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Prime Minister Dean Barrow and the Belizean delegation arrived at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain this morning. It’s the biggest meeting on this side of the world as Barrow joins Presidents and Prime Ministers from 33 other countries in the Americas to discuss pressing political, economic and social issues confronting the hemisphere. The 7News team of special correspondent Janelle Chanona and videographer Alex Ellis and were on the tarmac when the Prime Minister arrived – and here’s their report filed late this evening from Port of Spain.

Janelle Chanona Reporting,
“This afternoon the Belize delegation headed by Prime Minister Dean Barrow and flanked by Foreign Affairs Minister Sedi Elrington and Minister of Economic Development Erwin Contreras arrived in Trinidad and Tobago to a red carpet greeting.

The government leaders and heads of states from the 33 countries attending the 5th Summit of the Americas all received similar welcoming receptions when they arrived at Teopcos International Airport. As are all events, today’s welcome was coordinated by a army of protocol and security officers. From the airport the delegates are taken to the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain Trinidad, the venue of the official meetings.

The idea behind the Summit of the Americas is for the 34 democratic countries of the OAS to share concerns, ideas, and seek solutions on ways forward. The theme of the 5th Summit of the Americas is ‘Securing our citizens’ future by promoting human prosperity, energy security, and environmental sustainability.”

Nestor Mendez, Ambassador to UN
“It is bringing together new leaders, people who have been recently elected. People who have a new way of looking at things and people who also confronting a whole new set of challenges. We are facing perhaps the greatest financial and economic crisis that the world has seen in recent decades. Those are serious problems that require serious discussions from all of these leaders of our continent.”

Janelle Chanona,
Ambassador a lot of these meetings are described as nothing more than talk shops but will we actually see tangible results coming out of the Meeting of the Americas?

Nestor Mendez,
“The document that comes out, the political declaration that comes out of a meeting of this nature has a direct impact, a direct effect on other meetings. For instance when the Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas and agree these are the objectives that we as leaders are taking, this is the direction in which we want to take our continent and our country and this is what we want to do for our people. These decisions are the political message that is taken into account by for instance the World Bank, the IMF, the IDB, the CDB, the OAS, CARICOM, the Association of Caribbean States. This political document coming from the highest level in the continent is a serious element that goes into the discussions and decisions that are taken by many of these international financial institutions and multi-lateral institutions.”

Trinidad is the first Caribbean country to host the Summit of the Americas. While that fact has meant certain restrictions for residents, especially in terms of travel, Belize’s Honorary Consul to Trinidad Thomas Chanona says the republic is poised to capitalize on its significant investment in both time and money.

Thomas Chanona, Honorary Consul
“The local Chamber of Commerce has seen it as an opportunity to showcase Trinidad and the skill sets that exist here, the level of development that exists in Trinidad and whilst there may not be immediate return, there is a platform from which I think a lot could happen. I mean there were some criticisms when Trinidad hosted the Miss Universe that a lot would happen and not much did but I think it set for the forum for something that’s happening in Trinidad now for this Summit of the Americas.”

As the current chair of CARICOM, PM Barrow will be one of only five speakers that will take the stage at the Summit’s official opening ceremony on Friday evening.

Janelle Chanona,
What would you like to tell Belizeans as far as why they should care about what happens in Trinidad this weekend?

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
“Well it gives us a chance to play our role on an almost global stage. It is a regional stage but you’re talking about because particularly of the presence of the US, a hemisphere, a continent, that is extremely critical. I think that it ought to be psychologically a matter of national pride for us to be present, for us to show that we can take care of business, for us to prove that we belong with the big boys, notwithstanding the constraints of small sized and the accompanying vulnerabilities. So just from the point of view of national psyche and the importance of Belize strutting itself, so to speak, on the regional stage, the conference is important.

But perhaps even more fundamental is this business of our expectation to in concert with CARICOM and some of the other states, Central American states, other small states, the expectations that we will be able to influence the hemispheric process, especially in so far as questions of trade and the whole business of the Inter-American Development Bank and the need for additional capitalization so that countries such as Belize can be helped. The Central American Bank of Economic Integration as well as CDB, so it seems to me that there is an opportunity for us to in concert with other small voices t insist that there may be meaningful results from the Summit, from this process and it is in that larger context that I think as well people in Belize should see the Summit as being very important indeed.”

Prime Minister Barrow’s first order of business will be to preside over a caucus of CARICOM Heads of Government aboard the Caribbean Princess Cruise Ship on Friday morning. Reporting from Port of Spain Trinidad, I am Janelle Chanona for 7News.

Our team will have another report in tomorrow evening’s newscast. The Prime Minister’s delegation includes Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Wilfred Elrington, and Minister of Economic Development Erwin Contreras. The summit’s theme is: “securing our citizens’ future by promoting human prosperity, energy security and environmental sustainability.”