The President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, announced this Monday (6th) at a press conference that he will not participate in the Summit of the Americas, which takes place in Los Angeles from June 6th to 10th, because not all countries in the Americas have not been guests.
In any case, the Mexican will meet Joe Biden at the White House in July, as confirmed by a top US official.
“On the Summit, I inform the people of Mexico that I will not go. Marcelo Ebrard will represent me and the government. And I’m not going to the Summit because not all countries in America are invited and I believe in the need to change the policy that has been imposed for centuries. Exclusion, wanting to dominate for no reason, not respecting the sovereignty of countries, the independence of each country,” said the president.
On his regular Monday morning, López Obrador said he plans to visit President Joe Biden at the White House in July, something that was confirmed in Washington.
He signaled that “I want to discuss with him [Biden] the issue of the integration of all America” and also issues such as inflation and immigration reform.
The official who confirmed the meeting between Biden and the Mexican president in July did not specify the date.
López Obrador also confirmed that on Thursday and Friday of this week he will visit communities in the state of Oaxaca affected by Hurricane Agatha.
Last month, López Obrador had said that Mexico’s participation would not be confirmed until the US invited all countries in the hemisphere, arguing that no country should be excluded from the Summit.
US officials have repeatedly said that the autocratic governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela will not be invited to the Summit because of their anti-human rights record. But Mexico and other nations in the region have closer ties to these countries and called the decision exclusionary.
The ebb and flow of Summit participation are signs of changing dynamics in the Western Hemisphere, as some countries distance themselves from the United States.
Former Senator Christopher Dodd, who serves as the Summit’s special advisor, has already traveled to South America and met with officials from Brazil, Chile and Argentina. After Dodd’s visit, Itamaraty confirmed the presence of President Jair Bolsonaro and plans to hold its first bilateral meetings with Biden.
Relations between the United States and Brazil have been strained since former President Donald Trump, Bolsonaro’s political ally, failed in his re-election bid. The Brazilian president was one of the last world leaders to congratulate Biden after the 2020 US elections and publicly criticizes US pressure to curb growing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.
He was initially skeptical about traveling to Los Angeles for the Summit and complained that Biden ignored him when they met at the G20 last year. But he agreed to participate when he was assured that it would not be limited to one photo.
Dodd had similar conversations with other leaders in the region, including lengthy conversations with López Obrador, but apparently was unable to get the Mexican leader to attend.
US makes it official that Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela will not be invited
The United States has officially decided not to invite Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to the Summit of the Americas to be held this week in Los Angeles, according to a senior government official.
“The United States continues to have reservations about the lack of democratic space and the human rights situation in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela,” the official said in a statement to the press. CNN noting that the US has “broad discretion over invitations” as a host country.
The US indicated that these countries would not be invited, but the Biden administration declined to provide an official guest list as it struggled to respond to boycott threats from a group of countries led by Mexico over the exclusion of these countries. The official declined to comment directly on López Obrador’s decision not to attend.
The source also noted that “in recent weeks, US officials have engaged in extensive and frank discussions with governments in the region on the issue of inviting Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.”
The official further said that “non-governmental representatives from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua are registered to participate in the three stakeholder forums”.
“The Summit will bring together thousands of people to focus on some of the most important shared challenges and opportunities facing our hemisphere. We look forward to the opportunity to celebrate these ties and come together to address these challenges as a region,” he said.
Source: CNN Brasil
