AMERICA/PANAMA - Summit of the Americas: the Vatican Secretary of State will be present, for the first time

Tuesday, 24 March 2015

Panama (Agenzia Fides) - Deputy Foreign Minister of Panama, Luis Miguel Hincapie, confirmed the presence of Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, at the VII Cumbre de Las Americas ("Summit of the Americas"), to be held in Panama City on 10 and 11 April 2015. It will be the first time of the presence both of such a high representative of the Holy See in this meeting, and also the participation of the Cuban delegation.
"Pope Francis has decided to send Cardinal Parolin responding to a request from President Juan Carlos Varela" revealed the Panamanian Vice Minister in an interview with a local television station, sent to Agenzia Fides. Cardinal Parolin and President Varela had met at the Vatican in February, on the occasion of the Consistory during which he had been appointed Cardinal Mgr. José Luis Lacunza, Bishop of the Diocese of David, Panama.
Deputy Minister Hincapie also said that during a previous meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS), it was agreed not to discuss particularly controversial issues during the summit but, on the contrary, to encourage dialogue. Some hypothesize a meeting between US President Barak Obama and Raul Castro. If so, it would be the first handshake between the two leaders after the agreement announced on 17 December 2014 for a normalization of relations after more than half a century of tensions.
The so-called "Summit of the Americas" is a meeting that brings together the Heads of State and Government of the states of the continent to discuss common policy issues and agree on actions at a national and regional level. The first meeting took place in 1994 in Miami, the one in Panama will be the seventh. Democracy has always been a central theme in the various summits. Growth, development, creation of jobs, poverty, environment, energy security, discrimination and crime, are the other issues which are discussed more frequently during these meetings. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 24/03/2015)


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