AMLO will not attend the Summit of the Americas, but will meet with Biden

(CNN Spanish) – Mexico’s President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, announced on Monday at a press conference that he would not attend the Summit of the Americas, which will be held in Los Angeles from June 6-10, because not all the countries of America were invited. .

In any case, AMLO will meet with Joe Biden at the White House next July, as confirmed by a senior US official.

About the summit and to be able to inform the people of Mexico that I will not attend, you will represent me and the government, Marcelo Ebrard. And I will not go to the summit because not all the countries of America have been invited and I believe that the policy that was imposed centuries ago must be changed. Exclusion, desire to dominate without reason and disrespect for the sovereignty of states and the independence of each state.

In his traditional morning book, AMLO said he plans to visit President Joe Biden at the White House in July, something Washington has confirmed.

AMLO noted that “I want to discuss with him all-America integration” as well as issues like inflation and immigration reform.

Last month, Lopez Obrador He said That Mexico’s participation would not be confirmed until the United States invited all the countries of the hemisphere, arguing that no country should be excluded from the top.

US officials have repeatedly said that authoritarian governments in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela will not be invited to the summit due to their anti-human rights record. But Mexico and other countries in the region have closer relations with those countries and described the decision as exclusionary.

The ebb and flow of summit attendance are signs of changing dynamics in the Western Hemisphere, with some countries distancing themselves from the United States.

Former Senator Christopher Dodd, who serves as a special adviser to the summit, has previously traveled to South America and met officials from Brazil, Chile and Argentina. After Dodd’s visit, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry confirmed that President Jair Bolsonaro would attend and plan his first bilateral meetings with Biden.

Relations between the United States and Brazil have been strained since former President Donald Trump, a political ally of Bolsonaro, failed in his bid for re-election. The Brazilian president was one of the last world leaders to congratulate Biden after the 2020 US election and publicly criticize US pressure to curb increasing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.

He was initially skeptical about traveling to Los Angeles for the summit and complained that Biden had ignored him when they met at the G-20 summit last year. But he agreed to attend when he was assured that he would not be limited to one photo.

Dodd had similar talks with other leaders in the region, including lengthy talks with Lopez Obrador, but apparently failed to secure a commitment from the Mexican leader to attend.

The United States officially announces that Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela will not be invited to the Summit of the Americas

The United States has officially decided not to invite Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to this week’s Summit of the Americas 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. As a result, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela will not be invited to this summit,” a senior government official said. He told CNN, noting that the United States has “broad discretion over invitations” as the host country.

The United States had indicated that those countries would not be invited, but the Biden administration refused to provide an official guest list as it rushed to respond to boycott threats from a group of countries led by Mexico over excluding those countries. The official declined to comment directly on Lopez Obrador’s decision not to attend.

“In recent weeks, US officials have had extensive and frank discussions with regional governments on the issue of inviting Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela,” the official noted.

The official also noted 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 common challenges and opportunities facing the hemisphere. We look forward to the opportunity to celebrate these relationships and work together to address these challenges as a region,” the official said. .

Honduran president will not attend Summit of the Americas

Honduran President Xiomara Castro will not attend the Summit of the Americas taking place in Los Angeles, California, as confirmed to CNN by the communications team at the Presidential House.

On behalf of Castro, a delegation headed by Foreign Minister Enrique Reina and Special Secretary of the Presidency of the Republic, Hector Zelaya, Castro’s son, will attend.

On May 28, Castro posted on his Twitter account that he would only attend the summit if “all the countries of the Americas, without exception” are invited.

A senior US official confirmed to CNN Monday that the governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela will not be invited to the summit due to the lack of democratic spaces and human rights conditions in those countries. The official said host countries have broad discretion in deciding who to invite.

Various sectors of Honduras view with concern Castro’s failure to attend the summit, given the relationship he forged months before taking office with the US government which was reinforced by the visit during his January 27 inauguration of Vice President. Kamala Harris.

Salvador Nasrallah, Honduran presidential candidate, said on Twitter on Sunday that Castro’s “political decision” not to attend the summit was “an opportunity the country is missing.”