Summit of Americas ends without declaration again amid Obama's engagement push

The seventh Summit of Americas concluded here on Saturday without a final declaration, again.

With the participation of Cuba for the first time in the summit's 21-year history, this summit was attended by leaders and representatives from all of the 35 countries in the West Hemisphere.

On the sidelines of the summit, the leaders of the United States and Cuba made an "in-depth" meeting for the first time since 1961.

Both U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro said they will continue to move ahead toward the normalization of bilateral ties, though deep and significant differences remain.

Obama's recent decree calling Venezuela as "an unusual and extraordinary threat" to U.S. national security was widely criticized by participating leaders, but the U.S. president made no response.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he will deliver a "petition" with more than 10 million signatures via "diplomatic ways" to protest Washington's decision.

During the summit, Obama admitted his country often "meddled" the affairs in Latin America and the Caribbean "with impunity." He promised "those days are past" and that his country is moving to deepen engagement with its West Hemisphere neighbors.

The Summits of the Americas are institutionalized gatherings of the heads of state and government of the Western Hemisphere every three years. Last summit, which was held in Colombia, ended without any formal consensus, either. Endi