More Hopes than Certainties

The Summit of the Americas that was in session in Trinidad and Tobago was dominated by the presence and rhetoric of President Barack Obama. Despite the history of most of the continental heads of state and the previous reunion of the Cuban, Venezuelan, Bolivian, Ecuadorian and Nicaraguan leaders – in which it was agreed to make Cuba the focus of the meeting – the truth is that the radiance and charisma of Obama largely dominated audiences and the interests of the media.

Yet, in reality little changed regarding the expectations that his stance has generated since the campaign that brought him to the presidency of the United States. The country’s closeness to Mexico and Brazil – the former due to its geographic location, the latter because of its economic power in South America – remained established. In addition, so did the strengthening of agreements to combat drug trafficking and the will to promote the development of renewable energy sources.

There were no great offers of help towards progress, as in the time of John F. Kennedy, nor was anything said of the United States’ responsibility in triggering the global crisis that has begun to deeply affect the Americas, most especially its poor. Nor was there (this was clear) the same indifference towards hemispheric problems as displayed under the Bush administration, by which everything was reduced to the “fight against terrorism.”

Perhaps the only thing new was Obama’s attitude towards Colombia and Venezuela. With the first, the deadlock in relations was broken. They had previously appeared at a standstill as a result of mistrust towards the national government, due to its behavior in matters such as the defense of human rights and the treatment of trade unionists. Something must have been clarified in the occasional meetings between the American head of state and Uribe. The former agreed to “reexamine” NAFTA, invited his Colombian counterpart to his country, agreed to consider a visit to Colombia and even endorsed our interest in hosting the next Summit of the Americas.

The same goes for the treatment of Venezuela, which seemed destined to cover the same grounds of verbal confrontation, but was transformed into a cordial and amicable relationship. Even a gift was included, as well as the decision of President Chavez to name a new ambassador to the United States, much to the disgust of Evo Morales, who has preferred to remain in permanent opposition to the government of that country.

Beyond that, there is little to say, other than that the focus of the meeting was taken up by Obama, and not Cuba, as had previously been expected. With respect to the island, the North American president did not say anything that was not already known since his days as senator. In fact, he had taken previous measures eliminating restrictions on Cuban-Americans – this allow assumptions to be made about different relations with the Caribbean leader.

“I didn’t come here to debate the past – I came here to deal with the future” was the central phrase of Obama’s message that awakens hopes but contains few certainties. It obscures American responsibilities and does not offer anything concrete. We will just have to wait.