PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (April 19) – A Western Hemisphere summit was wrapping up on Sunday with President Barack Obama hopeful he'd boosted the image of the U.S. among its friends in the region and perhaps even made some new ones.
"There is great hope that with all the outreach ... we are indeed starting new relationships," said Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough.
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Obama was to meet with Central American leaders before the final working session of the Summit of the Americas here in the two-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. He was also scheduled to hold a news conference before returning home to Washington.
Among those seemingly charmed by the president's promise of a new, more equal partnership was Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, the fiery leftist who famously likened former President George W. Bush to the devil.
After several friendly encounters with Obama, Chavez approached Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton about restoring normal diplomatic ties, officials said. The two countries expelled each others' envoys last September.
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"I think President Obama is an intelligent man, compared to the previous U.S. president," Chavez told reporters.
On Saturday, Chavez gave Obama a book critical of the U.S., while also expressing interest in repairing relations between the two countries.
The socialist leader presented Obama with a hardcover edition of "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent" at the Summit of the Americas. The publicity about the gift of the book helped propel it from relative obscurity to No. 13 on the Amazon.com list of best-sellers by Saturday night.
Chavez said he inscribed the book: "For Obama, with warm regards."
The 1971 book, by famed Uruguayan journalist Eduardo Galeano, documents how European and American commercial interests have dominated and afflicted Latin America since the Spanish conquest. It's a favorite among left-leaning Latin Americans from Argentina to Mexico.
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"He believes the book tells the truth, and he wants to give Obama the truth," said Michael Shifter, a Latin America analyst at the Inter-American Dialogue group think tank in Washington. "It also gives him an opportunity to grandstand a bit" at an event where Obama's sheer star quality is outshining other leaders, he said.
Chavez says he frequently rereads Galeano as a reference point.
One emblematic passage describes how Latin America "continues to work as a servant. It continues to exist to serve the needs of others as a fountain and reserve of petroleum and gold, copper and meat, fruits and coffee, raw materials and food destined for rich countries that benefit more from consuming them than Latin America does from producing them."
Novelist Isabel Allende describes the book's enduring appeal as politically charged history with an intimate touch: "Galeano denounces exploitation with uncompromising ferocity, yet this book is almost poetic in its description of solidarity and human capacity for survival in the midst of the worst kind of despoliation."
Persecution of Galeano by right-wing dictatorships of the 1970s and 80s helped cement the author's reputation as a voice of Latin America's dispossessed.
His newspaper editorials and activism against political corruption in Uruguay forced him to flee to Argentina after a military coup in 1974. His name later appeared an Argentine death squad list targeting dissidents, and Galeano fled to Spain to live in exile until his return to Uruguay in 1984.
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"It's an extraordinary book that helped me understand Latin America when I was young, our history, our reality," Chavez told reporters after meeting with Obama and South American leaders.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the Spanish language book would be a barrier to the president, who does not read Spanish. For his part, Obama said he was ready to reciprocate with one of own best-selling books.
"I thought it was one of Chavez's books," Obama said. "I was going to give him one of mine."
As the 34-nation summit drew to a close, the White House called it a productive one.
"We are confident that we'll go home with some very robust commitments on energy and climate, on ... public security, and a renewal of the region's commitment to democracy," McDonough said.
Plus the president was cautiously optimistic about Cuba's offer of comprehensive talks, including previously off-limits subjects like political prisoners and freedom of the press. Cuba's overture followed Obama's move to ease some travel and remittance restrictions.
However, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs stressed Washington would like actions as well as talk.
"We're anxious to see what the Cuban government is willing to step up to do," he said.
Associated Press Writer Alan Clendenning contributed to this report.
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