Mexico urges Biden to include Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua in June Summit of the Americas

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has urged his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, to allow representatives of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua to attend the upcoming Summit of the Americas.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador

In a phone conversation with Biden Friday, Lopez Obrador confirmed his country’s participation in the event, while proposing “that all the countries of the Americas receive an invitation, without excluding anyone”, the Mexican presidency said in a statement.

Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday that Lopez Obrador planned to urge that the summit include Cuba and other countries out of favor with the U.S. According to the Chinese news agency Xinhu, the U.S. does not plan to invite Cuba and possibly other countries.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Monday said Washington was exerting “extreme pressure” on regional governments that oppose the exclusion of Cuba, which participated in the previous two summits at the request of several regional countries following years of exclusion.

The Summits of the Americas are periodic meetings of regional heads of state and government to address diplomatic and trade issues of importance at the continental level.
This year’s session is to be held in Los Angeles from June 6 to 10.

Its first edition was held in Miami in 1994, and since then the event has been accused of excluding countries with political ideologies different from that of the U.S., such as Cuba and Venezuela.