Boycotting Biden: Group Rejects Summit Of Americas’ Exclusion Of Cuba, Other Countries

“It’s outrageous President Biden thinks he has the right to pick and choose which countries can come to The Summit of Americas.

Photos: Twitter

The People’s Summit for Democracy expresses its disgust at the intention of the US government to exclude Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela from the upcoming Summit of the Americas to be held from June 6-10 in the city of Los Angeles, California.

The Summit of the Americas states that it will “foster great dialogue” in order to “address hemispheric challenges and opportunities” but these stated objectives are impossible if they are excluding key partners from the region.

Following the comment by US Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols that the countries were “unlikely to be there”, the US is facing a scenario that it did not expect.

Several Latin American and Caribbean leaders have already publicly expressed their intentions to not attend the summit due to the announced exclusion of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua Los Angeles.

Leaders such as Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Bolivian President Luis Arce of Bolivia, and Honduran President Xiomara Castro, have stated that they will not personally attend the Summit if these exclusions are maintained. Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the United States, Ronald Sanders, announced that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries would not participate if Cuba is excluded.

Mainstream media speaks of a boycott, and many have already called Biden’s summit a failure.

It is not too late to change course. If the US government is really invested in addressing the pressing issues for the region such as immigration, climate change, economic recovery, public health, and democracy, all countries must be included in the conversation.

We call on the US government to invite these countries to participate in the Summit and to reverse the denial of visas of the Cuban civil society delegation to our People’s Summit.

Medea Benjamin, the co-founder of CODEPINK, said, “It’s outrageous that President Biden thinks he has the right to pick and choose which countries can come to The Summit of the Americas. It is a colossal blunder and this Summit could sink U.S. relations in the region. Thankfully there will be a People’s Summit where ALL nations will be represented.”

The People’s Summit has launched a Let Them In petition to include the excluded countries.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *