Chavez won't sign summit declaration; Warner declines invitation

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced on Thursday that he would vote against the declaration of the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad this weekend. He says it is a gesture of protest against the United States.

Read the draft declaration

The summit brings together all 34 members of the Organization of American States. But Chavez says it reinforces a U.S. strategy that treats the rest of Latin America as subservient to Washington's interest.

Chavez is also unhappy that Cuba is excluded from the summit, which begins Friday. He says a new hemispheric group is needed to replace the OAS, which concentrates too much power in the United States.

The government of Trinidad and Tobago has been spending tens of millions of dollars preparing for the event, which is one of two international gathering of heads of government to be held in Trinidad and Tobago this year. The other is the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference (CHOGM) in November.

Expenditure for both summits is expected to cross the TT$1-billion mark.

Local opposition politicians have been highly critical of the administration's lavish spending, much of which they say is unnecessary.

And on Thursday, the opposition Foreign Affairs Critic Jack Warner declined at invitation to attend the summit.

In a news release Warner said while he holds the official event and its esteemed participants in the highest esteem, he cannot subscribe "to the wanton wastage, lack of accountability and callous disregard for the needs of citizens, which have been the features of the event hosted here."

The member of Parliament for Chaguanas West says he wishes all the delegates a pleasant stay in Trinidad & Tobago and much success in all their deliberations.