Obama to Attend Summit of the Americas April 17-19

Update 4-17: See Video of Obama arriving at the Summit and his speech here. 

Joe Biden in Latin America
The fifth Summit of the Americas bring together the thirty-four democratically elected Heads of State and government in Trinidad and Tobago. Some of the talk is expected to be about Cuba. VP Joe Biden paved the way for the summit with his recent trip to Chile and Costa Rica. The summit's mission:

"Guaranteeing our future by promoting human's prosperity, energy safety and sustainable development of the environment."

Yesterday, Obama spoke with Peru's president about the Summit:

President Obama spoke with President Garcia of Peru to express his desire to deepen our bilateral relationship and work together to advance shared goals. The Presidents discussed how to work together to resolve the global financial crisis and restore economic growth for the benefit of all people throughout the hemisphere. President Obama looks forward to working with Peru toward a successful Summit of the Americas that focuses on positive, common agendas. The President also thanked President Garcia for Peru's regional leadership in combating drug trafficking.

And Obama recently spoke with the head of Trinidad and Tobago, where the summit will be held:

President Obama spoke with Prime Minister Patrick Manning of Trinidad and Tobago today to thank him for his efforts in preparing to host the upcoming Fifth Summit of the Americas. The President looks forward to participating in the Summit and discussed with the Prime Minister a shared desire to focus the Summit on addressing the common challenges facing the people of the Americas. The President is committed to building strong and productive partnerships in the hemisphere and

Here's some great information on the summit. Of course, it doesn't come from American press, where it was difficult to find anything about the summit. Much of our media is wrapped up in bows and dogs:

Xinhua: In contrast to his predecessor George W. Bush, U.S. President Barack Obama has kept a low profile on the summit. He has yet to make any comment on whether to restore talks, suspended since 2003,on the setting up of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

Obama also said in mid February, he will neither issue a policy nor make a comment, but will only attend the summit to listen to the opinions and proposals of leaders of Latin American countries.

He hoped that there would be an atmosphere of "dignity, equality and mutual respect" between him and his Latin American counterparts at the summit.

During a visit to Central and South America, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on March 28 in Santiago, capital of Chile, that "the time of the United States dictating unilaterally, the time where we only talk and don't listen is over." He said the United States is expected to cooperate and conduct dialogue with Latin America.

Biden's five-day visit was aimed at paving the way for President Obama to attend the summit.

Talks toward the establishment of FTAA began at the first Summit of the Americas in Miami, United States, in which 34 leaders approved a resolution to start negotiations.

The negotiations were suspended in 2003 when Brazil and Argentina demanded that the agreement provide for the elimination of U.S. agriculture subsidies, the effective access to foreign markets and further consideration toward the needs and sensibilities of its members.

The last summit was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in November 2005. Prior to the meeting, Bush said talks on FTAA should be re-established.

There is a softening to Washington minus Bush:

Since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, the Bush administration had been preoccupied with the war on terror and paid less attention to the Latin American countries, which caused the estrangement of relations. The relations between the U.S. and Venezuela and Bolivia deteriorated to such an extent that the two countries and the United States expelled each other's ambassadors.

Chavez founded the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas to challenge FTAA, while another organization, the South American Community of Nations, was founded through the promotion of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Few Latin American countries today still show an interest in FTAA.

However, some Latin American leaders have adopted a conciliatory attitude toward the upcoming summit. "We are a democratic and peaceful continent and the United States should look at production and development, not only drug-trafficking and organized crime," Lula said during a visit in Washington in February.

On February 4, Chavez said: "We are willing to achieve rapprochement at any time. We intend to return to the level of relations we had with former President Bill Clinton, which, although they were not easy, were easy-going." Read more

Some background on the Cuban embargo from the Guardian:

President Kennedy imposed an economic and trade embargo on Cuba on 7 February 1962 after Fidel Castro's government expropriated US property on the island. Known by Cubans as el bloqueo, the blockade, elements have been toughened and relaxed under succeeding US presidents. Exceptions have been made for food and medicine exports. George Bush added restrictions on travel and remittances.

The sanctions regime

• No Cuban products or raw materials may enter the US

• US companies and foreign subsidiaries banned from trade with Cuba

• Cuba must pay cash up front when importing US food

• Ships which dock in Cuba may not dock in the US for six months

• US citizens banned from spending money or receiving gifts in Cuba without special permission, in effect a travel ban

• Americans with family on the island limited to one visit every three years.

See a timeline of economic embargo events here. This is a fascinating tidbit:

According to a letter sent by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to the U.S. Congress late last year (and now provided to the Associated Press) the Treasury Department had 4 full-time employees dedicated to investigating Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, and over 2 dozen assigned to investigating Cuban Embargo violations.
The letter reveals that over $8 million were collected in embargo violation fines since 1994, and over 10,683 "enforcement investigations" opened since 1990. Relating to terrorism, the OFAC opened 93 "enforcement investigations" between 1990 and 2003.

And wow:

October 28. For the 13th consecutive year, the UN General Assembly votes overwhelmingly against the U.S. embargo on Cuba. The vote is 179 to 4, with 1 abstention. Voting with the U.S. for the embargo are Israel, Palau and the Marshall Islands.