US Secretary of State Antony Blinken experienced moments of tension on Tuesday with a man who reproached him for aspects of US foreign policy during an event on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles.
The recrimination against Blinken came minutes after the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, was shouted down by another individual in the same dissertation on freedom of the press and democracy.
The head of US diplomacy had finished speaking while standing on a podium when a member of the audience questioned US support for the absolute monarchy of Saudi Arabia and the prime minister of Haiti.
The crown prince of Saudi Arabia has been identified by US intelligence as possibly responsible for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2018.
Khashoggi was a journalist critical of the Saudi monarchy. He entered the consulate on October 2 and never came out.
Five people have been sentenced in Saudi Arabia for his killing, including security officers who the kingdom says exceeded a warrant for the 51-year-old journalist’s arrest. His body was never found.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry governs in Haiti without a Parliament and in the midst of a serious chronic political crisis but aggravated by the assassination of former President Jovenal Moise, in July 2021 at his home, and the actions of criminal gangs
Blinken tried to avoid the exchange at first with evasiveness, but the man, speaking firmly but not shouting, did not relent, and the secretary of state finally answered him.
“We continue to work for a transition that leads to fair elections that are supported by all the people of the nation” and helping authorities deal with gang violence.
Blinken did not comment on Saudi Arabia.
