USA took this Monday the final decision to exclude the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the Summit of the Americaswhich will begin this week in the city of Los Angeles, according to several international media reports.
The decision, which followed weeks of intense talks, runs the risk of materializing a shameful boycott of the meeting organized by the United States before the confirmation, also this Monday, of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador not to attend, an initiative to which they could join some other leaders remember the agency Reuters.
ALBA meeting rejects Summit of the Americas without Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua
The outlet cites a Washington-based source, who would have reported this Sunday that US officials determined that concerns about human rights and the lack of democracy in the three countries, Washington’s main antagonists in Latin America, weighed too much to assess. an invitation.
The possibility of an exclusion of Venezuela Y Nicaragualed by left-wing governments had already been noted in recent weeks, but given that President Joe Biden will open the summit on Wednesday, Cuba’s participation was unclear and was based on inviting a lower-ranking representative instead of the president of the Island, said US officials referred by the agency.
the Cuban president, Miguel Diaz-Canelhad argued last month that he would not go even if he was invited, and accused the United States of “brutal pressure” so that the Summit was not inclusive. Reuters he recalls that Cuba was represented at the last two meetings and that the White House did not respond to a request for comment on the subject this time.
For his part, López Obrador confirmed today that he would not attend the Summit due to the impossibility of getting all the countries of the continent to be invited. At the same time, he ratified that the Mexican foreign minister will attend on his behalf.
“I am not going to attend the Summit, Marcelo Ebrard is going on my behalf, on behalf of the government, and I am not going to the Summit because not all the countries of America are invited and I believe in the need to change the policy that has been been imposing exclusion for centuries,” he said.
Offering Cuba a limited role in the meeting was seen as a way to placate López Obrador, but the idea was rejected, said a source who, according to Reutersalso referred to the fact that Cuban civil society activists had been invited.
The controversy over the guest list has clouded Biden’s goal of using the summit to repair US-Latin American relations damaged by his predecessor Donald Trump, as well as allowing him to reassert the nation’s influence and counter China, he said. the middle.
Regarding Venezuela, having ruled out the Venezuelan president Nicholas MaduroThe administration is considering a role for opposition leader Juan Guaidó, possibly virtually in a side event, a US official quoted by Reuters.
This agency reminds that the Biden administration recognizes Guaidó as the legitimate president of Venezuela, after having condemned the re-election of Maduro in 2018 as a farce. Regarding the absence of the Nicaraguan president, Daniel Orteganotes that he won a fourth consecutive term in November after jailing his rivals.
.@SecBlinken travels to LA this week for the 9th @SummitAmericas. Leaders, civil society, youth, and entrepreneurs will discuss social inclusion, press freedom, democratic governance, migrants’ economic contributions and more. Follow-along: #SummitAmericas https://t.co/Yb9s3Di1PE
— Ned Price (@StateDeptSpox) June 6, 2022
Last Saturday, the Honduran Foreign Ministry announced that President Xiomara Castro will send the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eduardo Enrique Reina, to attend the Summit on her behalf.
In addition to Mexico and Honduras, the presidents of other countries such as Bolivia and members of the Community of Caribbean States (Caricom) had threatened on several occasions to boycott the summit due to the absences of the countries now officially excluded. White House officials, quoted by Reutershave insisted that the invitation frenzy will pass and the summit will be a success no matter who attends..
