Ahead of the opening ceremony, speaking at a meeting of members of civil society groups and presidents, Obama said he was "pleased" to see Cuba at the talks and told Latin American leaders that the days of U.S. meddling in the region are over.
"I am pleased to have Cuba represented with us for the very first time. "It's also because we believe that your work is more important than ever," he said.
"The days in which our agenda in this hemisphere so often presumed that the United States could meddle with impunity, those days are past," he said.