Despite the overall positive outcome of the fifth Summit of the Americas, leaders attending the meeting did not put their signature Sunday to the final declaration due to reservations over some elements of the document.
Leaders decided to "adopt the Declaration of Commitment of Port of Spain" and delegate to the summit's host, Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Patrick Manning, the act of signing the document.
"The declaration itself did not have the complete approval of all 34 countries. Some countries had reservations about some elements, and that is understandable," said Manning, without going into details.
"And therefore, what we agreed to do today is to adopt the document, and in adopting it, we have recognized that there was no unanimity, even though there was a deep consensus."
Bolivia's objection to a declaration clause encouraging the use of biofuels was incorporated into the final document.
In a footnote, Bolivia stated that the expansion of biofuel development could "adversely affect and impact on the availability of foods and raise food prices, increase deforestation, displace population due to the demand for land."
At a press conference following the closing ceremony of the summit Sunday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said other countries had reservations on the fact that Cuba was not mentioned in the document.
Prior to the three-day summit, which started Friday, member countries of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA) -- Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica and Honduras and Cuba -- voiced their objection to the draft document, as it did not address the global financial crisis and Cuba's exclusion from multilateral organizations in the Western Hemisphere.
Prime Minister Patrick Manning of the host country Trinidad and Tobago addressses the closing ceremony of the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, April 19, 2009 Manning attributed the absence of specific clauses dealing with the economic crisis to the fact that the text was mostly negotiated before the crisis deepened.
The declaration focuses on promoting human prosperity, energy security, environmental sustainability, public security and democratic governance.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Brazilian leader Lula downplayed the failure of achieving unanimity on the final document.
"The summit, though not perfect, was close to perfection," said Chavez. "Cordiality prevailed, and the summit successfully led to a new atmosphere."
Lula said he was "extremely surprised" at what happened in this meeting. "I leave here with a sense of accomplishment."
Source:Xinhua
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