President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela began his visit to Panama City for the Summit of the Americas with a visit to the impoverished neighbourhood of El Chorrillo to lay a wreath at the monument to those killed by the US bombing of the community during the 1989 US invasion of Panama.
The seventh Summit of the Americas, held in Panama City on April 10 and 11, was widely hailed as a victory for left-leaning and progressive forces in the region, particularly Venezuela and Cuba.
The summit involved all nations in the region, with this year's marked by the historic presence of Cuba for the first time. Cuban President Raul Castro addressed the summit and held face to face talks with hues US counterpart Barack Obama 鈥 the first Cuban leader to do so since the socialist nation's US-imposed expulsion from the Organization of American States in 1962.
However, the much anticipated rapprochement between the two nations was largely upstaged by regional leaders' near uniform rejection of Obama's March 9 executive order labelling Venezuela a 鈥渘ational security threat鈥.
This move has been condemned by all 33 nations of the (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, which unites all nations in the hemisphere except the US and Canada) and other regional bodies.
Castro noted the positive steps taken by Obama to reestablish bilateral ties with Cuba, but criticised the US president for his aggressive measures against Venezuela.
鈥淰enezuela is not and could never be a threat to the national security of a superpower like the US,鈥 Castro said, calling on Obama to 鈥渞epeal the executive order鈥 and 鈥渓ift unilateral sanctions鈥.
鈥淚 must reaffirm all of our loyal and resolute support for the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, for the legitimate government and civil-military union headed by President Nicolas Maduro.鈥
Obama's executive order was further denounced by many other heads of state, who also called for its repeal.
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa said the order 鈥渇ragrantly violates international law鈥.
鈥淭he regional response has been overwhelming, rejecting the executive order and calling for its repeal,鈥 Correa said. 鈥淥ur peoples will never accept more tutelage, nor intervention.鈥
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said 鈥渦nilateral measures of isolation鈥 were no longer tolerable in this 鈥渘ew moment of hemispheric relations鈥.
She added: 鈥淲e reject the adoption of sanctions against Venezuela.鈥
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez also denounced the order as 鈥渞idiculous鈥.
She said: 鈥淚t's ridiculous 鈥 that not just Venezuela but any country on our continent could be some kind of threat to the huge country that is the US.鈥
During his speech before the summit, Bolivian President Evo Morales slammed US imperial intervention in the region.
鈥淲e don't want more Monroes in our continent, nor more Truman doctrine, nor more Reagan doctrine, nor more Bush doctrine. We don't want any more presidential decrees nor more executive orders declaring us threats to their country.鈥
Recently elected Uruguayan President Tabare Vasquez added his voice to the resounding chorus condemning the White House's executive order.
鈥淎s we've already expressed in other bilateral and multilateral spheres such as the Union of South American Nations and the Organization of American States, we reject the executive decree of the US government,鈥 he said.
Daniel Ortega and Salvador Sanchez Ceren, the presidents of Nicaragua and El Salvador, also slammed Obama's decree.
鈥淭his is a blow to our America,鈥 remarked Ortega.
Sanchez Ceren, from the left-wing FMLN, demanding the rescinding of the order by 鈥渁ppealing to the principle of self-determination of peoples鈥.
US President Barack Obama failed to stay for the speeches of Fernandez and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, leaving the plenum early in order to reportedly meet with his Colombian counterpart, Manuel Santos.
During the summit, Obama agreed to a 10 minute closed door meeting with Maduro, who termed their meeting 鈥渟erious, frank and cordial鈥.
鈥淚 told president Obama that I am not an enemy of the United States, nor are my people,鈥 the Venezuelan leader said.
Addressing the summit, Maduro said he was open to direct talks with his US counterpart, emphasising that Venezuelans 鈥渁re not anti-United States鈥 but 鈥渁nti-imperialists鈥.
鈥淚 extend my hand to you president Obama to resolve the problems we have between us, in peace, without any intervention in internal matters,鈥 he said.
Maduro also named several key issues he called on Obama to address in the context of bilateral talks, including US refusal to 鈥渞ecognise our revolution鈥, the executive decree, the US embassy's role in destabilisation efforts, as well as US support for anti-government groups operating from US soil.
Towards the summit's close, the US and Canada blocked the approval of a final declaration. This was despite it being backed by the 33 other nations of the region, broad agreement that was the result of four months of negotiations.
The final declaration requires approval by consensus. The two North American nations opposed several points in the draft document, including a point declaring health a human right, calling for technology transfers to developing countries, for an end to electronic espionage, and for the repeal of the executive order targeting Venezuela.
The US-Canadian veto was slammed by Morales.
The Bolivian leader said: 鈥淥ne point was important: health as a human right, and the US government did not accept that health should be considered a human right 鈥 President Obama did not accept the document.鈥
The previous Summit of the Americas, held in Colombia in 2012, also failed to issue a final document due to US rejection of a point opposing its blockade against Cuba.
Despite repeated calls for Obama to repeal his executive order targeting Venezuela, the US administration has dug in its heels.
Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson said on April 11 that although her government admitted Venezuela was not a 鈥渢hreat鈥, the order would not be repealed given that 鈥渋t's something that's already been implemented鈥.
The comments follow contradictory remarks by Obama on April 9, who also denied that Venezuela posed a threat to the United States. This was an admission that has been hailed as a victory by Maduro, who initiated a petition campaign that has collected 13 million signatures against the order.
鈥淲e do not believe that Venezuela poses a threat to the United States, nor does the United States threaten the Venezuelan government,鈥 clarified Obama in an interview with EFE.
Nonetheless, the US leader indicated no intention of repealing the executive order, going on to justify the sanctions imposed on Venezuela, which are allegedly aimed at 鈥渄iscouraging human rights violations and corruption鈥.
Over the past month, the executive order has ignited a global backlash against US aggression, a reaction which has been lamented by Jacobson.
鈥淚 am disappointed that there were not more countries to defend [the sanctions],鈥 she said. 鈥淭hey were not made to harm Venezuelans or the Venezuelan government.鈥
[Reprinted from .]
President Maduro visiting El Chorrillo (Photos: HoyVenezuela.info):
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