Joe Biden has chosen to veto Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the Summit of the Americas that begins today in Los Angeles and will culminate with the meeting of heads of state starting on Wednesday.
The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has responded by confirming that he will not attend either, in protest at Washington’s decision “not to respect the sovereignty and independence of each country.” And because “there can be no Summit of the Americas if all the countries of the continent do not participate”… “Or there can be, but following the old policy of interventionism, disrespect for nations and their peoples,” he said this morning in your daily press conference.
With the exclusion of the “non-democratic” governments of Havana, Caracas and Managua, advanced days ago as probable and confirmed by Biden in the last few hours, the US president ran the risk of accepting a boycott by leaders who threatened not to attend if Washington did not invite “all” the countries of the continent.
And the beginning of that possible boycott was immediately confirmed. In his usual “morning” conference, the Mexican president ratified his decision not to attend in protest against Washington’s vetoes, although he specified that his executive would be represented by the head of Foreign Relations, Marcelo Ebrard.
The same was announced days ago by the Honduran president, Xiomara Castro, who delegates to Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina. Bolivia, Guatemala and some nations of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) could support them, while the leaders of Argentina and Chile criticized the exclusions but without giving up their assistance.
