HAVANA, Cuba, April 18 (acn) US President Barack Obama asked participants at the Summit of the Americas not to keep blaming his country for all the problems facing the western hemisphere, in times when a current global economic crisis emerged in the North is threatening the nations of the region.
Although Obama did not refer to the impact by neo-liberal policies imposed by the United States to the detriment of Latin American development, he did admit that the implementation of certain strategies should not exist, according to a report by PL news from Port of Spain.
The US President said he was willing to admit the mistakes of the past in favor of “change” for the continent, a word that marked his presidential campaign. Although he affirmed that this is a critical moment due to the challenges posed by the current financial situation facing the planet, Obama mentioned the recent encounter of the 20 developed and emerging countries, where global strategies were put forth.
The so-called G-20 group met in London in early April to take actions against the global crisis, but from the perspective of industrialized powers; only Mexico, Argentina and Brazil were the Latin American countries represented at the meeting.
In Trinidad-Tobago, Obama promised to set up an alliance “under equal conditions” with the hemisphere. The idea to set up a Free Trade Area of The Americas (FTAA) was born in 1994, in the context of these summits, though the project died in 2005 in Mar del Plata Summit, Argentina, just when it was expected to be implemented. The FTAA was a Washington-designed project claiming free trade relations among nations which were totally unequal, in the US interest.
During the current meeting, Obama announced his request of the US Congress to approve $448 million to support those most affected out of US borders and a project to increase credit lines for companies and entrepreneurs from the countries represented at the Summit.
As to the Cuba issue, Obama presented the lifting of travel restrictions to Cuban Americans as a sign of change in US policy, though he evaded the issue concerning the US economic, commercial and financial blockade of the Cuban people.
In the face of the call by several nations urging Washington to change its policy towards Cuba, President Obama said that there is an even longer way to go in order to deal with decades of mistrust; however, he noted that there are critical steps to take.
Participants at the Summit are scheduled to hold bilateral meetings on Saturday and attend three plenary sessions in which the heads of state and government will address many topics on the agenda, including the final declaration of the Summit.
