What makes the Fifth Summit of the Americas so special for our country is that here for the first time in our short history we will host a forum of the heads of governments of 34 elected democracies in the western hemisphere. Circumstances have certainly changed for the first peoples of the Americas since Europeans entered the region. Today’s nations are of extremely mixed ethnicities, cultures and histories and there is considerable diversity in terms of size, populations, resources, systems of governance and world influence.

But overshadowing this diversity is the United States of America, the world’s only surviving superpower with interests in all parts of the globe and its potential to dominate events. In the wings are the major players of South America, especially Brazil, and of course the socialist ideology that has spread through that continent, an inevitable product of the enormous disparities in wealth in many countries.

Yet President Obama will sit at the same table as the other 33, each with some entrenched views about his or her country’s interests. But at this particular summit there is a difference. President Obama is a missionary for change, even as he recognises that some of his citizens may not share his views. And his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his onetime opponent in the presidential race, has emphasised the US position-to listen.

Many paths may lead to a summit where on a clear day the vision to the horizon may be a full 360 degrees. But no summit is forever without changing weather and the descent from it has to be carefully planned by all to avoid accident. There may be 34 democracies in the western hemisphere. But are they all of the same structure? Or of the same depth? Have they all taken the same path?

Let us not delude ourselves that after this particular summit there will be radical changes in the hemisphere. There will be no miracles. Each country, whether superpower or microstate, has its interests and as each leaves each will continue to pursue these interests as is natural in any elected democracy. There might possibly emerge stronger groupings or sub-groupings.

That change has taken place and continues to take place is without doubt. Just look at the loosening up of the restrictions on Cuban-Americans by the US. Obviously President Obama and his administration have not only explored new paths but have been listening. There have also been changes in Cuba. But the one sticking point continues to be free and fair elections that give validity to any claim of a democratic system of governance. This must surely come in time.