US says seeking ways to include Cuba, Venezuela voices in summit

US says seeking ways to include Cuba, Venezuela voices in summit

Photo: Ludovic Marin

 

The United States said Monday it was looking for ways to represent the people of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua in a summit next month following threats to boycott over their governments’ exclusion.

By Digital Journal

May 23, 2022

The United States is welcoming Latin American leaders to Los Angeles for the June 6-10 Summit of the Americas, part of President Joe Biden’s efforts to promote democracy and tackle migration and climate change.





US officials said that they reached out formally last week to other nations to attend and that further invitations could come.

“We are still evaluating options on how to best incorporate the voices of the Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan people into the summit process,” an administration official said.

The State Department has previously voiced confidence at “robust” participation in Los Angeles, without divulging the invitation list so far.

The top US official for Latin América, Brian Nichols, earlier said he did not expect invitations for officials from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela as the governments do not respect the 2001 Inter-American Democratic Charter.

But Cuba was invited to summits in 2015 in Panama and 2018 in Peru. Since then, Biden has mostly kept in place a reversal by his predecessor Donald Trump of a US opening to the communist-run island.

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