— Consensus reached but still ‘no unanimity’ among leaders on signing of contentious Summit Declaration
THE historic fifth Summit of the Americas ended on a high yesterday with improved relations among countries and renewed hopes of a better and brighter tomorrow overshadowing the fact that the 34 democratically-elected hemispheric leaders in attendance failed to reach ‘unanimity’, even though there was ‘consensus’, on the signing of the contentious Port-of-Spain Declaration.

Chairman of the Summit and host Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Mr. Patrick Manning said the Summit Declaration, which was supposed to have been signed by all 34 leaders at the conclusion of the three-day event, “did not have the complete approval of all 34 countries” since, as expected, some countries had reservations about certain specific elements in the Declaration.

Manning, in a brief address at the Summit’s closing ceremony, said not reaching unanimity on the declaration is “understandable”, since it is very difficult, with so many countries meeting and negotiating, for any one country to get everything that that country negotiated for or requires.

“…the document that emerges is a compromised document  that led to the approbation of some and did not meet with the approbation of others and therefore, what we agreed to do today is to adopt the document and in adopting it, we are recognizing that there was not unanimity even though there was indeed consensus on this very important matter,” Manning told the distinguished gathering and special invitees at the closing ceremony. 

“And the heads,  agreed in those circumstances, that as Chairman of the Conference and host Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, that I should sign the document (and) it is a task that I was very pleased to carry out just a few minutes ago,” a beaming Manning said during his address, moments after he had appended his lone signature on the Declaration.

In spite of this, Manning told the gathering that the deliberations at the Summit have “heralded the dawn of better days ahead” for countries in the western hemisphere.

“The one thing I am confident about – and in saying this I speak for all of my colleague heads–is that these deliberations here have heralded the dawn of the newer, the brighter and better day that we anticipated when we launched our conference on Friday afternoon,” he declared.

Noting that he has been in public life for a long time, and has attended  a number of conferences in the past,  Manning said never before has he attended one where the spirit of cooperation was  as good as the spirit that prevailed during the Summit in Port of Spain.

SIGNAL EXAMPLE OF COOPERATION
According to him, the conference has turned out to be “a signal example of cooperation and collaboration” between the countries in the western hemisphere and the United States.

“If I say that I am happy about the outcome of this fifth Summit of the Americas, it will be the understatement of the year. I am extremely pleased at what threatened to be a summit that could have been derailed by the agendas of individuals and individual countries, has turned out to be a signal example of cooperation and collaboration between the countries in the western hemisphere,” Manning said to thunderous applause.

“Indeed, those of you who were not exposed to it will have no idea of what was involved when President Obama made a statement before the Summit  — a statement of a new direction on the part of the United States of America  and a new approach; a statement that was mirrored by an equivalent statement from the very distinguished President of Venezuela, President Chavez,” Manning said.

He noted that during deliberations at the retreat of the leaders yesterday morning, “that spirit of cooperation, that new spirit that we had anticipated in the western hemisphere, was very, very evident in the way we conducted our business”.

SUMMARY OF THE DECLARATION
With a focus on the theme of the weekend’s Summit—“Securing Our Citizens’ Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability”—the Declaration of Commitment of Port of Spain outlines key areas in which the countries will work toward common goals.

The 97-paragraph document, which was negotiated by the countries over the past seven months and adopted yesterday by consensus, places an emphasis on fighting poverty and promoting development and social justice, and states that “deep inequalities continue to exist in our countries and in our region.”

The opening sections of the Declaration of Commitment of Port of Spain focus on the three pillars of the theme — human prosperity, energy security and environmental sustainability —while later sections address ways to strengthen public security, democratic governance and the Summit of the Americas process itself.

The Declaration of Commitment recognises that meeting long-term goals will require tackling short-term economic challenges. “We are committed to addressing the current economic and financial crisis in order to achieve our objectives of promoting human prosperity and securing our citizens’ future,” the document states. “We are determined to enhance our cooperation and work together to restore global growth and achieve needed reforms in the world’s financial systems.”

The longest section of the document, on human prosperity, lays out measures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of anti-poverty efforts, promote job creation and prevent exploitation of workers. It also calls for action to strengthen food security, promote good nutrition and broaden access to health care, particularly for the most vulnerable. Health-related commitments include measures to reduce neonatal mortality, combat both communicable and non-communicable diseases and continue efforts against HIV/AIDS. “We commit to strengthening public policies aimed at reducing the incidence of mother-to-child transmission of HIV to less than 5% by 2015,” the document states.

It also lays out a series of education-related commitments, among them achieving universal primary education by 2015, a secondary education enrolment rate of 75% by 2010 and a minimum 40% participation in tertiary education by 2020.

