec and Vallarte, close to the city's U.S. consulate. "We are NAFTA critics."

Obama partirá a las 14:05 horas locales del domingo hacia Guadalajara, en el estado mexicano de Jalisco, para reunirse con su colega de México, Felipe Calderón, y el primer ministro de Canadá, Stephen Harper.

Los tres gobernantes hablarán el domingo y el lunes sobre una amplia variedad de temas incluyendo, narcotráfico, comercio y medio ambiente.

De acuerdo con la agenda emitida por la Casa Blanca, Obama llegará al aeropuerto internacional de Guadalajara a las 22:20 GMT del domingo para asistir 45 minutos después a una reunión bilateral con el presidente Calderón en el Instituto Cultural Cabañas.