MEXICO CITY — Mexico's umbrella agreement for free trade with five Central American nations, announced Thursday, provides a convenient comeback to arguments that the country is turning its back on Latin America to pursue closer ties with its rich northern neighbors.

Mexico has taken great pains throughout the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Canada and the United States to show it is also broadening trade relations to the south.

While Mexico's trade with Latin America is nominal and has diminished overall in recent years, these bilateral agreements are a new approach to overcoming decades of failed attempts at Latin American economic integration.

In addition, they give the Administration of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari the appearance of pursuing commerce in the region, blunting domestic criticism of increased dependence on the United States, which accounts for about 70% of Mexico's foreign trade.

Shortly after initiating NAFTA negotiations, Mexico announced a free trade agreement with Chile, on Sept. 22, 1991. At a recent press conference, Salinas bristled at a question from a Chilean reporter who asked whether Mexico was leaving the rest of the region behind.

Salinas quickly pointed out that Mexico-Chile trade--$161 million last year--has quadrupled since the free trade agreement between those countries was signed. That is still a fraction of last year's $63 billion in trade between the United States and Mexico.

Less than a year into the Mexico-Chile agreement, business people in both countries are pressing for more rapid reduction of tariffs than originally negotiated, a sign of increasing interest in each others' markets.

"It was thought that with the negotiation of the (North American) agreement that Mexico would concentrate its attention exclusively on the United States and Canada, but we have insisted that diversification is the backbone of our trade relations," Salinas said.

Commerce Minister Jaime Jose Serra-Puche emphasized that point in Thursday's signing of an agreement that sets the general rules for Mexico's free trade negotiations with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

"Mexico is looking for integration with different economies in the world with the resulting opportunities of access to diverse markets for our producers and exporters," he said.

Besides the initial agreement with the five Central American countries, Mexico is pursuing a trilateral trade accord with Colombia and Venezuela.