The Fifth Summit of the Americas (VSOA) was held at Port of Spain in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, on April 17–19, 2009. Organizers planned for the Fifth Summit to focus on a wide-ranging theme: "Securing Our Citizens' Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability."

Overview

The

Summits of the Americas The Summit of the Americas (SOA) is an international summit meeting that brings together the leaders of countries in the Organization of American States (OAS). Cuba was expelled from the OAS under pressure from the United States after the Cuba ...

are a continuing series of summits bringing together the leaders of North America,

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, the Caribbean and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. The function of these summits is to foster discussion of a variety of issues affecting the western hemisphere. These high-level summit meetings have been organized by a number of multilateral bodies under the aegis of the Organization of American States. In the early 1990s, what were formerly ''ad hoc'' summits came to be institutionalized into a regular "Summits of the Americas" conference program.Twaddle, Andrew C. (2002)
''Health Care Reform Around the World,'' p. 382.
/ref> * December 9–11, 1994

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florid ...

Summit of the Americas Center
(SOAC)

-- 1st Summit of the Americas at

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. * December 7–8, 1996 -- Summit of the Americas on Sustainable Development at

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; "Holy Cross of the Mountain Range"), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River in the eastern Tropical Lowlands of Bolivia ...

in Bolivia. * April 18–19, 1998 --

2nd Summit of the Americas The 2nd Summit of the Americas was held in Santiago, Chile, on April 18–19, 1998. This gathering of regional leaders was the first attempt in four years to negotiate conditions for the creation of a hemispheric free trade area. No final agree ...

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. * April 20–22, 2001 -- 3rd Summit of the Americas, in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. * January 12–13, 2004 --

Monterrey Special Summit of the Americas The Special Summit of the Americas was held on January 12 and 13, 2004 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. This summit is part of the Summit of the Americas initiative which is carried on by the Organization of American States with the purpose ...

at Monterrey in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. * November 4–5, 2005 -- 4th Summit of the Americas at Mar del Plata in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Agenda

5th Summit of the Americas leaders photo 19 April 2009

The host nation's task in organizing the summit programme was a multi-faceted challenge. The top issue at the summit was the current economic crisis, which also encompassed issues of access to increased credit and lending from multilateral banks, sub-regional banks and international development banks. Other issues included promoting human prosperity, energy security and environmental sustainability. Regional leaders had their first face-to-face meeting with

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

at the summit. Venezuela's

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Hugo Chávez used his first meeting with President Obama to argue in favor of lifting the US-led embargo of Cuba. Chávez also used the occasion to publicly present Obama with a copy of

Eduardo Galeano Eduardo Hughes Galeano (; 3 September 1940 – 13 April 2015) was a Uruguayan journalist, writer and novelist considered, among other things, "global soccer's pre-eminent man of letters" and "a literary giant of the Latin American left". Galean ...

's 1971 book ''

Open Veins of Latin America ''Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent'' (in es, Las venas abiertas de América Latina) is a book written by Uruguayan journalist, writer, and poet Eduardo Galeano, published in 1971, that consists of an analy ...

''.

Security

The host country's Office for Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) planned to ensure that they would be prepared to deal with the consequences of natural or man-made hazards which might impact the delegates during the Summit of the Americas. The Ministry of National Security and OPDM worked together in anticipation of over 4,000 visitors. Other American nations made security forces available during the international event.

Premier of Bermuda The Premier of Bermuda serves as head of government of Bermuda, under appointment by the Governor of Bermuda, in the governor's capacity as representative in Bermuda of the British monarch, currently King Charles III. The position was created b ...

Ewart Brown Ewart Frederick Brown Jr. (born 1946) is a politician and physician who served as the ninth Premier of Bermuda and leader of the country's Progressive Labour Party (PLP) from 2006 to 2010. He represented Warwick South Central as a Member of P ...

offered to request 35 soldiers of the

Bermuda Regiment The Royal Bermuda Regiment (RBR), formerly the Bermuda Regiment, is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is a single territorial infantry battalion that was formed on the amalgamation in 1965 of two originally ...

to be sent, but the offer was declined as unnecessary. In preparation for the summit, the

Jamaica Defence Force The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) is the combined military of Jamaica, consisting of an infantry Regiment and Reserve Corps, an Air Wing, a Coast Guard fleet and a supporting Engineering Unit. The JDF is based upon the British military model, with ...

(JDF) and the

Jamaica Constabulary Force The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is the official police force of Jamaica. Role The force is the arm of the Ministry which is responsible for the maintenance of law and order, the prevention and detection of crime, the investigation of all ...

(JCF) sent 124 officers for a three-week training program in Trinidad. The Jamaican contingent was briefed and given all the necessary resources and equipment, and they were expected to bring back to Jamaica any good ideas and best practices which might be observed during the operation. "J'can police, soldiers to provide security at Americas Summit,"
''Jamaica Observer'' (Kingston). March 27, 2009.

Heads of State and Government

Notes

References

* Prieto, Alfredo
"Everybody But Cuba,"
'Havana Times.'' April 15, 2009. *

External links

Summits of the Americas

5th Summit of The Americas
* Summits of the Americas Follow-up System
SISCA

{{DEFAULTSORT:Summit Of The Americas 2009 Organization of American States Politics of the Americas Diplomatic conferences in Trinidad and Tobago 21st-century diplomatic conferences 2009 in international relations 2009 in North America 2009 in South America 2009 in Trinidad and Tobago Port of Spain 21st century in Port of Spain April 2009 events in North America