Bolivian President urges Obama to apologize to LatAm, Venezuela

U.S. President Barack Obama should offer an apology to Latin America, especially Venezuela, to avert any anti-U.S. sentiment at an upcoming hemispheric summit, Bolivia's President Evo Morales said here on Friday.

"If Obama doesn't want to meet with any resistance at the Summit of the Americas, then he should apologize to Latin America, especially to Venezuela," Morales told reporters at a press conference.

The annual summit of the Organization of American States (OAS) will be held in Panama City in April, and both Obama and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose governments are at loggerheads, are expected to attend.

Washington has taken a tougher stance against Venezuela this week, imposing a third set of sanctions against the South American country.

Obama claimed "the situation in Venezuela ... constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States," and declared a "national emergency to deal with that threat."

The declaration was roundly condemned by Latin American countries.

Morales said the summit should serve as a forum for debating means of development, especially as Latin American nations admire U.S. technological progress, but not for discussing installing U.S. military bases, military intervention or threats against democratic and reformist movements.

The era of U.S. dominance over the region has come to an end, Morales noted, saying "the tutoring from above is over."

In Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega expressed his "unconditional solidarity" with Maduro on Tuesday.

Government spokeswoman and First Lady Rosario Murillo read a message from Ortega, condemning the latest round of U.S. sanctions against Venezuela and rejecting Washington's "unacceptable" declaration, saying it had "imperial" overtones.

While the world is well into the 21st century, the U.S. continues to act with "arrogance" and "colonial zeal," Murillo noted. Endi