Washington, May 2, 2022 (AFP) – The head of the Department of State for the Region Brian Nichols said on Monday (2) that the United States will not invite Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to the June Summit of the Americas.
“At an important time in our hemisphere, at a time when we are facing many challenges for democracy and countries […] Cuba, Nicaragua and the regime [Nicolás] Maduro does not respect the Democratic Charter of the Americas and therefore I do not expect their existence,” Nichols told broadcaster NTN24.
When asked whether Washington would invite the Cuban government to attend the 2015 summit in Panama, Nichols replied “No”. “This is the president’s decision. [Joe Biden]but I believe it’s pretty obvious […] Countries that do not respect democracy with their actions will not receive an invitation.”
Last week, Cuba denounced the United States for keeping it out of summit preparations, calling the action a “historic setback” by the Biden administration.
The three countries are already on the regional exclusion list, along with Bolivia, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Haiti for the Democracy Summit in Washington in December.
Relations between the United States and Cuba have deteriorated further since what Washington called a “wave of pressure” after protests on the island in July 2021 that resulted in one death, dozens of injuries and 1,395 detentions. Miami is at Cubalex.
Cuba blames the United States for behind these protests, the largest since the victory of the revolution in 1959.
On the other hand, the Biden government does not recognize Nicolás Maduro, the presidents of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, and Venezuela, considering they were elected in undemocratic elections.
The United States and dozens of countries have seen Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela since the socialist president was re-elected in 2018.
source: Noticias
