-OAS Assistant Secretary General Albert Ramdin
At the Summit Venue in Trinidad
CONTROVERSIAL Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has given a blunt declaration that his country intends to “veto” the final declaration due to be issued tomorrow at the conclusion of the Fifth Summit of the Americas being held in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

Chavez arrived in Trinidad shortly before the opening ceremony yesterday afternoon at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port-of-Spain, but had told reporters prior to his arrival that the communiqué had been drafted “as if time had not passed”.

The declaration is essentially an agreement signed by the 34 member nations of the Organisation of the American states gathering in Port of Spain, to discuss necessary actions needed to advance common issues in the hemisphere.

The summit, organized by the OAS, is being seen as an opportunity for the Obama administration to begin to repair relations with Latin America and the Caribbean. But Chavez has said the region’s more radical governments are “preparing their artillery”. The exclusion of Cuba will be one of their main objections.

But responding to a query yesterday on the signalled intention by Chavez to ‘veto’ the declaration, Ambassador Ramdin said:  “First of all, there is no mechanism to veto a document in the Summit process and such a thing does not exist.”

He further clarified that the OAS, of course, would like to work on the basis of consensus, so that everybody is on board.

“One would hope that all the leaders come with a positive agenda to this meeting. It is important that in the current challenges in the world and in the hemisphere, that all the leaders look forward, and I think there is an opportunity for that,” Ambassador Ramdin urged.  

While acknowledging that there are different leadership styles, and which have been seen with some leaders  in the South American region, Ramdin believe there is “an expectation that all the leaders would try together to listen to each other, have a decent dialogue, not frustrate the process but try to unite each other and focus on the common issues.”

Mr. Chavez has been leading a very vociferous call to have Cuba back in the OAS fold.

He has been equally vociferous in demanding that the US drop the trade embargo against Cuba, which  is expected to be one of the top agenda issue for both the US and Latin American countries.

According to the Washington-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA), President Obama will travel to Trinidad in the knowledge that the biggest diplomatic challenge he will face is most likely the question of US policy towards Cuba.

It was noted that while the US government maintains an opposition to Cuba’s membership in the hemispheric grouping, a growing number of Latin American countries are calling for its re-instatement.

Cuba was kicked out of the OAS in 1962 for not being a democracy.

There have also been growing calls, supported by several CARICOM leaders, for the U.S. to end its half century embargo against the communist country.

Meanwhile, Ramdin also expressed optimism that the leaders will work together at the Summit in a commit effort to find consensus on most, if not all the issues.

“Differences are easy to find; it is about finding solutions on the common issues that are important,” he asserted.

Ramdin said one such common issue, which is likely to be the main issue on the agenda of the three-day Summit, is the impact of the global financial crisis and how the countries of the Americas are dealing with its devastating impact.

He said there is an expectation that leaders will want to speak at length on what the crisis mean to them but that would not be enough for the people of the Americas, since what will be needed is for the leaders to come up with a concrete plan on how to mitigate the impact of the crisis.

He recalled that in the case of the G-20 Summit in London a few days ago, some decisions were taken and some of that will translate into this meeting.

“…but key is that the small and vulnerable economies of the western hemisphere, not only in the Caribbean but also in South America and Central America, need to be taken care of. We cannot overcome these difficulties and challenges which were not created in the first place by them…(so) they need to be supported and for them, financial support will be required,” Ramdin said.

“So the financial economic crisis will be high on the agenda and some other issues which are relevant for the hemisphere,” the OAS Assistant Secretary General added.

Ambassador Ramdin also said the Fifth Summit of the Americas is indeed a “Very unique moment” in the history of not only Trinidad but the entire Caribbean region.

“This is the first time that the summit is being held in the Caribbean and it brings a unique opportunity for Caribbean leaders to put their stamp on the agenda of the western hemisphere to discuss with colleague leaders the issues which are relevant to the small vulnerable economies of the Caribbean and also Central America.”

“So this is a wonderful opportunity to engage, to talk about their problems, but more so to come to conclusions and to come up with concrete actions to deal with those challenges that they face,” Ramdin said.

He also commended host Prime Minister Patrick Manning for offering to host this summit. “It is by no means a small feat but an enormous investment for the country and for its people and I think everybody should be appreciative of that fact in knowing that it is not easy to organize such a big project,” he lauded.