US President Joe Biden insisted on unity at the Americas summit on Thursday after leaders of Argentina and Belize openly criticized him for excluding the three left-wing leaders.
“Despite some disagreement about participation, what I heard on key issues was almost unity and uniformity,” Biden said.
Biden said he saw “almost complete agreement” on issues such as managing immigration and tackling climate change, and called for more discussion of the details before it ends on Friday.
The US president refused to invite left-wing leaders from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, calling them undesirable autocrats at a summit dedicated to democracy.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador refused to participate in the protest.
Argentine President Alberto Fernández, who was persuaded to attend after Biden’s phone call, criticized the decision in front of the US president at the summit in Los Angeles.
“Being the host country of the summit does not allow the continent’s member states to impose a right of admission,” said Fernández.
Later, the US president, who attended the summit with Vice President Kamala Harris, shook hands with Fernández Biden before returning to speak and address the criticism.
Biden was also criticized by Johnny Briceño, the prime minister of Belize, one of the smallest countries in the region, saying it was “inexcusable” not to invite all countries.
Briceno, who praised the export of Cuban doctors, a practice that US officials denounced as human trafficking, described the US sanctions on the island as “crimes against humanity”.
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source: Noticias
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