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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
(BIS Photo/Peter Ramsay)
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The
Seventh Summit of the Americas, the first in history that included
representatives of the 35 independent countries of the Hemisphere,
concluded today in Panama City, Panama following addresses by the 27
Heads of State and Government, five Foreign Ministers and three
Permanent Representatives to the OAS.
The first plenary session
included the presentation of the host, Panamanian President Juan Carlos
Varela, and the presence of the Secretary General of the Organization
of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, included addresses by 14
Heads of State.
The second plenary session featured addresses by the Prime
Minister of The Bahamas, Perry Christie; the Prime Minister of Jamaica,
Portia Simpson-Miller; the President of Uruguay, Tabaré Vazquez; the
Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves; the
Prime Minister of Barbados, Freundel Stuart; the President of El
Salvador, Salvador Sánchez Cerén; the Prime Minister of Antigua and
Barbuda, Gaston Browne; the President of the Dominican Republic, Danilo
Medina; the President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega; the President of
Haiti, Michel Martelly; the Prime Minister of Grenada, Keith Mitchell;
and the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Kenny Anthony.
Speakers in the second session also included the Foreign Minister
of Costa Rica, Manuel González; the Foreign Minister of Chile, Heraldo
Muñoz; the Foreign Minister of Belize, Wilfred Elrington; the Foreign
Minister of Dominica, Francine Baron; the Foreign Minister of Saint
Kitts and Nevis, Mark Brantley; the Permanent Representative of Paraguay
to the OAS, Elisa Ruíz Díaz; the Permanent Representative of Suriname
to the OAS, Niermala Badrising; and the Permanent Representative of
Guyana to the OAS, Bayney Karran.
The Summit concluded with a Declaration
from the Presidency, which President Varela delivered at the end of the
event. In it, the Panamanian President said he convened the Summit
“with a universal character,” and that the result was a “historic”
event, thanks to the presence, for the first time, of Cuba.
“The decision announced by the Presidents of Cuba and the United
States to move forward with a new approach to the relations between
their countries created a legitimate expectation that situations, both
old and new, that have made for tense hemispheric relations can be
resolved,” he said. “This Summit has built bridges in that direction,”
he said.
In Panama it was also determined that the VIII Summit of the Americas will be held in Lima, Peru in 2018.
© Copyright 2015 by thebahamasweekly.com
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