"The North and South American leaders who came together in Trinidad and Tobago failed to reach unanimity on a final declaration issued at the summit’s close Sunday. But if anything, the decision instead to end the proceedings with only a "consensus" suggested not acrimony, but a new openness to robust dialogue in regional relations.

"At a Sunday press conference, Obama hailed a 'very productive' event that he said 'replaced the ideological divisions of the past with a spirit of cooperation and a willingness to act.'

"His determination not to be provoked by aggressive, anti-U.S. leaders such as Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela typified the spirit of the meeting.

"The leaders agreed that the Organization of American States should take up the question of Cuba's return to the regional body at its June meeting in Honduras, and the lack of fireworks over the Cuba issue reflected the promise of a new direction in U.S.-Cuba relations under Obama. The summit followed new measures announced by the Obama administration last week loosening some restrictions on U.S. contacts with Cuba.

"The absence of hostilities also stemmed from the embryonic relationship between Obama and Chavez, who'd made a point of antagonizing former President George W. Bush at the last Summit of the Americas in Argentina in 2005.

"Obama crossed a room to greet Chavez at an opening gathering Friday night. In response, Chavez told Obama in Spanish, 'I want to be your friend.' He later presented the U.S. leader with a tome chronicling 500 years of European and American exploitation of Latin America.

"Obama refused to interpret the gift as baiting, quipping later: 'It was a nice gesture to give me a book; I’m a reader.'

"That determination to bury old antagonisms was also present when Obama responded to an hour-long opening speech by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, in which the former leftist revolutionary reviewed U.S. actions against Cuba, including the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.

" 'I'm grateful President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was three months old,' Obama told chuckling leaders.

"Although some in Washington condemned the president's openness to exchange with the likes of Chavez before he left Trinidad, Obama said that America's interests are served when it opens doors, even to its adversaries."

In another McClatchy report about the summit meeting: "President Barack Obama sent Cuban leader Raul Castro a message Sunday: It's your turn.

"If Castro wants to start a dialogue with the United States, he should start by releasing political prisoners and lowering the steep fees the Cuban government charges on money sent from abroad, Obama said.

"In the meantime, his administration will examine what other steps can be taken toward ending decades of isolation between Washington and the hemisphere's last communist nation.

" 'The fact that you had Raul Castro say he's willing to have his government discuss with ours not just issues of lifting the embargo, but issues of human rights, political prisoners, that's a sign of progress,' Obama said Sunday at a press conference wrapping up the Fifth Summit of the Americas. 'And so we're going to explore and see if we can make some further steps . . . . There are some things that the Cuban government could do.'

"After meeting most of his fellow 33 heads of government who make up the Organization of American States, Obama said that strides had been made, particularly with Venezuela and Cuba.

"Now, he said, Havana must take additional actions if it's serious about improving relations with Washington.

" 'They could release political prisoners. They could reduce charges on remittances . . . . It turns out that Cuba charges an awful lot; they take a lot off the top,' Obama said, referring to a total of 20 percent in fees. 'That would be an example of cooperation where both governments are working to help Cuban families and raise standards of living in Cuba.'

"Obama said he was struck by how many of the leaders at the summit appreciate Cuba's overseas medical brigades. The United States, he said, doesn't serve its own interests if its only contact with foreign nations is through military and drug interdictions.