(CNN Spanish) — The Summit of the Americas begins this Monday with the expected absence of at least seven presidents from the continent, including Andrés López Obrador, from Mexico, who made a warning he had repeated on multiple occasions during the last weeks: I would not attend if all the countries of the continent were not invited.
“I am not going to the Summit because not all the countries of the Americas 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 sovereignty of countries, the independence of each country,” said the president, announcing that Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard would represent him.
At the center of the debate is the exclusion of Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba from the meeting in Los Angeles, the ninth of the Summit of the Americas and the second in the United States since the meeting of leaders began in the 1990s.
USA confirms its refusal
US officials repeatedly said that the autocratic governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela would not be invited to the Summit because of their record against human rights.
The issue even reached the Senate, where the coordinator of the summit, Kevin O’Reilly, confirmed days ago that Nicolás Maduro would not be invited. “No, we do not recognize them as a legitimate government,” he said in response to a question from a Republican.
Until now, however, the Biden administration had refused to provide an official list of invitations as it scrambled to try to resolve the threats. This Monday the confirmation was official.
“The United States continues to maintain reservations about the lack of democratic space and the human rights situation in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. As a result, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela will not be invited to participate in this Summit,” said a senior official from the administration in a statement to CNN, noting that the country has “broad discretion over invitations” as host.
The official also noted that “non-governmental representatives from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua are registered to participate in the three stakeholder forums.”
The refusals of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela
The president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, had already confirmed that he would not participate, in a message in which he also highlighted the efforts of some presidents of the region who “have raised their voices against exclusions,” including López Obrador, so that everyone will be invited.
“It is known that the United States government conceived from the beginning that the Summit of the Americas would not be inclusive. It was his intention to exclude several countries, including Cuba, despite the strong regional demand for an end to the exclusions,” Diaz-Canel said.
Maduro’s message confirming that he would not be there was through a similar channel. “In Venezuela we have a clear path: unity, inclusion, diversity, democracy and the right to build our own destiny. We reject the claims of excluding and discriminating against peoples at the Summit of the Americas,” he wrote on Twitter.
Another who assured that he would not participate from the moment that talk of a possible exclusion began was Daniel Ortega from Nicaragua. “That summit does not exalt anyone… that summit dirty, muddy”, he said in a speech in which he confirmed that he was not interested.
What other countries will not be at the Summit of the Americas?
The president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, was another of those who confirmed that he will not participate after the refusal of the United States to invite Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
A similar position was taken by Xiomara Castro, from Honduras, who had conditioned her participation on an inclusive invitation. “I will attend the Summit only if all the countries of America without exception are invited. ‘The most worthy study of an American is America,'” she wrote on Twitter on June 28.
Guatemalan Alejandro Giammattei he had also confirmed that he would not be.
In this case, likewise, there is another background: the confrontation between Guatemala and the United States over the re-election of Attorney General Consuelo Porras, which the Biden government has harshly criticized.