Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said this Tuesday (26) that the United States is considering not inviting the country to the next Summit of the Americas.
The event, held since 1994, brings together 35 countries in the region to discuss political, diplomatic and trade issues. The 9th edition, scheduled for June, will have the USA as its headquarters for the second time, in Los Angeles (California).
The US State Department responded by saying that official invitations have not yet been issued and that, therefore, Rodríguez’s accusation is unsubstantiated. It was at the 2015 summit in Panama that the then US president, Barack Obama, shook hands with a Castro — in this case, Raúl, at the time leader of the regime — and the end of the economic embargo on the island and policies was discussed. for immigrants.
In Panama, Obama still maintained dialogues with Nicolás Maduro (Venezuela) and Rafael Correa (Ecuador), although both maintained hostile positions towards the US.
At the next summit, in Lima, in 2018, Donald Trump decided not to participate, marking the setback of the policy of rapprochement with Havana initiated by his predecessor. It was the first time that a US president had not attended the meeting.
“We had information that the US government is putting pressure on other countries not to be invited,” Rodríguez said. Joe Biden’s management could not make the decision unilaterally, as it is an event whose organization is shared, with consultations with other participants. Cuba was present in the 2015 and 2018 editions and expressed interest in being in the next one.
The US faces a migration crisis on its southern borders. Amid records of apprehension of irregular immigrants since last year, when there were strong protests on the island, the number of Cubans seeking asylum or refuge in the country has increased.
Although Biden has criticized the regime’s abuses of human rights in Havana, at the same time he has made it difficult for Cubans to enter and has carried out deportations of those trying to enter the country by sea.
Rodríguez said that the US position is paradoxical, because this week and the previous one, talks between senior officials of the two countries have been held to address the migratory situation. “We are seeing this as a good sign, but if we are left out of the Summit of the Americas it will look like a ploy to divert attention from the real intention to address our common problems.”
The US has already announced that the meeting will include a representative from Venezuela, appointed by the self-proclaimed president Juan Guaidó – whom Washington considers the legitimate government. Nicaragua, on the other hand, after closing the OAS (Organization of American States) office in the country, classifying the entity as a “diabolical organization”, says it will not send diplomats.
The Summit of the Americas could also set up the first personal meeting between Biden and Jair Bolsonaro (PL) — if the Brazilian president agrees to attend. At the 2021 event in Cartagena, Colombia, then presidents Barack Obama and Dilma Rousseff were invited to the opening table and exchanged cuddles.
At the time, the then Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, defended that Cuba should attend all the summits from then on.
