Obama heads to T&T for summit of the Americas

The Fifth Summit of the Americas formally opens at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port-of-Spain, Friday evening against a backdrop of the tightest security ever seen in the tiny twin-island Caribbean nation.

U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to arrive at 4 p.m. for the two day conference of 34 democratically elected leaders of the Americas. Obama is arriving from Mexico where he held talks Thursday with on the fight against drugs and drug cartels.

Obama's Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is also arriving Friday afternoon from Haiti where she attended a donors conference to raise funds to help the impoverished Caricom nation.

Most of the Caricom leaders are already in Port of Spain. The populist Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is arriving Friday afternoon. He has already set the stage to be a headline grabber having made it clear that he won't sign the summit declaration as a protest against the American dominance of the grouping. He is also lobbying for Cuba to be included in the organization.

Read the Draft Declaration

Chavez feels that Washington has too much influence within the Americas, making other nations subservient to Washington. He wants that to change and has suggested the creation of a new hemispheric grouping that reduces Washington's influence and put all members on an equal footing.

Despite the Venezuelan concerns the summit promises to be the start of a new relationship between The United States and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Obama has signalled his intention to start this improved relationship, declaring that his administration is committed to renewing and sustaining a broader partnership between the United States and the hemisphere.

"Too often, the United States has not pursued and sustained engagement with our neighbours," the president has said. "We have been too easily distracted by other priorities and have failed to see that our progress is tied directly to progress throughout the Americas,"he declared Thursday in commenting on the Port of Spain summit.

Chavez and other leftist Latin American leaders will force their Cuba agenda into the discussions but Obama, who has relaxed some restrictions on Havana, is adamant that the decades-old trade embargo will remain.

Obama said Thursday that his administration is moving to ease the rigid restrictions on the communist state noting that on Monday "we amended a Cuba policy that has failed for decades to advance liberty or opportunity for the Cuban people."

He also announced that the U.S. is willing to provide support to the region to face the global economic crisis which has left many small states reeling. That's an issue that's not included in the draft summit declaration.

In addition, the U.S. president signalled that he wants to discuss key issues such as climate change, energy diversification and crime were areas which his administration would be willing to discuss measures for increased cooperation.

"Security for our citizens must be advanced through our commitment to partner with those who are courageously battling drug cartels, gangs and other criminal networks throughout the Americas.

"Our efforts start at home. By reducing demand for drugs and curtailing the illegal flow of weapons and bulk cash south across our border, we can advance security in the United States and beyond," Obama said.

That is a subject that is of interest to many Caribbean nations, including Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, where criminals gangs and drug cartels have become the biggest threat to security and safety.

The White House said earlier in the week that Obama is "going to Trinidad with the intention of listening, discussing and dealing with his colleagues as partners."

The theme of the summit is "Securing Our Citizens’ Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability".

The draft summit agreement, negotiated laboriously, speaks broadly about cooperation on climate change, education, safety and prosperity. But it makes no direct mention of today's major international economic crisis. In fact, most of it was negotiated before the crisis hit with full force last fall.

Obama needs support from nations in the region to reinvigorate trade, to build partnerships on clean energy and climate strategy, to stabilize democracies and to reduce the poverty and income inequality that can fuel desperation.

The president plans to hold three separate group meetings in addition to the official closed-door session between all participating heads of government. The group meetings are likely to be with Caribbean leaders, Central American leaders and a third group composed of heads of state of South America and Mexico, including Chavez.