Chavez gave Obama a copy of 'The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent,' a book by Eduardo Galeano, which chronicles U.S. and European economic and political interference in the region
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago - Apparently a handshake and a smile wasn't enough for Hugo Chavez. The Venezuelan strongman followed up a brief encounter Friday with President Obama by apparently trying Saturday at a regional summit to recruit Obama into his book club.
In front of photographers, Chavez gave Obama a copy of "The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent," a book by Eduardo Galeano, which chronicles U.S. and European economic and political interference in the region.
Later, when a reporter asked Obama what he thought of the book, the president replied: "I thought it was one of Chavez' books. I was going to give him one of mine."
The exchange, on the first full day of meetings at Summit of the Americas on the two-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, followed a brief grip-and-grin encounter the previous evening, when Obama greeted Chavez in Spanish. Obama exchanged handshakes and pats on the back with Chavez, who once likened President George W. Bush to the devil.
"I think it was a good moment," Chavez said about their initial encounter. "I think President Obama is an intelligent man, compared to the previous U.S. president."
Obama was noncommittal about a possible meeting with Chavez, who criticized past U.S. policy at the summit, but expressed hope that relations between the nations would change.
"I think we're making progress at the summit," was all Obama would say.
At his first meeting with South American leaders, Obama waited several minutes while security officers and members of the media pushed noisily into the room. Somebody accidentally hit a light switch, prompting Obama to ask: "Who turned off the lights, guys?"
In an opening speech to the 34-nation gathering on Friday, the president promised a new agenda for the Americas, as well as a new style.
"We have at times been disengaged, and at times we sought to dictate our terms," Obama said to loud applause. "But I pledge to you that we seek an equal partnership. There is no senior partner and junior partner in our relations."
He also extended a hand to a leader Ronald Reagan spent years trying to drive from power: Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega. The Sandinista president stepped up and introduced himself, U.S. officials reported.
Yet soon after, Ortega, who was ousted in 1990 elections that ended Nicaragua's civil war but who was returned to power by voters in 2006, delivered a blistering 50-minute speech that denounced capitalism and U.S. imperialism as the root of much hemispheric mischief. The address even recalled the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, though Ortega said the new U.S. president could not be held to account for that.
"I'm grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was three months old," Obama said, to laughter and applause from the other leaders.
But perhaps the biggest applause line was his call for a fresh start in relations between Washington and Havana.
"I know there's a longer journey that must be traveled to overcome decades of mistrust, but there are critical steps we can take toward a new day," he said.
In January, Chavez said Obama had the same "stench" as former President Bush after Obama criticized Chavez for backing the FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces of Columbia) guerillas in neighboring Columbia. Earlier this month during a trip to Iran, Chavez said he doubted relations would improve with the U.S. because Obama was still "president of an empire."
"I hope President Obama is the last president of the Yankee Empire, and the first president of a truly democratic republic, the United States," Chavez said, after declaring a visit to Tehran "is like arriving at one's own home."
Ortega, a frequent echo chamber for Chavez's pronouncements, announced here late Friday that Nicaragua would also veto the declaration.
FOX News' Major Garrett and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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