The Seventh Summit of the Americas will kick off today in the Anayansi Theatre, ATLAPA Convention Center in Panama City, where the attendance of Heads of State and Government from 35 Latin American, Caribbean and North America countries is expected.

US President Barack Obama admitted on Thursday in Jamaica that Venezuela is not a threat to US National Security, but he added that sanctions announced last month are still in force.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez met in Panama prior to the opening today of the 7th Summit of the Americas, as confirmed by sources with the Cuban Foreign Ministry.

Through the information platform Pensando Américas of the Network in Defense of Humanity, we learned that "there will be no declaration of Panama" at the 7th Summit of the Americas, which will be inaugurated on April 10 in the Panamanian capital.

The secretary general of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Barcena, said in a statement to ACN that she has come to the Forum of Rectors of the 7th Summit of the Americas to promote the idea of public education, free and of quality for the inhabitants of the region.

Havana--Following strong denunciations by the Cuban delegation at the forums parallel to the Summit of the Americas in Panama about the presence there of paid-mercenaries and terrorists, local union and social organizations urged the Panamanian government to refuse the use of their country as a platform for regime change policy against the constitutional governments of Cuba and Venezuela.

Things became heated at the Convention Center Vasco Nunez de Balboa in Panama City before the beginning of the Forum on Wednesday due to a strong protest of the Cuban delegation to the Forum of Civil Society of the 7th Summit of the Americas, the entry to which was denied to some twenty representatives of the island.

The Cuban delegation to Panama´s Social Forum abandoned its opening session on Wednesday in a strong response to the presence of paid-mercenaries at the event.

Barack Obama was only four days old when the Heroic Guerrilla Ernesto Che Guevara publically denounced Washington´s hostile policy against Cuba during an Inter-American Summit, while reiterating Fidel Castro´s desire to dialog in order to solve the differences in an equal footing and carry out secret talks with the US envoy.

Cuban Reverend Raul Suarez, who is participating at the forums parallel to the 7th Summit of the Americas in Panama, condemned the executive order issued by the Obama administration describing Venezuela as a threat to US national security.

The Summit of the Americas in Panama will be an opportunity to verify the challenges of the new course of relations between Cuba and the United States, points out on Tuesday an editorial of The New York Times.

The decision to invite Cuba to the Summit of the Americas found massive support, said Panamanian foreign minister Isabel de Saint Malo.

The Antonio Nuñez Jimenez Foundation for Nature and Man (FANJ) announced in this capital its participation on April 8-10 in the Forum of Civil Society and Social Actors, one of the meetings of the 7th Summit of the Americas to be held in Panama.

The recent US attack against Venezuela, one of the 12 member states of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, ALBA, led this regional integration bloc to raise its voice at the 7th Summit of the Americas to be held April 10 and 11, in Panama.