Americas summit opens

being: “Connecting the Americas: Partners for Prosperity.”
Two priority issues — the pros and cons of drug legalisation and Cuba’s continued exclusion from the summit  — dominate the agenda, highlighting the growing disconnect between Washington and an increasingly assertive and independent Latin American bloc led by powerhouse Brazil.
Before leaving Washington, Obama made clear in an interview with the Grupo de Diarios America, an association of leading Latin American newspapers, that he rejected the idea of decriminalising drugs. Some Central American leaders, reeling from 20 000 murders linked to cocaine cartels in their region last year, plan to push for drug decriminalisation.
“This is a legitimate debate that reflects the frustrations of governments and citizens across the Americas,” Obama acknowledged.
“The United States is not going to legalise or decriminalise drugs because doing so would have serious negative consequences in all our countries in terms of public health and safety,” he stressed.
“Moreover, legalising or decriminalising drugs would not eliminate the danger posed by transnational organised crime.”
On Cuba, Obama took a tough line, saying: “Cuban authorities have shown no interest in changing their relationship with the United States, nor any willingness to respect the democratic and human rights of the Cuban people.”
Cuba has never taken part in a Summit of the Americas. And in early March, Santos travelled to the Cuban capital to explain that a lack of consensus had prevented Cuba from being invited this time. But Havana’s exclusion prompted Correa to boycott this summit. After a meeting of regional foreign ministers here late on Thursday, Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman told reporters the United States and Canada were now the only countries in the Americas that refuse to invite Cuba to the summit and which do not back Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands. The other 32 members of the separate Organisation of the American States (OAS) support Cuba’s re-entry to the regional club and “the sovereign rights of Argentina,” he said.
Argentina and Britain this month marked 30 years since they went to war over the Falklands, with Argentine President Cristina Kirchner calling British rule over the disputed islands “absurd.” The United States has said it will remain neutral and has recommended a negotiated solution. — AFP.