ACN, Cuban News Agency reports that it received notice that Panama officially invited Cuba to attend the upcoming Summit of the Americas which will be hosted Panama April 10-11, 2005.

Cuba is one of the countries that received the first invitations issued by the Panamanian Foreign Ministry to participate in the Summit, to which the United States was also invited.

Panamanian vice-president Luis Miguel Hincapie handed over to the ambassadors of Ecuador, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Honduras, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Guatemala, Cuba and Mexico the invitations to the continental forum so that they pass them to the heads of state and government of their countries, according to the communique by the Panamanian Foreign Ministry.

The summit will set up a space for dialog for the renovation of the compromises assumed by the countries of the region, to achieve more cooperation among the peoples of The Americas, expressed Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela in the invitation text.

Hincapie recently said that Panama had no doubts about the participation of the 35 heads of state invited to the forum, including Raul Castro and Barack Obama.

Cuba´s participation in the summit has been backed by all Latin American nations and this would be the first time for the island to attend the forum since the continental meetings began in 1994.