No gloves, no holds barred. The Fifth Summit of the Americas opened today in Trinidad & Tobago with a barely-diplomatic condemnation of United States policy, the Western-dominated capitalist economy and even the United Kingdom, compliments of Argentina’s president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

Speaking on behalf of South American states, de Kirchner called out the United States and Western countries on their double standards – a claim she supported by citing Cuba’s expulsion from the OAS, and Britain (to which she she did not even afford the dignity of naming), who went to war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands.

New regional order – no US intervention, full Cuban inclusion

President de Kirchner’s impassioned and emotive address condemned the unregulated systems that created the global financial crisis which, she said, paradoxically occurred at a time when economies were growing in Latin America – economies that are now shrinking as a result. She invoked President Obama’s mantra of change repeatedly, calling for a new regional order in the Americas, in which they were no subordinates, only equals. The Argentine President also blasted the United States’ policies of intervention into other countries, and condemned the “absurd” embargo and blockade of Cuba, a statement that was applauded by the pro-LAC audience.

Ortega: You have to change, not us!

President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua followed President de Kirchner in his capacity as President of SICA (Central American Integration System) and delivered a broad-ranging, acerbic attack on US policy – particularly with respect to the United States’ tacit support of the Somoza regime in Nicaragua, and the funding that the US government provided to the regime to defeat the Sandinista revolutionaries. This, according to Ortega, reflected the “terrorist policies of the United States under Ronald Reagan”, who he says armed, funded and defended the dictatorial Somoza leaders.

Ortega also made clear his distrust of, and lack of faith in, US presidents, derisively mentioning that he had previously meet Ragean, Carter and Bush Sr. on Nicaraguan issues. On Carter, Ortega reflected passionately on an argument he had with the former president in which Ortega said “Nicaragua has never invaded the United States… it has never even launched a stone against the United States or imposed a government on it – so, President Carter, it is you who have to change, not Nicaragua!”.

On his meeting the current president, Barack Obama, Ortega simply reflected: “I shook his hand, he said something in Spanish, I said something in English, and that was it.”

Cuba inclusion and, curiously, a call on Puerto Rico?

In the height of his speech, Ortega was applauded as he echoed the sentiments of President de Kirchner in calling for the full and complete integration of Cuba into the hemisphere: “I refuse to call this a Summit of the Americas. Yes, we have gathered here, we have the Presidents [sic] of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the President of the US and PM of Canada here but there are two representatives missing here today. One is Cuba – Cuba! Who’s crime has been that of fighting for independence, fighting for sovereignty, offering solidarity without conditions to our peoples – and just because of that, they are punished, they are penalized”. Then, he touched on Puerto Rico, saying that the island was still suffering under the ‘colonial yoke’ of the United States, concluding that “the day will come when we have the grand alliance, including Puerto Rico”.

The Bay of Pigs Invasion, the irony of dates and a letter from Raul Castro

The irony that Friday’s Summit was forty-eight years to the day that the CIA sponsored Bay of Pigs Invasion took place in Cuba was not lost on Ortega, or Raul Castro for that matter. Ortega reflected on a conversation he had with a bemused Castro ahead of the Summit, speaking on the event’s scheduling dates. Ortega invited Castro to write a letter – which Ortega then read – furthering the rebuke on US policy. Concluding on Cuba, Ortega echoed calls for the full removal of the embargo against Cuba and the dissolution of the Helms-Burton Act.

Immigration, the trap of fund conditionalities

President Ortega also blasted the United States on its immigration stance, saying that the United States would be wiser to provide funds to Latin American countries without the conditionalities of IMF loans – conditionalities which he termed to be “instruments of global capitalist dictatorship”. This, Ortega said, would have the effect of stemming outward migration since infrastructure, jobs and social equality could be boosted at home. He also said that these funds would serve the double task of curbing not only migration, but the reach of drug money in Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Obama: “I didn’t come here to debate the past, I came to debate the future”

Sardonically thanking President Ortega for not blaming him for things that happened “when I was four years old”, Barack Obama took the floor as third speaker in his capacity of President of the United States. Stating his seriousness on “launching a new chapter” in hemispheric relations, he cautioned that issues and progress could be stymied if states dwelled on stale arguments. In so doing, he dismissed the bulk of Presidents de Kirchner’s and Ortega’s speeches, stating that he came to the Summit not to debate the past, but to debate the future. President Obama said that he promised a new partnership, with no senior or junior partner, working together for shared prosperity.

Among the new initiatives being pursued by the Obama administration is a new microfinance growth fund aimed at supporting entrepreneurship in the region, as well as partnership on climate change and security in the region.

On Cuba, President Obama said that he sought a “new beginning”, stating that there was now a long journey that needed to be travelled to undo the mistrust. Referencing this week’s earlier removal of some restrictions on Cuba, Obama says that he is prepared to have his administration liaise with Cuba on a range of issues from free speech to drugs and human rights. “I am not interested in talking just for the sake of talking. My presence here indicates that the United States has changed”, Obama said.

Concluding, in a subtle swipe at President de Kirchner, Obama said that while he supports non-intervention in other countries, the United States could not then be blamed for all that is wrong in the hemisphere when it does not intervene – “that’s the exchange, that’s the old way of doing things, the American people need some positive reinforcement if they are to be engaged in helping the poverty that you are experiencing”.

CARICOM’s response

With the issue of Cuba now dealt with, Belizean Prime Minister Dean Barrow took the penultimate speech slot in his capacity as Chairman of CARICOM. He called for substantive results, saying that he wanted this regional meet not to be just a “pageant accompanied by summitry”, but one that could directly enhance the welfare of all nations involved. He took particular issue with the United States’ renewed commitment to target offshore banking – a mainstay of the Obama campaign – citing that offshore banking contributes greatly to Caribbean economies, and that “Meryl Lynch and Bear Sterns did not come down because of Caribbean jurisdictions”.

He also took issue with graduating Caribbean countries (that is, changing their listed income category) based on GDP alone, thereby making some of them ineligible for grant aid and lower interest funding, pushing them towards private market borrowing and debt.

The official speeches on this opening day of intense debate was closed with the event’s host, Trinidad Prime Minister Patrick Manning.

He offered the Bolivian president – fresh from a political hunger strike – a doubles.

Antillean · Bridgetown, Barbados

The Antillean is a pan-Caribbean nonprofit media outlet, covering news, features and opinions on social issues in the Caribbean region and the wider Americas. Our mission is to encourage conversation on, and enhance the visibility of, social currencies within the hemisphere – issues which are often underreported in the mainstream media.

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