Obama, Latin American leaders start summit

A Summit of the Americas marking US President Barack Obama’s debut in front of Latin American leaders began Friday in the Caribbean state of Trinidad and Tobago.

The gathering brought together the representatives of 34 countries across the Americas — all except Cuba, whose exclusion from regional bodies is increasingly criticized by Latin American nations.

A possible thaw in long-frozen ties between the United States and Cuba looked set to dominate discussions at the summit, after conciliatory remarks made separately by Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro on Thursday.

As they entered the summit, each of the leaders were introduced in Spanish, even though Trinidad and Tobago is an English-speaking state.

That protocol meant Obama and his biggest critic at the event, Cuba ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, were separated by more than a dozen other presidents.

AFP