The OAS is the lead organiser for this week's Summit of the Americas. The body has a checkered past and was labeled a “Trojan horse” of U.S. foreign policy by Fidel Castro. Not only did it kick out Cuba soon after its revolution but right-wing dictators remained in the body despite disappearing and killing tens of thousands. But with growing unity and independence among Latin American nations and a new OAS secretary-general, there is hope the body could become more representative of the needs of the 900 million citizens in the Americas it claims to represent. teleSUR explores these issues with Grace Livingstone, author of America's Backyard: The United States and Latin America from the Monroe Doctrine to the War on Terror.
