Three Latin American countries are vying to host the Sixth Summit of the Americas. This is according to a reliable source, who said Venezuela was not among the them. It is understood that Panama is among the three candidates for the event. The source said the names of the prospective hosts were expected to be revealed shortly by Prime Minister Patrick Manning. Selection of the host country should be done at the next regular meeting of the OAS.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told the Fifth Summit that the next such meeting should be held in Cuba. Cuba was not invited to the Port-of-Spain meeting, because it had been suspended from the Organisation of American States. There were several calls for the US trade embargo on the Spanish-speaking Caribbean island to be lifted. Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon described the historic Fifth Summit of the Americas, which ended in Port-of-Spain, yesterday, as “an enormous success. “It was money well spent.”

Gopee-Scoon, who was at Piarco International Airport just after 1 pm yesterday, for the departure of US President Barack Obama, said the summit went smoothly, and she was very proud of the people of the country for the manner in which they conducted themselves, generally. She said economic and other benefits of the summit would be seen shortly, but did not elaborate. The summit, which was a meeting of the 34 democratically-elected leaders of the Western Hemisphere, took place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain.