5th Summit of the Americas at Port-of-Spain in Trinidad and Tobago.

The "Summit of the Americas" is the name for a continuing series of summits bringing together the leaders of North America and South America. The function of these summits is to foster discussion of a variety of issues affecting the western hemisphere

While economic prosperity, energy security and environmental sustainability are primary issues for the fifth Summit of the Americas in April, the overarching issue confronting the Western Hemisphere is the current economic crisis, says a senior U.S. diplomat.
“We have to protect the social gains we’ve made in the past decade in this hemisphere,” Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon said

Shannon, who is assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs, said the broad agenda of the 34-nation summit, which is being held April 17–19 in Port of Spain, the capital city of Trinidad and Tobago, focuses on promoting human prosperity, energy security and environmental sustainability.

But the current economic crisis and access to increased credit and lending from multilateral banks, subregional banks and international development banks will be major topics of the three-day meeting of hemispheric leaders, he said.

Protecting the political and economic gains that have been made is important, but it is critical that economic recovery is not built on the backs of the poor, Shannon said. And, hemispheric nations should not let differences on other issues impede progress, he added.

President Obama, who will be making his first appearance at the Summit of the Americas and meeting most hemispheric leaders for the first time, will bring an attitude of mutual respect and a genuine desire for engagement, Shannon said at an Inter-American Dialogue conference on the summit.

This summit is the first meeting of all 34 democratic heads of government from Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada and the United States since the 2005 Mar del Plata Summit in Argentina that ended without resolution on a number of contentious issues. Cuban leader Raul Castro has not been invited to attend, though future relations with Cuba will be discussed.

Ambassador Jeffrey Davidow, who is a special adviser to the Obama administration for the Summit of the Americas, said two processes will converge at the summit. The first is the summit implementation process, which is completing work on the draft document.

This is an important negotiation,” Davidow said, because it can be instrumental in determining how effective the summit can be.
The second process is preparation of the United States delegation led by Obama. The president, Davidow said, will come to the summit with a spirit of equality, equity and responsibility. And Obama is coming to cooperate, Davidow said.
The president is coming to meet with hemispheric leaders, exchange ideas and listen, Davidow said. There will be three sessions the first day and on the last day the 34 hemispheric leaders will conduct a retreat without delegations or aides, he said.
Davidow said the summit is “a golden moment” to address significant regional issues.

Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the United States will assist as they were at G20

In advance of President Obama's participation in the upcoming Summit of the Americas conference, Vice President Joe Biden, in a March 27 news commentary appearing in Latin American newspapers, said that the United States seeks a fresh start with its neighbors in the Americas, beginning with cooperation in confronting the global financial crisis.

What foreign affairs decisions should President Obama consider?