The 7th Summit of the Americas, which ended Saturday night in Panama, is being universally viewed as historic. The return of Cuba to hemispheric summits after being excluded for half a century is viewed not only as a concession by Washington but as a vindication of a long-standing demand of the Latin America and the Caribbean community as a whole. In their speeches to the Summit, Latin American presidents from countries such as Jamaica, Argentina, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Venezuela stressed the significance of Cuba's presence. In addition, U.S. President Barack Obama's executive order declaring Venezuela a threat to U.S. national security was roundly and unanimously condemned by all the Latin American countries at the Summit. teleSUR
