Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela should not be invited to the Summit of the Americas

The United States will host the 9th Summit of the Americas from June 6th to 10th, which will take place in Los Angeles, California, with the theme: “Building a sustainable, resilient and equitable future”. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss common political issues among the leaders of American countries.

So far, the White House has not yet released the list of all leaders invited to the meeting, although Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela are believed to be left out.

In April, US Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols told reporters that “authoritarian Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela would hardly be invited and that the high-level conference would focus on Western Hemisphere democracies.”

The declaration led a bloc of leftist countries, meeting in Havana on Friday (29), to condemn the exclusion of some nations.

The countries known as the Alba bloc – which includes Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua – issued a statement saying that they “reject the exclusions and discriminatory treatment at the so-called Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles”.

Declaration of the 21st Summit of Heads of State and Government of ALBA-TCP #ALBATCP rejects exclusions and the discriminatory treatment in the so-called Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles.#ALBAUnida #AlianzaParaLaVida #27May #ALBAEsNuestraAmérica pic.twitter.com/oBNNPp5Nq7

— ALBA-TCP (@ALBATCP) May 27, 2022

In the communiqué, the countries described the exclusion as “arbitrary, i.inlogically and politically motivated”, and stated that “this inunilateral split constitutes a serious historical setback in hemispheric relations”.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro called the United States “excluded” in organizing the summit. At an event in Caracas, Maduro stated that “the path cannot be exclusion and discrimination; the path has to be inclusive”.

The President of CubaMiguel Diaz-Canel, said on Twitter that he would not attend the meeting.

“I can guarantee that under no circumstances will I attend. As has happened many times in the past, Cuba’s voice will be heard at the 9th Summit of the Americas,” she wrote.

I can assure you that, under no circumstances, will I attend.

As it has happened often times in the past, the voice of #Cuba will be heard at the Ninth Summit of the Americas. (4/4)

— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) May 25, 2022

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico said that if other countries in the Americas were excluded, he would stay at home in solidarity. “If they are excluded, if not everyone is invited, a representative of the Mexican government would go, but I would not,” López Obrador told a news conference.

In addition to Mexico, potential no-shows include leftist leaders in Bolivia and Honduras. On Twitter, Honduran President Xiomara Castro said she will participate “in the Summit only if all countries in the Americas are invited, without exception. “The most worthy study of an American is America.”,” she wrote.

I will attend the summit only if all the countries of America are invited without exception. “The studio more worthy of an American is America”.

— Xiomara Castro de Zelaya (@XiomaraCastroZ) May 28, 2022

However, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei made public the letter he received from the White House at the end of May, with the formal invitation to attend the summit, although he said the week before that he would not.

In May, the Reuters news agency confirmed that 13 of the 14 countries in the Caribbean community, which does not include Cuba, were planning to attend the Los Angeles meeting.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) will Dome of Americas and should have a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden.

*With information from María Plaza, Patrick Oppmann and Hande Atay Alam of CNN and Nelson Acosta of Reuters