The Fifth Summit of the Americas

Fifth Summit of the Americas

The Fifth Summit of the Americas in pictures



Heads of State and Government Leaders

Fifth Summit of the Americas - April 17 - 19, 2009

Post-Fifth Summit of the Americas News

Pre-Fifth Summit of the Americas News

The Fifth Summit of the Americas in pictures

Cuba and the real battle for democracy
By Stephen Gowans - April 30, 2009
While Obama may have contrived to create the impression at the recent Summit of the Americas of extending an open hand to Cuba, it's clear that his aims are no different from those of George W. Bush or any other of his presidential predecessors, all the way back to Kennedy.

Obama, Manning, Castros in 5th Summit of Americas
By Rickey Singh - April 26, 2009
THIS past week's Fifth Summit of the Americas that, unexpectedly, turned out to be the "April 2009 political fiasco of Port of Spain", has now been extended into an amusing development in the only excluded country from the three-day hemispheric-wide event - Cuba.

Lack of a CARICOM Strategy at the Fifth Summit
By Stephen Kangal - April 24, 2009
The hosting of the recently concluded Fifth Summit of the Americas was portrayed as a CARICOM initiative and, as usual, T&T bore the full costs involved. I am very disturbed that T&T/CARICOM did not act collectively in an effective manner to maximize returns on T&T's huge and staggering investment.

The Declaration of Cumaná
by ALBA Member Countries - April 23, 2009
We, the Heads of State and Government of Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela, member countries of ALBA, consider that the Draft Declaration of the 5th Summit of the Americas is insufficient and unacceptable for the following reasons:

The Summit and the Lie
By Fidel Castro Ruz - April 22, 2009
Some of the things that Daniel told me would be hard to believe if it was not him who told me them and it was not at a Summit of the Americas where they occurred. The unusual thing is that there was no such consensus on the final document. The ALBA group did not sign it; that was confirmed in the last exchange with Obama...


Daniel Ortega Denounced Censorship at Summit of the Americas
Cuban News Agency - April 22, 2009
Nicaragua´s President Daniel Ortega denounced that during the 5th Summit of the Americas, held in Trinidad-Tobago, the heads of state and government of Latin American and Caribbean countries underwent censorship.

Bolivian President Evo Morales
Evo Morales
 
Press Briefing with Evo Morales at the 5th Summit of the Americas
This interview has been transcribed from a translation during a press briefing featuring
Bolivian President Evo Morales at the Fifth
Summit of the Americas
- April 18, 2009




Hugo Chávez's gift to Obama: Open Veins of Latin America
Eduardo Galeano's important earlier book, Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent (1973) is crucial not only for an understanding of the economics of colonialism in America, but by extension makes explicit the mechanism of colonialism/imperialism worldwide.

Venezuela and ALBA Promote "New Climate" in Summit of the Americas
By Tamara Pearson - April 21, 2009
Venezuela and the countries of the Bolivarian Alternative to the Americas (ALBA) decided not to sign the final document of the Summit of the Americas held on April 17-19 in Trinidad and Tobago, saying it excluded Cuba and offered no viable solution to the current economic crisis.

The Secret Summit
By Fidel Castro Ruz - April 19, 2009
Neither represented nor excommunicated, only today could I learn what was discussed at the Summit of Port of Spain. They led us all to entertain hopes that the meeting would not be secret, but those running the show deprived us of such an interesting intellectual exercise. We shall get to know the substance but not the tone of voice, the look in the eyes or the facial look that can be a reflection of a person’s ideas, ethic and character.

Barack Obama
Barack Obama
 
President Obama's Opening Statement at Americas Summit
- April 17, 2009
Speech by His Excellency Honourable Barack Obama, President of the United States of America on April 17 2009, during the Opening Ceremonies of the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.

Daniel Ortega Saavedra
Daniel Ortega Saavedra
 
President Ortega's Opening Statement at Americas Summit [Transcript]
- April 17, 2009
Speech by His Excellency Honourable Daniel Ortega Saavedra, President of Nicaragua, on April 17 2009, during the Opening Ceremonies of the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.


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