The section on energy security looks at aspects such as energy efficiency and conservation, and calls for the development of renewable energy sources and technologies. It notes that energy “is an essential resource for improving the standard of living of our peoples and that access to energy is of paramount importance to economic growth with equity and social inclusion.”

Environmental sustainability, the third pillar of the Fifth Summit theme, is another area in which the region’s leaders called for cooperation. The Declaration of Commitment recognises “the adverse impacts of climate change on all countries of the Hemisphere, in particular, Small Island Developing States, countries with low-lying coastal, arid and semi-arid areas, or areas liable to floods, drought and desertification, developing countries with fragile mountainous ecosystems and land-locked countries.”

EARLY  SIGNS
There were early signs that it was going to be a difficult task  to get all the leaders to agree to sign the Declaration of Port-of-Spain. Even before the formal opening of the Summit on Friday last, President Chavez — the fiery and outspoken leftist President of Venezuela–had said he and other Latin American leaders were going to ‘veto’ the declaration, declaring that it was “ misplaced in time and space.”

President Bharrat Jagdeo, at a press conference on Saturday, also indicated that he was not too happy with the declaration, saying it tried to do too much, it deals with ‘almost every issue under the sun’ and it was too orthodox.

“I’m very critical of the declaration itself. I will sign it, but I’m very critical of it, because I think it seeks to address every single issue under the sun. What we need in this region are a few bold, big initiatives that would catapult the region forward,” President Jagdeo said.

Observers and critics alike also believe the device adopted by the leaders, by which the Declaration was signed by the Summit Chairman, Prime Minister Manning, was a face-saving compromise to the stand-off over the Declaration’s failure to call for the lifting of the U.S.  embargo on Cuba and for Cuba’s re-admission to the Organisation of American States.

This, together with the absence of satisfactory reference to the global financial crisis, were  non-negotiables to the ALBA countries, five of which were at the Summit.

Other contentious issues were the Declaration’s support for bio-fuels as a renewable energy source — opposed by Bolivia– and the reference in the Summit Preamble to ‘democratically elected leaders’, an implied criticism of Cuba that some leaders wanted to remove.

In the circumstances, the leaders evidently decided that it would be better for none of them to sign, than for some to do so  while others abstained.

NEW ERA
Meanwhile, President Obama –  who has been a major ‘star attraction’ throughout the three-day Summit as he made his first diplomatic foray as U.S. leader in Latin America and the Caribbean, said the Summit focused on “launching a new era of partnerships” between the countries of the western hemisphere.

The Reuters news agency reported that Obama’s contacts during the Summit have mended broken diplomatic fences in a region where America-bashing has long been accepted and where former President George W. Bush was unpopular.

Obama also told reporters he saw “potential positive signs” of better relations with Cuba and Venezuela, but he called on Cuba to back them up by giving its people more political freedom.

Although Obama had to field a chorus of calls to lift the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, his cooperative diplomatic style went down well with his Latin American and Caribbean peers.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the Summit had created a chance for a new era in relations between the United States and Latin America.

Venezuela’s Chavez, who told Obama during the Summit, “I want to be your friend”, also indicated his willingness to cooperate with the new U.S. administration in improving ties. “We have the political will to work together,” Chavez told reporters.’

President Jagdeo, who led a team of Regional leaders late Friday night in discussions on several crucial issues, including the global financial crisis and the issue of climate change, during a high profile meeting with Obama, said the U.S. President’s “very enlightened” response to “all of the issues raised” was a welcome departure from many of the meetings and Summits in the past, where leaders of large countries ignore the issues raised by smaller countries.

According to President Jagdeo, the major difference in this Summit and several other similar Summits and meetings of the past, is the presence of Obama and his refreshingly “enlightened approach” to a wide range of issues discussed during the three-days of the Summit.

Mr. Jagdeo also lauded Obama’s leadership style, defined in part by his willingness to sit at the table, with fresh ideas and a new civilised approach based on goodwill, and engage the leaders of the Americas with the understanding that “we may not all agree on every issue, but at least we can disagree respectfully”.

He alluded to the fact that President Obama sat through almost all of the plenary and other sessions on Saturday, quite unusual for a Head of State of his stature. On top of that, he did it with a full, high-level team backing him, including his Secretary of State Mrs. Hillary Clinton.

Noting that it is “very unusual” for a Head of State to do that, President Jagdeo recalled attending several Summits and similar meetings in the past, including with former U.S. President George W. Bush, but finding that “you eventually end up with some low-level official in the chair representing the U.S.”

“It’s this willingness by President Obama to listen and to engage, and with the understanding that we may not all agree on every issue, but at least we can disagree respectfully and then recognise that people have choices too,” President Jagdeo told a packed news conference at the Summit venue in Port-of-Spain.