MEXICO CITY, June 19 — The World Cup trumped politics as negotiators played beach football on the first day of a trade summit between Latin American leaders on Mexico’s Pacific coast.

Officials from Mexico’s Economy Ministry and Foreign Ministry beat their counterparts from Chile and Peru 6-5 in a game at the Four Seasons Resort in Punta Mita last night.

The presidents of those nations and Colombia, which form the Pacific Alliance trade bloc, arrive for the meetings today.

Authorities are working to integrate economies that account for more than one third of the region’s economic output. After doing away with tourist visas for each other’s citizens, they’re moving forward with steps to increase labor mobility and integrate stock exchanges.

“We’re identifying how we can deepen the pillars that we’ve been developing within the Alliance; encouraging trade, mobility of capital and people, and cooperation,” Mexican Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Meade told reporters.

Wearing a black and red Mexico national team number 10 jersey with his name on the back, Meade, 45, who previously served as finance and energy minister, took a turn as goalkeeper during the warmup before yesterday’s game.

“I’m just helping with some pointers about technique,” he said.

World Cup

Mexico held World Cup favorite Brazil to a goalless draw two days ago to sit tied with the tournament host atop Group A on four points each, while Chile won 2-0 against Spain yesterday to oust the defending champion. Group C leader Colombia can join Chile in the round of 16 with a win over Ivory Coast today.

The trade openness and faster growth of the Pacific Alliance countries, which agreed in February to eliminate tariffs on 92 percent of goods traded between them, contrasts with the end of a decade-long commodity boom that’s dragging down the biggest economies on Latin America’s Atlantic side.

Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina, which make up 98 percent of the combined economies of the Mercosur trade bloc, will grow an average of 0.6 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund’s latest World Economic Outlook. Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico, which formed the Pacific Alliance trade group in 2011, will grow 4.2 percent.

The nations will meet today and tomorrow to discuss topics such as the integration of Mexico’s stock exchange with MILA, the Latin American Integrated Market network that already includes Colombia, Chile and Peru.

The idea of starting the summit with football matches arose at a meeting last month, said Juan Manuel Valle, the head of the Foreign Ministry’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, who also played for the Mexican negotiators’ team.

“This is a way for us to integrate before we begin our work,” he said in an interview. — Bloomberg