The president also said that she will not attend the hemispheric event.
CDMX, Mexico. – The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, expressed this Monday her disagreement with the exclusion of the governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from the 10th Summit of the Americas — scheduled for December 4 and 5 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic— and confirmed that he will not attend the meeting.
“No, I’m not going to attend,” he said in his morning press conference.
The president added that her government is considering sending a representative from the Foreign Ministry: “This is what we are looking at, to see if there will be someone from the Foreign Ministry who could go.” Regarding the measure against the three regimes, he maintained: “We never agree with the exclusion of any country” and pointed out that, in the current context, it must “be attending to the country and in particular the emergency [las inundaciones que han dejado más de 40 personas muertas]”.
Sheinbaum takes a position after the decision of the Government of the Dominican Republic – host country and president pro tempore of the mechanism—of not inviting the governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to the hemispheric event. In an official statement of September 30the Dominican Foreign Ministry justified that the Summit “became closely coordinated by the Organization of American States (OAS)” and that “this framework establishes specific limitations regarding participation.”
Likewise, he specified that “the non-invitation to Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela (…) favors the greatest call and ensures the development of the forum.”
The Dominican authorities also distinguished the bilateral relationship with each country. Regarding Cuba, they stressed: “Relations are historical, solid and excellent. Bilateral exchanges in various areas have never been interrupted and have been mutually beneficial. Political differences have always been managed with reciprocal respect.”
The Dominican Republic recalled that the three governments attended other events in its territory – such as the Ibero-American Summit (2023) or the CELAC Summit in Bávaro (2017) – but insisted that, for the Summit of the Americas, a strictly multilateral criterion will prevail.
Regarding Nicaragua, he indicates: “Relations are cordial. We share spaces in forums such as SICA, CELAC, the UN and SEGIB, in addition to maintaining balanced bilateral trade.”
Regarding Venezuela, he specifies: “A country with which we have deep historical ties. However, the Dominican Government has not recognized the legitimacy of the last two presidential elections held there, while the Venezuelan authorities have suspended diplomatic relations.”
In closing, the Dominican Foreign Ministry presented the decision as the “most favorable” and added: “The Government considers it preferable to create the conditions that ensure the broadest political dialogue, with the highest level of hemispheric representativeness.”
