Chávez kicked U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy out of Caracas last September in solidarity with Bolivia's Evo Morales, who had expelled the top U.S. diplomat from La Paz for allegedly conspiring with the opposition and inciting violence.

''Given what the president is saying about dialogue with these countries, dialogue has obviously helped when ambassadors are in place,'' said a senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed to the press. ``. . . But the kicking out of ambassadors is something that the Venezuelans did in solidarity with the Bolivians, actually. And it seems to me that . . . the ball is in their court to try to fix that issue if we're going to have real dialogue.''

At a news conference Saturday, Morales accused Washington of continuing to conspire against him.

''One hundred days have gone by, and we in Bolivia have yet to feel any changes,'' Morales said, referring to Obama's period in office. ``The policy of conspiracy continues.''

In a plenary meeting later in the day, Chávez told the presidents that ''at least Obama listens and takes notes,'' Felipe Noguera, a summit spokesman, recalled.

At least one expert said Chávez was being duplicitous by offering kind words and a cynical gift.

''I think presenting the president of the United States with Galeano's Open Veins is far from being an act of friendship -- it's an act of hostility,'' said University of California at San Diego professor Richard Feinberg, a former National Security Council senior advisor who attended the summit. ``It's as if you are taking someone's hand and smiling while you are knifing them in the back.''

The book, he said, is similar to the Noam Chomsky tomes that Chávez once brandished at the United Nations, which blame ``all the world's ills on American imperialism.''

Obama's reaction to the gift: ''I thought it was one of Chávez's books,'' he said. ``I was going to give him one of mine.''

Chávez, who has publicly said he will not sign the summit's final declaration, appears to be trying to disrupt hemispheric cooperation without making the spectacle he exhibited in the last summit in Argentina five years ago, Feinberg said. Instead, he said, Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega and Argentina's Cristina Fernández de Kirchner served as his ``attack dogs.''

EMBARGO AN ISSUE

The dozen leaders who met with Obama on Saturday used the opportunity to speak out against the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba and past American interventions in the region, according to a senior U.S. administration official.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet chaired Obama's 75-minute meeting with the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). The U.S. government official who briefed reporters about the meeting said the session was cordial, with ''no tension'' and a good bit of ''frank discussion.'' The issue of Cuba took up about 20 percent of the meeting's time, as a number of South American leaders urged Obama to lift the U.S. embargo.

Obama countered that each of the presidents present was elected democratically -- so they should ensure that democracy and rule of law are priorities in Cuba, too.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@