Summit of Americas – No Bridge built

The seventh Summit of the Americas took place on 10-11 April 2015 in the capital of Panama, situated at the very “heart of the universe”. Topics planned for discussion under the central theme – “Prosperity with Equity: The Challenge of Cooperation in the Americas” – included education, healthcare, energy, protection of the environment, migration, security, citizen participation and democratic governance, common concerns for all 34 countries in the hemisphere. At the heart of the discussions, however, were issues that divided rather than united the two Americas.

The seventh Summit of the Americas took place on 10-11 April 2015 in the capital of Panama, situated at the very “heart of the universe” [1]. Topics planned for discussion under the central theme – “Prosperity with Equity: The Challenge of Cooperation in the Americas” – included education, healthcare, energy, protection of the environment, migration, security, citizen participation and democratic governance, common concerns for all 34 countries in the hemisphere. At the heart of the discussions, however, were issues that divided rather than united the two Americas.

The most anticipated event at the summit was due to be the “face-to-face” meeting between the Cuban leader Raul Castro and US President Barack Obama. The historic significance of this event, as the media emphasised, was that this was the first time formal talks between the two leaders at an event of this level had been planned since Cuba was suspended from the Organisation of American States in 1962. Despite this, however, the Cuban question was pushed into the background at the Summit’s plenary session.

The issue that took centre stage was the current situation in Venezuela. The reason for this rearrangement of the agenda was the US President’s executive order of 9 March 2015, which declared the situation in Venezuela “an extraordinary threat to US national security and foreign policy”. This document formed the legal basis for sanctions brought in by the American administration in relation to seven Venezuelan officials accused of violating the rights of people taking part in anti-government demonstrations.

democracynow.org
The Bolivarian leader Nicolas Maduro even
brought to Panama a petition condemning the
sanctions, signed by a million Venezuelans.

This measure met an extremely negative response in Caracas. The Bolivarian leader Nicolas Maduro even brought to Panama a petition condemning the sanctions, signed by a million Venezuelans. For their part, spokespersons for the White House repeatedly emphasised that the sanctions weren’t being imposed on the country but on specific officials, who from now on would be banned from entering US territory and whose assets might be frozen.

As for the much-anticipated handshake between Raul Castro and Barack Obama, it took place in front of the cameras and probably will indeed be regarded as the start of a new stage in American-Cuban relations. Just a few days after the summit – on 14 April 2015 – the head of the White House recommended to Congress that Cuba be removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism within 45 days. Removal from the list would at the same time lift the current ban on access to international payment systems for people living on Freedom Island.

This gesture could be an important step towards further normalisation of bilateral cooperation and the resumption of diplomatic relations. At the same time the negotiations do not promise to be easy – Washington continues to insist that American diplomats be granted unrestricted access to the island and contact with its inhabitants, and that the ban on Cubans contacting the US embassy be abolished. This measure in particular would allow American officials to meet Cuban dissidents. Havana’s main requirements continue to include the demand that the embargo be lifted and that the territory in Guantanamo Bay currently occupied by the US Navy be returned to Cuba.

www.lanacion.com.ar
The most anticipated event at the summit was
due to be the “face-to-face” meeting between
the Cuban leader Raul Castro and US
PresidentBarack Obama.

The summit in Panama again highlighted the deepening rift between the two Americas. This is now the second meeting at this level to end without a final document. This time the USA and Canada blocked the adoption of the final text of a declaration agreed by the other states in the region after four months of preparatory work. The differences proved insuperable on the following points: health as an inalienable human right, the transfer of technologies to developing countries, and the lifting of American sanctions in relation to Venezuelan officials.

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It is scarcely possible to give an unequivocal assessment of the results of the seventh Summit of the Americas. A number of experts have already hastened to count it a good result for Nicolas Maduro, who managed to get a demand for sanctions to be lifted included in the final document. Nevertheless, despite there being definite support for this point among the Latin American leaders, he did not manage to get the declaration adopted. In addition, it’s worth noting the attempts by some of them to distance themselves from the Bolivarian leadership. In particular, President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil expressed her disagreement with the actions of the Venezuelan authorities in relation to opposition leaders, and Uruguay’s President Vazquez went even further – he took part, together with Barack Obama, in a civil society forum which worked in parallel with the summit and gave a platform to Cuban opposition figures and civil activists from Venezuela [2].

At the same time the isolation of the USA and its closest allies in the southern hemisphere is becoming increasingly obvious. The parallel integration processes in the region and the creation of new alliances that don’t include the USA and Canada, in the context of Cuba’s active involvement in these processes, only emphasise the reduction of Washington’s role in inter-American relations.

1. “Panama… is the bridge of the world, the heart of the universe” (Spanish: "Panamá…puente del Mundo, corazón del Universo") – these words are attributed to Simon Bolivar.

2. La Nacion. 14 de abril de 2015.