NewsWhore
04-20-2009, 04:40 PM
President Leonel Fernandez has described this weekend's Summit of the Americas as a positive encounter between regional leaders. The Summit, which took place in Trinidad and Tobago, was a long awaited event. Fernandez said that US President Barack Obama was highly receptive to the issues facing the region. Fernandez joined President Obama during a separate meeting with leaders from Central America and Panama. Fernandez, who departed for the meeting on Friday, returned to the DR on Sunday, arriving at the San Isidro airbase. According to Fernandez, the US has agreed to increase funding in the areas of immigration, drugs, prosperity and security.
According to Listin Diario, Fernandez has accomplished his goals for the Summit. Fernandez met the new US President for the first time and had a brief chat with him a few moments before the summit's official photo was taken. Fernandez also made an appeal for continued support for neighboring nation Haiti by putting a moratorium on loans or restructuring the payment of interest rates on those loans.
The President also lobbied the US for more funds to fight drug trafficking in the DR, saying that US$2.5 million as part of the Merida Initiative was simply not enough. Fernandez argues that the region's drug problem is also a concern for national safety in the US and that a failed state in the DR could prove a real threat to US security. Fernandez also told a Dominican journalist covering the conference that regional leaders have discussed the possibility of holding a meeting to tackle the drug issue in greater depth. Details on that proposed meeting were not given. Fernandez says he made informal contacts with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega from Nicaragua, Alvaro Uribe from Colombia and Ecuador's Rafael Correa and said the Summit was one more step towards easing regional tensions.
www.fifthsummitoftheamericas.org/default.aspx?id=1107 (http://www.fifthsummitoftheamericas.org/default.aspx?id=1107)
www.fifthsummitoftheamericas.org/uploadedFiles/Fifth_Summit_of_the_Americas/... (http://www.fifthsummitoftheamericas.org/uploadedFiles/Fifth_Summit_of_the_Americas/Knowledge_Centre/DeclarationofCommitmentofPortofSpain_2009_ENG%20%20%20%20%20.pdf)
www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=332241&CategoryId=12394 (http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=332241&CategoryId=12394)
www.impre.com/laopinion/opinion/2009/4/20/the-summit-of-the-americas-120346-1.html (http://www.impre.com/laopinion/opinion/2009/4/20/the-summit-of-the-americas-120346-1.html)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President... (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-the-Summit-of-the-Americas-Opening-Ceremony/)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#1)
According to Listin Diario, Fernandez has accomplished his goals for the Summit. Fernandez met the new US President for the first time and had a brief chat with him a few moments before the summit's official photo was taken. Fernandez also made an appeal for continued support for neighboring nation Haiti by putting a moratorium on loans or restructuring the payment of interest rates on those loans.
The President also lobbied the US for more funds to fight drug trafficking in the DR, saying that US$2.5 million as part of the Merida Initiative was simply not enough. Fernandez argues that the region's drug problem is also a concern for national safety in the US and that a failed state in the DR could prove a real threat to US security. Fernandez also told a Dominican journalist covering the conference that regional leaders have discussed the possibility of holding a meeting to tackle the drug issue in greater depth. Details on that proposed meeting were not given. Fernandez says he made informal contacts with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega from Nicaragua, Alvaro Uribe from Colombia and Ecuador's Rafael Correa and said the Summit was one more step towards easing regional tensions.
www.fifthsummitoftheamericas.org/default.aspx?id=1107 (http://www.fifthsummitoftheamericas.org/default.aspx?id=1107)
www.fifthsummitoftheamericas.org/uploadedFiles/Fifth_Summit_of_the_Americas/... (http://www.fifthsummitoftheamericas.org/uploadedFiles/Fifth_Summit_of_the_Americas/Knowledge_Centre/DeclarationofCommitmentofPortofSpain_2009_ENG%20%20%20%20%20.pdf)
www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=332241&CategoryId=12394 (http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=332241&CategoryId=12394)
www.impre.com/laopinion/opinion/2009/4/20/the-summit-of-the-americas-120346-1.html (http://www.impre.com/laopinion/opinion/2009/4/20/the-summit-of-the-americas-120346-1.html)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President... (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-the-Summit-of-the-Americas-Opening-Ceremony/)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#1)