Cuba has quickly become the hot-button issue at the Summit of the Americas, despite fears from Canada and the U.S. that the topic could overtake the conference.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived in Trinidad and Tobago Friday for the fifth Summit of the Americas, in what some are saying could be the last meeting of its kind.
None of the 34 countries making up the group have offered to host the next meeting, and the indifference, if not outright hostility, of some Latin American countries to the Summit threatens the possibility of another.
At issue for many countries, but particularly Venezuela, is Cuba's exclusion from the Summit because it is not a democracy.
The secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS) announced Friday he would be asking that Cuba be reinstated into the group.
"We're going step by step," OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said, explaining that he would be asking the group's general assembly in May to bring Cuba back into the fold.
Earlier this week, U.S. President Barack Obama took some steps to ease restrictions against Cuba, allowing Cuban-Americans unlimited visits and the right to send money to family.
The moves were responded to favourably by Cuba's Raul Castro, who said he was willing to open discussions with the U.S.
"The United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba," Obama said Friday, kicking off the Summit. "I know there is a longer journey that must be travelled in overcoming decades of mistrust, but there are critical steps we can take toward a new day."
Canada has long had normal relations with Cuba, despite the 40-year trade embargo that the United States has imposed on the island, and is often looked to as a mediator on the file.
Harper says he is "hoping to see a thaw," in U.S.-Cuba relations and is encouraging both sides to engage in more talks.
"Obviously, President Obama has taken some steps and we're hoping that some of the words we are hearing from the Cuban regime are meaningful," Harper told U.S. network Fox News Friday from Port of Spain.
But he also said he hoped that Cuban-American relations did not overtake this weekend's Summit.
"There are certainly more important issues to discuss than Cuban-American relations."
The Prime Minister's Office said Friday night that Harper met with both Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe at the Summit.
On Thursday, outspoken Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he would not sign the Summit's declaration as an act of protest against the United States.
"Where is there more democracy, in the United States or in Cuba?" he said. "I have no doubt -- there's more democracy in Cuba."
Differing interests
For Harper, who is being accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and Minister of State Peter Kent, pushing for another summit will be near the top of the agenda. Without the meeting, Canada does not have a regular forum to meet with regional leaders for trade and security talks.
Despite the controversy over Cuba, the economy was expected to take the centre stage at the three-day conference.
Mark Entwistle, a former Canadian ambassador to Cuba, told CTV's Power Play that a top Harper priority will be garnering Canada some attention when all eyes will be focused on Obama.
Entwistle said that Canada has to walk a thin line between two sets of Latin American blocs and interests. There is Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, with their left-leaning socialist policies and then the free market G-20 countries, like Mexico and Brazil.
"The real objective will be to have this Summit not break down," he said.
Obama is expected to aggressively push for a new relationship for the Americas following the exit of the George W. Bush administration.
The 2005 Summit of the Americas was considered an utter failure, with the U.S and Canadian-led negotiations for a free trade agreement collapsing at the table. Chavez rallied protesters against Bush at a stadium nearby and some leader left the conference early.
As he has done on recent foreign trips, Harper was once again snubbing the Canadian media in favour of international media.
On Thursday, the prime minister caused a stir when it was announced that he hired two former White House spokespersons to help get him more U.S. media attention.
