PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad — President Barack Obama promised Friday to offer leaders from across the Americas a new style of U.S. politics: more pragmatism, less arrogance.
“We have at times been disengaged, and at times we sought to dictate our terms,” Obama told the leaders of every democratic government across the Western Hemisphere. “But I pledge to you that we seek an equal partnership. There is no senior partner and junior partner in our relations.”
The Summit of the Americas itself is not expected to produce any major breakthroughs. The final document is an already locked-in declaration of joint efforts on the economy, energy and security.
In perhaps his sternest line, Obama told his peers that the United States is not to blame for all the problems of the hemisphere — and that they shouldn’t do anything to suggest it is. His comments were driven in part by the grievances aired by some of the leaders who spoke before Obama took the podium. The Associated Press
