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8th Summit of the Americas

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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

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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

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13 April

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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

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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

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Opening meeting
Central meeting room, April 14
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto
Summary of attending leaders
Country Delegation leader
 Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne
 Argentina President Mauricio Macri
 Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis
 Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart
 Belize Prime Minister Dean Barrow
 Bolivia President Evo Morales
 Brazil President Michel Temer
 Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
 Chile President Sebastián Piñera
 Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos
 Costa Rica President Luis Guillermo Solís
 Cuba Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez[12]
 Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit
 Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina
 Ecuador President Lenín Moreno
 El Salvador Foreign Minister Hugo Martínez[13]
 Grenada Prime Minister Keith Mitchell
 Guatemala Vice President Jafeth Cabrera[14]
 Guyana President David A. Granger
 Haiti President Jovenel Moïse
 Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández
 Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness
 Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto
 Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega
 Panama President Juan Carlos Varela
 Paraguay President Horacio Cartes
 Peru President Martín Vizcarra
 Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Timothy Harris
 Saint Lucia Prime Minister Allen Chastanet
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves
 Suriname President Dési Bouterse
 Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley
 United States Vice President Mike Pence
 Uruguay President Tabaré Vázquez
 Venezuela Deputy Delsa Solórzano[15][16]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "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.[permanent dead link]
  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.
Preceded by Summits of the Americas
2018
Lima, Peru 		Succeeded by
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