Monday, April 16, 2012

Summit concludes without joint declaration, split over Cuba and Malvinas

The 6th Summit of the Americas ended yesterday in the Colombian city of Cartagena de indias without a joint declaration thanks to divisions over Cuba and Argentina's sovereignty claim over the Malvinas Islands.

“There is no declaration because there is no consensus,” said Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos during the summit’s news conference.

According to the international media, the United States, backed by Canada, stood fast against widespread demands to include in the meeting’s final declaration language specifying that Cuba be included in future hemispheric summits.

Cuba was expelled from the Organization of American States (OAS), which organizes the Summit of the Americas, some 50 years ago. Nonetheless, most Latin American States demanded that Cuba be invited for the next Summit, despite the stiff objections from the US and Canada.

Santos denied the meeting had been a failure. "Who thought that an agreement would be reached here about the Malvinas and Cuba?" he asked, referring to the two subjects which had most divided opinion.

"We all knew there would be no agreements here, we knew it from before, so there are no negative surprises here," he told reporters.