There Was More to the Summit of the Americas than Obama's Handshake with Chavez

In the United States, headlines from the recently concluded Summit of the Americas focused intensely on President Barack Obama's easing of restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba and his hearty handshake with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. But U.S.-Latin American relations were not the only pressing topic during the meeting of the region’s 34 leaders. Latin America is focusing its attention on overcoming the current economic crisis and avoiding any chance of another "lost decade" like the one it experienced during the 1980s, according to Juan José Toribio, a professor at the IESE Business School and executive director of the International Monetary Fund from 1996-1998, and Riordan Roett, a professor in the international relations program at the Instituto de Empresa Business School. They spoke with Universia Knowledge@Wharton about the political and economic realities of the region.