The Cuban government criticized this Friday its presumed exclusion, along with Nicaragua and Venezuela, from the IX Summit of the Americaswhich will take place from June 6 to 10 in the US city of Los Angeles.
“Rather than being guilty of hate politics, the United States should listen to the not few who, in Latin America, call on it to host an inclusive summit,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel wrote on Twitter.
“The new era that the continent desires does not admit exclusion,” said the president.
The new era that the continent desires does not admit exclusion. Better than being guilty of hate politics, the United States should listen to the many who, in Latin America, call on it to host an inclusive Summit. https://t.co/mbpXJSu03A
– Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) May 13, 2022
The United States government has said that it will not invite to the meeting those countries that in its opinion “do not respect” democracy, alluding to Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The Island attended the two previous editions –in Lima in 2018 and in Panama City in 2015–, but had also previously been excluded, the agency recalls EFE.
In this context, the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, considered on Twitter that the United States Government calls a “limited and exclusive summit” because it is “subjected to pressure from extreme sectors.”
“It excludes Cuba from discussions on issues that, such as migration, occupy an important place in the bilateral and regional relationship,” said the foreign minister.
The United States government, under pressure from extreme sectors, convenes a limited and exclusive Summit in Los Angeles. excludes #Cuba of discussions on issues that, such as migration, occupy an important place in the bilateral and regional relationship.
– Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) May 13, 2022
The possible exclusion of Havana, Caracas and Managua has generated criticism from several nations in the Western Hemisphere and even the leaders of some countries, such as the presidents of Mexico and Bolivia, have warned that if there are excluded they will not attend personally.
Other countries, such as some Caribbean nations, are studying whether to attend the meeting in Los Angeles.
The IX Summit of the Americas, specifies EFEwill be the second organized by the United States after the original edition in Miami in 1994, and the main objective of Washington on this occasion is to design a regional migratory pact, although other issues such as health, democracy and human rights will also be addressed. .
Last April, when the possibility of Cuba being excluded from the conclave began to be discussed, Foreign Minister Rodríguez estimated that, if the Cuban absence materialized, it would be a “serious historical setback” and that the United States, as the host country of the cites, “has no right to impose arbitrary exclusions”, which he considered as “anti-democratic”.
Cuba sends condolences to the United Arab Emirates
Also this Friday, the Cuban government sent “heartfelt condolences” to the people and government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the death of President Khalifa bin Zayed, who died at the age of 73.
“Let these be extended to family and friends,” Bruno Rodríguez wrote on Twitter.
Heartfelt condolences to the people and government of the United Arab Emirates on the passing of the President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Be extensive these to family and friends. pic.twitter.com/ydX9u0vUpV
– Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) May 13, 2022
The UAE Ministry of Presidential Affairs broke the news, but without offering details on the circumstances of the president’s death, according to a report from the agency EFE.
The Spanish media specifies that Khalifa ruled the Emirates since 2004, but a stroke in 2014 forced him to withdraw from the public scene and, since then, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi had taken the reins of that Persian Gulf country.
Cuba and the UAE established diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level in 2002.
In 2015, the UAE Foreign Minister, Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, inaugurated his country’s embassy in Cuba and signed an air services agreement with the Caribbean country, according to official media.
That same year they held their first bilateral business forum in Dubai with the assistance of the Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca.
EFE / OnCuba