Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will not say whether he supports President Joe Biden’s decision to exclude Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba from this week’s Summit of the Americas.
Mr. Trudeau recognizes that several countries in the Western Hemisphere share the same ideas less the others. But he added that they all share some important issues, such as migration pressures, climate change and full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
These three issues should be on the agenda of a week -long summit. The prime minister will leave for Los Angeles later this Tuesday.
Along the way, he and Secretary of Defense Anita Anand will stop in Colorado Springs, Colo., For meetings with commanders and officers from NORAD, the Joint Command continental defense system set to be upgraded.
Mr. will also accompany. Trudeau was joined by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, who are scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Mexican counterpart Marcelo Ebrard.
It is very important that we have the opportunity to communicate with our hemispheric partners-some are similar-minded, others less so.said Mr. Trudeau at a press conference, Monday in Ottawa, with his Chilean counterpart Gabriel Boric.
Talking about the important issues that our citizens have in common, whether it be migration pressures, climate change, the spread of this pandemic, this is an important time for us to come together.
Canada continues to uphold the importance of human rights and democratic values in the three excluded countries, although we recognize that Canada has a long -standing approach to Cuba that is different from the United States.
Criticized by the United States
Mr. Boric is more forceful in condemning The mistake of the White House. We must declare in the United States and elsewhere that exclusion is not the right pathsaid Mr. Boric.
When the United States decides to exclude certain countries from the summit, it really strengthens the position of these other countries in their own country.
Mr Biden’s decision to exclude the three countries prompted Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to confirm on Monday that he would step down.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday dismissed the idea that López Obrador’s decision to avoid the summit was a sign of declining American influence in the hemisphere.
The United States remains the most powerful leadership force in hemispheric action to address the key challenges facing the people of the Americas-inequality, health, climate, and food security.said Ms. Jean-Pierre.
The president must stick to his principles. He thinks he should stick to his principles and not invite dictators, but we can always have a deep conversation-there’s a busy agenda where he’s going to be busy.
Other priorities for the summit include helping countries control the COVID-19 pandemic, building new links on climate and energy initiatives, tackling food insecurity, and implementing existing agreements on trade to better ensure that more people can reap the benefits.
The Canadian Press
Source: Radio-Canada
