5 Things under-reported at the Summit of the Americas [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

5 Things under-reported at the Summit of the Americas
By Staff Writers, teleSUR
Tuesday, Apr 14, 2015

With most watching the historic meeting between Raul Castro and Barack Obama, here are five events from the summit that were not widely noticed.

1. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Meets with Cuban President Raul Castro

Canadian Media Not Advised Cuban President Raul Castro and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper held a bilateral meeting, however Canadian media reported that they were only informed of the meeting after the fact and only because the Canadian head of government made a passing reference to a meeting between the two leaders. A photo of the meeting was not released by the prime minister's office, nor were any statements released, suggesting that the prime minister was seeking to deliberately downplay the meeting.

Canada and Cuba have a long-standing political and economic relationship, although Canada supported past efforts by the United States to exclude Cuba from summits.

2. U.S. Refuses to Repeal Sanctions against Venezuela, Despite Pleas from Regional Leaders

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson confirmed to CNN that her country will not repeal the executive order signed by President Barack Obama that declared Venezuela to be a national security threat.

Latin American leaders have been unanimous in their condemnation of Obama's executive order, with many touching the topic during their interventions at the Summit of the Americas.

Obama and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who brought the signatures of over 11 million Venezuelans opposed to the decree, held a formal meeting which was described as “cordial” by Maduro. However, no announcement regarding the executive order was made after their meeting.

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