By Xinhua writers Wu Zhiqiang, Wang Xiangjiang

    PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, April 17 (Xinhua) -- "New," "change," and "future" were the buzzwords that rang loud as the Fifth Summit of the Americas opened here Friday.

Photo taken on April 17, 2009 shows the opening ceremony of the Fifth Summit of the Americas held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. (Xinhua/David de la Paz) Photo Gallery>>>

    U.S. President Barack Obama, in his remarks at the opening ceremony, used the word "new" 15 times and "future" 10 times, pledging a "new beginning with Cuba" and a "new chapter with Latin America."

    Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, the host of the previous Americas summit, called for a "new starting point" in hemispheric affairs.

    Danial Ortega, president of Nicaragua, urged changing the economic model on the grounds that global depletion affects all nations, especially the poorest ones.

    Patrick Manning, the prime minister of the host nation, Trinidad and Tobago, demanded a "new approach."

U.S. President Barack Obama (C) attends the opening cermony of the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, April 17, 2009.. (Xinhua/David de la Paz) Photo Gallery>>>

    "Let this fifth summit of the Americas be the first in a new approach that heralds in the west hemisphere the dawn of a newer and brighter and better day," Manning said.

    The three-day summit, the first one to be staged in a Caribbean country, has a future-oriented theme: "Securing Our Citizens' Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability."

    All four previous summits were held in bigger countries: Miami, the United States, in 1994; Santiago, Chile, in 1998; Quebec City, Canada, in 2001; and Mar del Plata, Argentina, in 2005.

    Fernandez of Argentina stressed the importance to "look at a new starting point... based not on subordination but on coordination and cooperation; ... on integration but not intervention."

    She called for lifting a 47-year-old trade embargo against Cuba, commending the Obama administration for its move earlier this week to end restrictions on Cuban-Americans' travel to Cuba and their remittances sent home.

    "All of us today should know that we are facing a historic moment," Fernandez said. "We need to address the problems... with no rhetoric that in the end only made positions more radicalized."

The honour guard raise flags in front the main venue of the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, April 17, 2009. (Xinhua/David de la Paz) Photo Gallery>>>

    Ortega of Nicaragua, in his remarks, assailed past U.S. policies such as those practiced by former President Ronald Reagan, and called for the inclusion of Cuba back into the Organization of American States (OAS).

    Cuba was suspended from the OAS in 1962.

    In his lengthy deliberation, which lasted about 50 minutes, Ortega complained about his three-hour wait aboard the airplane on the tarmac Friday afternoon.

    He called for increased financial assistance to help address the immigration problem, blaming it on underdevelopment and poverty.

    Obama, the fourth among five speakers who addressed the ceremony, vowed to open "a new chapter of engagement" that will be sustained throughout his administration.

    "To move forward, we cannot let ourselves be prisoners of past disagreements," Obama said, before veering from his prepared text and expressing his gratefulness to Ortega for not blaming him for something that had happened when Obama was an infant.

    He was referring to Ortega's recount of the U.S. invasion of the Bay of Pigs of Cuba on April 17, 1961, exactly 48 years ago, when Obama was only three months old.

    The opening ceremony, which also included a glittering cultural performance after the speeches, was preceded by amicable exchanges between Obama and Ortega, and between Obama and Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, which has had a rocky relationship with Washington in recent years.

    Obama "walked across the room and introduced himself to President Chavez, and President Chavez said a couple of things," according to White House transcripts of a briefing by a senior administration official.

    "And while they were all chatting, President Ortega of Nicaragua came in and introduced himself to the president. And I think President Obama said in Spanish, it was his 'gusto' to meet him, as well," the official said.

    The initial, apparent amity may ease worries about sharp, hostile exchanges at the next stage of the summit, but Manning, the premier of the host nation, warned against letting any particular issue to dominate the participants' deliberations.

    "It will be a tragedy if we allow any one issue to be a great source of discord among us," he said. 

        

Venezuelan President Chavez arrives at Hyatt Regency Trinidad for the opening ceremony of the Fifth Summit of Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, April 17, 2009.(Xinhua/Juan Carlos Hernandez) Photo Gallery>>>

  

Brazil's President Lula da Silva (R) arrives at Hyatt Regency Trinidad for the opening ceremony of the Fifth Summit of Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, April 17, 2009.(Xinhua/Juan Carlos Hernandez) Photo Gallery>>>

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrives at Hyatt Regency Trinidad for the opening ceremony of the Fifth Summit of Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, April 17, 2009.(Xinhua/Juan Carlos Hernandez) Photo Gallery>>>