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As we showed you at the top of the newscast the Summit of the Americas opened this afternoon in Port of Spain Trinidad. But at any meeting featuring 34 heads of state and government, there are major issues... Security is one of them and internal politics in this polarized region is another. Janelle Chanona looked at both those issues today.

James Philbert, Acting Commissioner of Police, Trinidad
"I can assure that every aspect of land sea and air, every aspect is covered at this time.

Questions about the level of secuirity that would dominate Trinidad this weekend were answered just after midnight on Friday morning. Police declared much of Port of Spain off limits to anyone not carrying special accreditation tags. The move created an impromptu holiday for workers and students but more importantly it sent the message that some of the world's most powerful leaders were arriving.

Among the heads of governments arrived today were the Presidents of Brazil, Guatemala, Argentina and St. Kitts. But certainly the men at the center of attention are Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and President of the United States Barack Obama.

Janelle Chanona,
"In terms of the big man, no qualms?"

James Philbert, Acting Commissioner of Police, Trinidad
"I thought you meant God was the big man but since you're speaking about Mr. Obama, as far as I understand everything is in order with that and we expect things to run out smoothly for the entire day."

Janelle Chanona,
"Were you impressed by the beast?"

James Philbert, Acting Commissioner of Police, Trinidad
"The car? I wished I owned one of that one of these days. I don't know why you call it a beast. I think it is a beauty."

The leaders of all 34 countries will meet for the first time at Friday's opening ceremony where you can bet all of them will be vying for a photo opportunity with the US President. One man that will surely meet with Barack Obama is Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo..

Bharrat Jagdeo, Guyanese President
"The thing is that we are looking for as I said before in Guyana to more enlightened partnership. We know that different countries have different interests and we will never be able to see eye to eye on every issue at all times but if we have this spirit of goodwill, if we have an enlightened partnership, where people can recognise the good in each other and there are some common issues that are critical for our region and its people that we can work on together then I think things can be successful. So what I am looking most at all for is a new partnership from this meeting. It is not resolution of certain issues but if you create this new partnership based on respect and not lectures but listening to each other then any issue can be resolved in the future."

But even before the official start, there is already a shadow over the summit as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez has been quoted as saying he will not sign the 97 paragraph Port of Spain Declaration. President Jadgeo declined to comment on the possible effects of Chavez's decision, choosing instead to focusing on the positives.

Bharrat Jagdeo,
"Don't like to comment on things that I have not seen or read as yet. I am going to read the newspapers today and then I am going to comment on those. I think it would be an uninformed comment and I don't want to be guilty of that."

Our 7News crew is one of hundreds media in Port of Spain this weekend trying to cover all angles of the Summit of the Americas. Of note is that international protestors who were trying to get permits to demonstrate about their individual causes were denied, refused. Trinidad has gone as far as denying entry to the country to people they have deemed international troublemakers.

Following a bilateral meeting between CARICOM and Canada, the rest of Saturday will be spent in plenary sessions on environmental sustainability, human prosperity, and energy security. From Port of Spain Trinidad, I am Janelle Chanona for 7News.

And while that's it for the reports from our team for this week, their work is just beginning as the summit rolls through the weekend and concludes on Sunday. They'll have their final report on Monday night's newscast.