Canada and U.S. singled out at summit over drugs, Cuba
Canada and the United States are finding themselves at odds with Latin American countries on two thorny issues — the war on drugs and the exclusion of Cuba — at a summit of hemispheric leaders in Colombia.
The event's host, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, delivered a frank speech Saturday to the assembled heads of state and government in which he said it would be "unacceptable" to hold another Summit of the Americas without Cuba. The communist country was suspended from the Organization of American States, the main organizing body for the summits, in 1962.
Canada and the United States are the only two countries in the organization that have not lobbied to invite to Cuba to the events.
"The isolation, the embargo, the indifference, the looking the other way don't work," Santos said in the coastal resort city of Cartagena. "It's an anachronism that keeps us anchored in a Cold War era that was overcome decades ago."
Three Latin American leaders are threatening not to sign Sunday's summit declaration unless Canada and the United States agree to allow Cuba to attend the next one, the CBC's Terry Milewski reported from the summit.
Divided over drugs
The Colombian president also said that the war on drugs isn't working and that he would like to see a debate on decriminalizing them.
Violence related to the drug trade has pushed murder rates in Central America and the Caribbean to the highest in the world.
But Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office has said he won't entertain any policy changes that would lift the prohibition of illicit drugs, while U.S. President Barack Obama repeated at the summit on Saturday that the White House believes "legalization is not the answer."
Saturday's focus on Cuba and drug enforcement policy clashed with Harper's agenda at the summit, which was to sell Canada as an attractive destination to do business.
The prime minister went looking for investment dollars from across the region during a speech Saturday to assembled leaders, where he boasted of Canada's economic stability and strong resource industry.
Harper also told a forum of CEOs his government's budget promises to speed up the regulatory process to develop major natural resource projects is a key reason they should invest.
"We cannot allow valid concerns about environmental protection to be used as an excuse to trap worthwhile projects in reviews without end," Harper said. "What matters is that the relevant facts are fully considered. That need not take years."
The event's host, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, delivered a frank speech Saturday to the assembled heads of state and government in which he said it would be "unacceptable" to hold another Summit of the Americas without Cuba. The communist country was suspended from the Organization of American States, the main organizing body for the summits, in 1962.
Canada and the United States are the only two countries in the organization that have not lobbied to invite to Cuba to the events.
"The isolation, the embargo, the indifference, the looking the other way don't work," Santos said in the coastal resort city of Cartagena. "It's an anachronism that keeps us anchored in a Cold War era that was overcome decades ago."
Three Latin American leaders are threatening not to sign Sunday's summit declaration unless Canada and the United States agree to allow Cuba to attend the next one, the CBC's Terry Milewski reported from the summit.
Divided over drugs
The Colombian president also said that the war on drugs isn't working and that he would like to see a debate on decriminalizing them.
Violence related to the drug trade has pushed murder rates in Central America and the Caribbean to the highest in the world.
But Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office has said he won't entertain any policy changes that would lift the prohibition of illicit drugs, while U.S. President Barack Obama repeated at the summit on Saturday that the White House believes "legalization is not the answer."
Saturday's focus on Cuba and drug enforcement policy clashed with Harper's agenda at the summit, which was to sell Canada as an attractive destination to do business.
The prime minister went looking for investment dollars from across the region during a speech Saturday to assembled leaders, where he boasted of Canada's economic stability and strong resource industry.
Harper also told a forum of CEOs his government's budget promises to speed up the regulatory process to develop major natural resource projects is a key reason they should invest.
"We cannot allow valid concerns about environmental protection to be used as an excuse to trap worthwhile projects in reviews without end," Harper said. "What matters is that the relevant facts are fully considered. That need not take years."
