President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela questioned the worth of the summit as a modern tool for diplomatic networking. He highlighted that while regional statesmen are going from summit to summit, the people of the region go from abyss to abyss. While criticizing the summits, he invited his colleagues to attend a summit on occasion of the commemoration of the birth of Simon Bolivar. He emphasized the importance of regional integration, and called for great union of all Latin American nations, such as was Simon Bolivar’s dream.
