PM signs alone, no unanimity on declaration
Heads divided on Declaration of PoS
Summit plagued by disorganisation
US PRESIDENT Barack Obama opted out of posing for an official photograph for the Fifth Summit of the Americas when it was taken yesterday as several heads of State skipped the symbolic act amidst chaos at the Prime Minister’s Diplomatic Centre in La Fantasie, St Ann’s.
Continue reading 5th Summit of the Americas News: April 20, 2009
By Raffique Shah
Sunday, April 19th 2009
BY the time this column appears in print the Summit will be almost over. The 34 heads of governments will have had their say, hopefully in a civil manner. Hugo Chavez has indicated he would insist on the US trade blockade of Cuba be addressed in the document. Canada, too, is not happy with it, albeit for other reasons. What I found distasteful about the media pre-Summit hype was the focus on Chavez and US President Barack Obama at the expense of other leaders.
Continue reading Brother Barack, Comrade Chavez
The Fifth Summit of the Americas in pictures
Drummit 2 Summit at the St James Amphitheater in pictures
Photos were taken after the rally was allowed to continue
Obama must denounce plot
BOLIVIA’S PRESIDENT Evo Morales yesterday charged that Americans were behind a plot to assassinate him.
Tensions run high at St James protest
Officers of the Guard and Emergency Branch (GEB) squared off with a coalition group over a drum protest at the St James Ampitheatre.
Continue reading 5th Summit of the Americas News: April 19, 2009
– 04/17/09
Text
Good evening. I am honored to join you here today, and I want to thank Prime Minister Manning, the people of Trinidad and Tobago for their generosity in hosting the Fifth Summit of the Americas. And I want to extend my greetings to all the heads of state, many of who I am meeting for the first time. All of us are extraordinarily excited to have this opportunity to visit this wonderful country — and as somebody who grew up on an island, I can tell you I feel right at home. (Applause.)
Continue reading President Obama’s Opening Statement at Americas Summit
The Fifth Summit of the Americas in pictures
Chavez flies in over the Gulf
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez thought he had escaped the glare of the media when he quietly flew in on his military jet over the Gulf of Paria from Sucre, Cumana, to Trinidad and landed at the helipad in Chaguaramas shortly after 4 pm yesterday.
Smiling Obama lands on T&T soil
Chavez steals the spotlight
“Hail, Presidente!” The cry emitted from the lips of the Venezuelan contingent of media personnel who had gathered at the entrance to the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain, yesterday.
LET’S BE FRIENDS
Chavez tells Obama during historic handshake:
Continue reading 5th Summit of the Americas News: April 18, 2009
The Fifth Summit of the Americas in pictures
Obama, Chavez arrive today
After months of preparation, the Fifth Summit of the Americas gets going this evening at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port-of-Spain.
CHAVEZ WARNS OBAMA
Don’t try to set me up at summit
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ramped up his verbal artillery yesterday saying US President Barack Obama should not follow the example of Spain’s King Juan Carlos who told him to shut up during a 2007 summit…
Continue reading 5th Summit of the Americas News: April 17, 2009
By Stephen Kangal
April 13, 2009
Egoism Gone Mad
For the host of the Fifth Summit of the Americas to decide to travel to 6 out of 33 Latin American countries with leftist leaning Presidents within a short period of four days using a most expensive private jet merely to ascertain the perspectives of these heads of state on the summit agenda of energy security and the Cuban question is nothing short of egoism gone mad.
Continue reading Assessing Manning’s Ill-Conceived Summit-Related Latin American Safari
Dr. Kwame Nantambu
April 11, 2009
The purpose of this article is to set the record straight in regard to the Cuban issue at the Fifth Summit of the Americas that is scheduled for April 17-19 in Trinidad.
Indeed, the record shows that Fidel Castro came to power through armed revolution on the 1st January 1959. He overthrew General Fulgencio Batista.
On 3rd January 1961, President Dwight Eisenhower severed diplomatic ties with Cuba.
Continue reading Let’s get U S-Cuba relations straight
By Stephen Kangal
February 04, 2009
Contrary to the view expressed by Foreign Affairs Minister Gopee-Scoon the time is most propitious and ripe for the Inter-American System to be initiating dialogue with the regime of Raul Castro. President Barack Obama has signaled in clear, unambiguous language that US rapprochement with Cuba is on the cards especially with the closure of the Gitmo Detention Centre. He has also relaxed travel restrictions to Cuba by Cuban-Americans.
Continue reading Timing is Ripe for Talking to the Cubans
By Raffique Shah
January 25, 2009
IT was an emotional moment, watching Barack Hussein Obama take the oath of office as the 44th President of the United States of America. While hundreds of millions around the world must have experienced joy on seeing the first non-white take that historic leap for “Black man”, for people of my generation and those older than us, the emotions were different. Joy, yes. But that was a miniscule part of the memories that filled our minds as we watched the swearing-in, barely able to hold back the tears welling up in our eyes.
Continue reading The journey to Obama’s ascendancy