All of the speeches last night seemed directed, to varying degrees, towards the U.S. president, most referencing historical disputes. Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner called the Cuba embargo "anachronistic" but was careful that her speech not constitute a "telling off" of Obama. "It’s simply an exercise to look back at what happened," she said. Ortega appeared to have no such qualms. Although he read a letter from Cuban President Raul Castro that absolved the President of blame for the Bay of Pigs (POTUS, born August 4 1961, was in utero at the time of the invasion), he railed on the United States for supporting a capitalist system that brings about "poverty, misery" and assymetrical development, and he called for a global alternative to capitalism. During his peripatetic and indulgent speech (Ortega knowingly spoke for well over his allocated time), Ortega said he refused to call the meeting the "Summit of the Americas" while Cuba and Puerto Rico are not represented.

This is Obama's first experience of a frosty international reception, but he appeared characteristically unfazed. And the iciness certainly wasn't pervasive -- not counting those on the dais, Obama seemed pretty popular in the auditorium. He received the biggest response during the entrance procession, with many delegates applauding loudly and leaping to their feet. When Obama coaxed his audience to be forward looking, they were most responsive: his biggest applause came when he said  "we cannot let ourselves be prisoners of past disagreements" and "I didn't come here to debate the past -- I came here to deal with the future."

Obama departed from his prepared remarks to briefly respond to Ortega's blistering rhetoric. Here is what he added at the podium, courtesy of the White House transcript:

As has already been noted, and I think my presence here indicates, the United States has changed over time.  (Applause.)  It has not always been easy, but it has changed.  And so I think it's important to remind my fellow leaders that it's not just the United States that has to change.  All of us have responsibilities to look towards the future.  (Applause.) I think it's important to recognize, given historic suspicions, that the United States' policy should not be interference in other countries, but that also means that we can't blame the United States for every problem that arises in the hemisphere.  That's part of the bargain.  (Applause.)  That's part of the change that has to take place.  That's the old way, and we need a new way. The United States will be willing to acknowledge past errors where those errors have been made.  We will be partners in helping to alleviate poverty.  But the American people have to get some positive reinforcement if they are to be engaged in the efforts to lift other countries out of the poverty that they're experiencing.

The comments are reminiscent of his campaign rhetoric, invoking change and the need for a new way,  but his tone was not his trademark hopefulness -- this was a serious and determined Obama. Indeed he sounded at his sharpest and most decisive when he told his counterparts that the American public would need some "positive reinforcement" in return for their assistance. 

A senior administration official later told reporters that Obama's additions to the speech had not been crafted ahead of time. "We did not discuss it, but I also don't believe it was off the cuff. I think it was a very thoughtful reaction to some of the comments earlier in the night, which I think we all thought were remarkable," the official said.