Summit raises hope for better ties
Güncelleme Tarihi:
AFP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 20, 2009 00:00
PORT OF SPAIN - A Summit of the Americas bringing together U.S. President Barack Obama and Latin American leaders in Trinidad and Tobago was wrapping up yesterday amid hopes that the United States and Cuba might be on their way to burying a half-century of hostility.
It also produced a U.S. government pledge to "work" toward normalizing relations with Venezuela on a full ambassadorial level.
The optimism sprang from surprise overtures from Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro in recent days, with each saying separately they wanted historic talks on issues previously kept off-limits by Havana, including human rights and political prisoners.
Those developments were pushed along by a general consensus among Latin American nations that the 47-year-old U.S. embargo on Cuba should be scrapped and the island readmitted into regional bodies.
New beginning
But while Obama earned praise for expressing a desire to "engage" Cuba and launch a "new beginning" with it -- and with the rest of Latin America -- summit participants highlighted the fact that Castro had been excluded from the gathering.
Some Latin American heads of state who had been hostile to the United States in the past viewed Obama's reaching out to Cuba as "positive," though they remained skeptical. Several criticized the embargo in speeches before Obama.
"We still haven't seen any changes towards Cuba," Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa said, though he added: "We view the new North American administration with a lot of sympathy."
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, whose country takes a moderate line in the region, simply noted that "the U.S. vision of Latin America is changing." So, too, was the behavior of the United States' biggest critic in the region.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez used every opportunity he could to sidle up to the U.S. president, shaking his hand and at one point presenting him with a book.
Though the book was an English version of "Las Venas Abiertas de America Latina" (The Open Veins of Latin America), a leftist work about the exploitation of the region by the world's big powers, Chavez indicated he was serious about reconciling with the United States, the biggest client for his country's abundant oil.
After a brief meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton late Saturday, Chavez said it was "possible" that Washington and Caracas could return their respective ambassadors to their posts.
Acting State Department spokesman Robert Wood said later Chavez and Clinton had discussed returning the ambassadors to their respective posts. "This is a positive development that will help advance U.S. interests, and the State Department will now work to further this shared goal," Wood said.
The optimism sprang from surprise overtures from Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro in recent days, with each saying separately they wanted historic talks on issues previously kept off-limits by Havana, including human rights and political prisoners.
Those developments were pushed along by a general consensus among Latin American nations that the 47-year-old U.S. embargo on Cuba should be scrapped and the island readmitted into regional bodies.
New beginning
But while Obama earned praise for expressing a desire to "engage" Cuba and launch a "new beginning" with it -- and with the rest of Latin America -- summit participants highlighted the fact that Castro had been excluded from the gathering.
Some Latin American heads of state who had been hostile to the United States in the past viewed Obama's reaching out to Cuba as "positive," though they remained skeptical. Several criticized the embargo in speeches before Obama.
"We still haven't seen any changes towards Cuba," Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa said, though he added: "We view the new North American administration with a lot of sympathy."
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, whose country takes a moderate line in the region, simply noted that "the U.S. vision of Latin America is changing." So, too, was the behavior of the United States' biggest critic in the region.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez used every opportunity he could to sidle up to the U.S. president, shaking his hand and at one point presenting him with a book.
Though the book was an English version of "Las Venas Abiertas de America Latina" (The Open Veins of Latin America), a leftist work about the exploitation of the region by the world's big powers, Chavez indicated he was serious about reconciling with the United States, the biggest client for his country's abundant oil.
After a brief meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton late Saturday, Chavez said it was "possible" that Washington and Caracas could return their respective ambassadors to their posts.
Acting State Department spokesman Robert Wood said later Chavez and Clinton had discussed returning the ambassadors to their respective posts. "This is a positive development that will help advance U.S. interests, and the State Department will now work to further this shared goal," Wood said.