Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles: United States tries to avoid call failure

Flags, stages, security: everything seems to be ready in Los Angeles for the start of the Summit of the Americas this Monday, the maximum continental event that will last until Friday, but there is an unprecedented “detail” that keeps in suspense the region. and in the United States: hours before the meeting starts, there is no certainty as to who will come.

The White House tries until the last moment to avoid a call error and he trusts that there will be “solid representation” of nations that can help promote an agenda of issues that has definitely taken a back seat.

As part of the summit, civil society meetings will begin on Monday and in the following days there will be meetings of business leaders focused on investments in the continent and there will also be a meeting of regional youth.

Wednesday begins the main course of the Summit, which will be the meeting of the Heads of State and Government, which should finish refining the central themes of all the meetings: a green future and clean energy; economic prosperity, democratic governance; post-pandemic recovery, migration and digital infrastructure.

The controversy

But the huge controversy surrounding the guest list turned the Summit’s goals into almost an anecdote.

Something unusual for this country’s diplomatic meticulousness, the White House did not release the official 9th ​​Summit guest listbut he secretly sent formal letters inviting almost every country in the region, with the exception of three leaders: the Cuban Miguel Díaz Canel, the Venezuelan Nicolás Maduro and the Nicaraguan Daniel Ortega, who are considered dictators and violators of the rights of the House White.

The White House’s caution in making the list official is due to the irritation caused by the exclusion of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua among some regional leaders, in particular the Mexican Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the Bolivian Luis Arce, the Honduran Xiomara Castro and Argentina Alberto Fernandez, who condemned the absence and threatened a boycott if not everyone was gone.

Although State Department official Kevin O’Reilly told a Senate committee this week that Venezuela and Nicaragua are absolutely not invited, avoided confirming the exclusion of Cuba, which indicates that until the last moment there may be surprises with the participation of some low-ranking Cuban official as an observer.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a press conference days ago: “I am confident that we will have strong representation from all the Americas at the top.” Price explained that the United States maintains “close contacts” with many of its partners in the region to prepare for the summit and ensured that “the challenges” facing the entire continent will be represented at the event.

play at the last minute

In addition, he recalled that not only governments, but also civil society leaders and businessmen from all the Americas were invited.

The White House he is trying to the last to convince presidents who threaten not to come. He ended up fielding virtually all of the Caribbean, including Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro, who he offered a bilateral with Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Summit, and also Fernández, whom he invited to the White House in July.

The United States has made some moves to persuade the “rebels”, although it also endures attacks from the ranks of Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan exiles, most of whom have settled in Florida.

First, it eased some sanctions against Cuba and also authorized Chevron, Eni and Repsol to exploit their gas and oil fields in Venezuela. He also neglected the idea of ​​inviting a Cuban representative to the summit. Another initiative was Don’t invite the Venezuelan opposition leader to Los Angeles Juan Guaidó, whom the United States and several dozen countries consider the legitimate president of Venezuela.

But it seems that these initiatives have not had much effect on López Obrador who, until now, has said so he will not travel and will send his foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard.

“Mexico doesn’t need a summit with the United States because it has talks every day, but it’s a big mistake for AMLO not to go,” said Erick Langer, historian and professor at Georgetown University, in response to a question about Clarione. Also, not going is a big headache for Biden because “Mexico is a piece key to migration and his absence is serious. It is one of the biggest political problems the US has and Biden is being criticized for not preventing irregular migration, ”he added.

Honduras has already warned this Sunday that President Castro will not go and that the Foreign Minister will be present instead. The Bolivian Arce will not go either and the Guatemalan Alejandro Guimmattei has not yet confirmed, but it slipped that he will not go.

After several comings and goings, Fernández has finally confirmed his presence and will land in Los Angeles on Wednesday. It is estimated that, as interim president of CELAC (the Community of States of Latin America and the Caribbean), he will be the sung voice of the excluded at the Summit.

PB