The Summit of the Americas

History

The Summits of the Americas are conferences that bring together the heads of every democratic nation in the Western Hemisphere to discuss the pressing economic, political, and social needs of the region. These summits are committed to ensuring the development of the Western Hemisphere and creating a forum for discussion of common concerns. Started by President Clinton of the United States in 1994, they seek to fulfill four main objectives:

Strengthening and maintaining a regional commitment to democracy, democratic institutions, and democratic electoral processes
Fostering policies of regional economic integration and free trade
Eradicating poverty and social discrimination
Guaranteeing sustainable development as well as the protection of the environment

Each summit includes an extensive summit process that begins with several Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG) meetings prior to the summit, a Declaration and Plan of Action produced during the actual summit, and a process of follow-up and evaluation after the summit to monitor the progress of the various nations in fulfilling the mandates of the Declaration and Plan of Action.

Every summit to date has included the 34 nations of the Organization of the American States (Cuba has been excluded from the summit process as well as the OAS since 1962). The countries are: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Granada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Originally, summits were to be held every two years in various locations throughout the hemisphere. Since the first summit, hosted by the United States in Miami, there have been 2 additional summits as well as a special conference on sustainable development in Santa Cruz, Bolivia and an extraordinary summit in Monterrey, Mexico. For more information on these summits, as well as summaries of their declarations and plans of action, click here:

Miami, Florida, USA - First Summit of the Americas, 1994.
Santa Cruz, Bolivia - Summit of the Americas on Sustainable Development, 1996.
Santiago, Chile - Second Summit of the Americas, 1998.
Quebec City, Canada - Third Summit of the Americas, 2001.
Monterrey, Mexico - Special Summit of the Americas, 2004.

The fourth Summit of the Americas will be held in Mar del Plata, Argentina on November 4-5, 2005. The theme of this summit is "Creating Jobs to Confront Poverty and Strengthen Democratic Governance." More information on this summit.