The Villa Clara businesswoman and activist, Saily González, was threatened with criminal proceedings by State Security for not attending the IX Summit of the Americas, to which she was invited as a representative of Cuban civil society.
Through her family, the political police first told González that they would not allow her to pick up her endorsed passport at the US Embassy in Havana and summoned her to notify the ban.
“To do so, they have a criminal process that they arbitrarily opened to me for calling the civic march for change on November 15 and that they insist on using at their convenience,” González denounced through Twitter. At the Criminal Investigation offices, González was received by an agent who calls himself “Daniel” and who has arrested her twice before, on November 20 and January 13.
The young activist affirmed that despite the threats, she maintains her intention to participate in the Summit of the Americas, which will take place from June 6 to 8 in Los Angeles, California. González had scheduled her departure from the Island for this Saturday at 11:50 in the morning.
The woman from Villa Clara called on the democratic governments to advocate for the participation of representatives of Cuban civil society and dissidence in the summit and anticipated that it will not be the only one not allowed to attend. “I think it’s time to demand the participation of Cubans, as a block that we are in the region, that the Government of Cuba participate in this summit, of course they were not going to invite government representatives, they do not represent absolutely anyone. “.
This week, the United States Government confirmed that will not invite Venezuela and neither will Nicaragua to the Summit of the Americas, but they still do not clarify if they have sent invitations to Cuba.
To questions about whether there is an invitation to the Island, from legislator Marco Rubio, the coordinator of the Summit, Kevin O’Reilly, responded this Thursday: “To the best of my knowledge, no.” O’Reilly explained that the US government, which is the host on this occasion, wants “to have a broad participation of civil society from each country where the authoritarians, the dictators, seek to end public debate.”
Before this, the Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel He anticipated that “in no case will I attend”, in a series of four tweets, published on Wednesday night where he criticized the management that the United States has made.
“It is known that the Government of the United States conceived from the beginning that the Summit of the Americas would not be inclusive. It was its intention to exclude several countries, including Cuba, despite the strong regional demand for an end to exclusions” , wrote.
Against possible exclusions, the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has come out, who has assured that he will not attend if not everyone is invited. Bolivian Luis Arce and Guatemalan Alejandro Giammattei have also conditioned their assistance. The Argentine Alberto Fernandez and the Honduran Xiomara Castro, in a similar line, have questioned their assistance in case of exclusions.
After confirming that it will not attend the Summit of the Americas, the Cuban government preferred to improvise an Alba Summit with the participation of leaders designated as non-democratic by the United States.
8/ I am counting on the social actors of other countries whose governments do not act in the same arbitrary manner as the Government of Cuba against civil society, to speak out for those who deny us the possibility of attending the IX Summit of the Americas. @SummitAmericas pic.twitter.com/kihviYVBoy
– Saily González Velázquez (@SailydeAmarillo) May 27, 2022
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