A growing sense of excitement continues to mount regarding the V Summit of the Americas, which begins on Friday, April 17. Many consider that it will be a proof by fire for President Obama, who will be meeting with leaders of the hemisphere for the first time since taking office. Everyone is looking for clues as to whether he will follow the path of his predecessors or really go beyond the rhetoric and strike out toward new relationships with the hemisphere.

Cuban President Raul Castro. (Photo: AFP)

    First to speak on Friday will be Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, who will address the summit in the name of South American countries, and will seek bilateral negotiations between this block of nations and the United States. Second on the agenda will be President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, who as president pro-tem of SICA, the Central American Integration System, will speak on behalf of the Central American countries. Themes on the agenda include immigration, drug trafficking, alternative energy production and commercial integration.

    The scenario reflects a dramatically changed reality since the last summit, attended by George W. Bush, in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in November 2005. The fact that South and Central America are presenting themselves as unified blocks demonstrates that the US "divide and conquer" strategy of the past faces new challenges at this moment in history. These two blocks are in no way homogenous, but the prevailing energies in both cases prevents the minority of right-wing governments from breaking a minimum consensus necessary for increasing the possibility of advancing unified positions, which much be dealt with, rather than ignored or subverted.

    Clearly, a central theme on the minds of many presidents is Cuba. Cuba has chosen Brazil, a strategic country and one which President Obama has been working with to cultivate improved US relations, to present their case for inclusion in the hemispheric processes. The foreign minister of Brazil, Celso Amorim, rejects the notion that the summit will be used as a space to confront the United States. At the same time, he said yesterday, "The fact that Cuba is not integrated in the Inter-American system is an anomaly which needs to be corrected." He criticized the omission of the case of Cuba from the final declaration of the summit, a draft of which has already been widely circulated.

    There are some indications that a challenge may be issued to Obama at this summit on the issue of Cuba. A likely scenario could be Obama insisting that the US is working to improve relations with Cuba, citing the baby steps which were announced on Monday. It seems this pace will be challenged by insisting that Cuba be invited to the next OAS meeting on June 2. The OAS is the institution from which Cuba was expelled in 1962, so it is the appropriate forum to which Cuba must be reinvited. This would give Obama some time to maneuver in the United States, but holds him to the fire in terms of demonstrating openness to moving to new ground.

    The Secretary General of the OAS Jose Miguel Insulza is already heavily on the defensive. He maintains that the "democratic clause" in the OAS documents is an automatic block for Cuba becoming a member again. He said, "We need to know if Cuba is interested in returning to multilateral organizations, or is only thinking about the end of the embargo and economic growth. This summit [in Trinidad] is for countries with good faith, but good faith is not enough to bring about change."

    It is clear that many countries come with Cuba high on their agenda. In addition to the solid ALBA block, President Rafael Correa from Ecuador has indicated that he will speak about Cuba and immigration. He recently expressed this: "President Obama has been very lukewarm in the sense that there are not clear signs of a radical change in US policies towards Latin America."

    The president-elect of El Salvador will also be present. Currently, El Salvador is the only other country in the hemisphere besides the United States that does not have diplomatic relations with Cuba, a policy which will be ending in six more weeks. This is a dramatic change for El Salvador and will completely alter the dynamics in Central America.

    Since his electoral win in November, President Obama has been saying that his administration would open new relations with Latin America. The moment has come to demonstrate it.

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