PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad — President Barack Obama offered a spirit of cooperation to America’s hemispheric neighbors at a summit Saturday, listening to complaints about past U.S. meddling and even reaching out to Venezuela’s leftist leader.
While he worked to ease friction between the U.S. and their countries, Obama cautioned leaders at the Summit of the Americas to resist a temptation to blame all their problems on their behemoth neighbor to the north.
“I have a lot to learn and I very much look forward to listening and figuring out how we can work together more effectively,” Obama said.
Obama said he was ready to accept Cuban President Raul Castro’s proposal of talks on issues once off-limits for Cuba, including political prisoners held by the communist government.
While praising America’s initial effort to thaw relations with Havana, the leaders pushed the U.S. to go further and lift the 47-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.
To Latin American nations reeling from a sudden plunge in exports, Obama promised a new hemispheric growth fund, an initiative to increase Caribbean security and a partnership to develop alternative energy sources and fight global warming.
As the first full day of meetings began on the two-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago Saturday, Obama exchanged handshakes and pats on the back with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, who once likened Obama’s predecessor, President George W. Bush, to the devil.
In front of photographers, Chavez gave Obama a copy of “The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent,” a book by Eduardo Galeano that chronicles U.S. and European economic and political interference in the region.
When asked what he thought of the book, the president replied: “I thought it was one of Chavez’s books. I was going to give him one of mine.” White House advisers said they didn’t know if Obama would read it or not.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs noted the president doesn’t speak or read Spanish: “I think it’s in Spanish, so that might be a tad on the difficult side.”
Later, during a group photo, Obama reached behind several leaders at the summit to shake Chavez’s hand for the third time. Obama summoned a translator and the two smiled and spoke briefly.
At a luncheon speech to fellow leaders, Chavez said the spirit of respect is encouraging and he proposed that Havana host the next summit.
The State Department welcomed Chavez’s outreach.
“Earlier today at the Summit of the Americas President Chavez approached Secretary (Hillary Rodham) Clinton, and they discussed returning ambassadors to their respective posts in Caracas and Washington,” said State spokesman Robert Wood. “This is a positive development that will help advance U.S. interests, and the State Department will now work to further this shared goal.”
As the summit neared its close, Chavez said he soon expects to send an ambassador back to Washington.
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