8th Summit of the Americas
VIII Cumbre de las Américas
Host countryPeru
DateApril 13–14, 2018
CitiesLima
Follows7th Summit of the Americas
Precedes9th Summit of the Americas

The eighth Summit of the Americas was held in Lima, Peru, from April 13–14, 2018. The main focus of the summit was anti-corruption following the outbreak of the Odebrecht scandal, which affected numerous countries in the region, while attention was also put upon the crisis in Venezuela.[1]

Background

The 2015 Summit of the Americas in Panama was held in a positive atmosphere, largely thanks to Barack Obama's normalization of relations with Cuba, which was welcomed by the rest of the Western Hemisphere as a long-overdue rectification of a Cold War relic, considering that Latin American leaders, especially those in Bolivia and Venezuela, warned at the 2012 Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, that the holding the 2015 summit was impossible without Cuba's participation.[2][3]

However, Donald Trump in June 2017 announced a reinvigorated hardline towards Cuba by banning U.S. business transactions with Cuban companies run by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces and imposing some restrictions on Americans' travel to Cuba (banning Americans from visiting military-run establishments).[4] He has also imposed economic sanctions against Venezuela, arguing President Nicolas Maduro's disrespect for his country's democratic institutions.[5]

On February 13, 2018, Peru revoked Venezuela's invitation to the Summit because of Maduro's plan to hold an early presidential election, as the major opposing parties were banned from it.[6] Maduro insisted that he would attend the summit anyway, but eventually declined from doing so on April 10.[7] Delsa Solórzano would represent Venezuela in the summit instead. Solórzano is a deputy and the Vice President of A New Era, an opposition political party.[8] On April 10, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump stated he would not attend the Summit in order to focus on the fallout of the Douma chemical attack. Vice President Mike Pence attended in his place.[9]

Events

13 April

Representatives gathered on April 14, 2018

The President of Ecuador Lenín Moreno visited Peru, but left a short time before the summit could start. A hostage crisis at the Colombian border caused the suspected death of two journalists, and he announced that he would take military action unless the captors proved otherwise within a 12-hours time frame.[10]

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announced that the United States Department of State and United States Agency for International Development would provide $16 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to fund aid for Venezuelan refugees in Brazil and Colombia affected during the Venezuelan refugee crisis.[11]

14 April

Many of the countries present at the summit condemned the Bolivarian Government of Venezuela, specifically embattled President Nicolás Maduro, and made statements rejecting the recognition of upcoming presidential elections. Vice President of the United States Mike Pence stated, "Every free nation gathered here must take action to isolate the Maduro regime. We must all stand with our brothers and sisters suffering in Venezuela", blaming Cuba for creating and defending corrupt governments in Latin America. Venezuela's allies Bolivia and Cuba defended President Maduro, criticizing his ban from the summit. Foreign Minister of Cuba Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla called the United States a racist country while also criticizing the bombings of Damascus and Homs and the gun politics in the United States.[1]

Countries also signed the "Lima Commitment" to agree on methods of combatting corruption in the region, with the proposal to create multi-national mechanisms of cooperation and anti-graft laws. Some countries such as Bolivia stated that the document would be used to "topple legitimate governments", comparing it to the war on drugs, with Bolivian president Evo Morales stating that the United States was the "main threat against democracy, against peace, against freedom".[1]

Delegation leaders

Opening meeting
Central meeting room, April 14
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto
Summary of attending leaders
CountryDelegation leader
 Antigua and BarbudaPrime Minister Gaston Browne
 ArgentinaPresident Mauricio Macri
 BahamasPrime Minister Hubert Minnis
 BarbadosPrime Minister Freundel Stuart
 BelizePrime Minister Dean Barrow
 BoliviaPresident Evo Morales
 BrazilPresident Michel Temer
 CanadaPrime Minister Justin Trudeau
 ChilePresident Sebastián Piñera
 ColombiaPresident Juan Manuel Santos
 Costa RicaPresident Luis Guillermo Solís
 CubaForeign Minister Bruno Rodriguez[12]
 DominicaPrime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit
 Dominican RepublicPresident Danilo Medina
 EcuadorPresident Lenín Moreno
 El SalvadorForeign Minister Hugo Martínez[13]
 GrenadaPrime Minister Keith Mitchell
 GuatemalaVice President Jafeth Cabrera[14]
 GuyanaPresident David A. Granger
 HaitiPresident Jovenel Moïse
 HondurasPresident Juan Orlando Hernández
 JamaicaPrime Minister Andrew Holness
 MexicoPresident Enrique Peña Nieto
 NicaraguaPresident Daniel Ortega
 PanamaPresident Juan Carlos Varela
 ParaguayPresident Horacio Cartes
 PeruPresident Martín Vizcarra
 Saint Kitts and NevisPrime Minister Timothy Harris
 Saint LuciaPrime Minister Allen Chastanet
 Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesPrime Minister Ralph Gonsalves
 SurinamePresident Dési Bouterse
 Trinidad and TobagoPrime Minister Keith Rowley
 United StatesVice President Mike Pence
 UruguayPresident Tabaré Vázquez
 VenezuelaDeputy Delsa Solórzano[15][16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Washington and Cuba butt heads over Venezuela at heated Americas summit". miamiherald. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
  2. ↑ "Americas summit ends in acrimony". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  3. ↑ Alexander, Harriet (6 April 2015). "Cuban dissident arrested on arrival at Panama's Summit of the Americas". Retrieved 7 March 2018 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  4. ↑ Dixon, Kim (8 November 2017). "Trump tightens limits on personal travel, business ties to Cuba". Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  5. ↑ "With executive order, Trump imposes new round of Venezuela sanctions". Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  6. ↑ "Summit host yanks Venezuela's invitation over early election". WJHL. February 13, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Nicolás Maduro says he will not be attending Summit of Americas in Lima". Peru Reports. April 10, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  8. ↑ Frances Jenner (April 10, 2018). "Venezuela will be present at Summit of the Americas, but it's not Maduro". Peru Reports. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Trump Cancels Trip to Latin America, Citing Crisis in Syria". The New York Times. April 10, 2018.
  10. ↑ Gonzalo Solano and Joshua Goodman (April 13, 2018). "Ecuador's president says kidnapped journalists likely killed". Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  11. ↑ Greenwood, Max (13 April 2018). "Pence announces $16M in aid for refugees fleeing Venezuela". The Hill. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  12. ↑ "Cuba's Castro Joins Trump in Skipping Americas Summit"., usnews.com. April 13, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Canciller Hugo Martínez representará a El Salvador en Cumbre de las Américas" Archived 2018-04-15 at the Wayback Machine, verdaddigital (in Spanish). April 12, 2018.
  14. ↑ Jimmy Morales delega en el vicepresidente la Cumbre de las Américas Archived 2018-04-14 at the Wayback Machine, eleconomista.net, 2018/04/09.
  15. ↑ "Delsa Solórzano representará a Venezuela en la Cumbre de las Américas". Globovision. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  16. ↑ "Perú ratificó invitación a Borges para Cumbre de las Américas". el Nacional. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
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