Cuba Denounces Exclusion From Summit of the Americas

Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Monday denounced Cuba's exclusion from the 9th Summit of the Americas and the negotiation of documents foreign to Latin America's reality.

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In statements to the national and foreign press, Rodriguez stressed that Washington deceives international public opinion about the invitations to that meeting, scheduled for next June in the city of Los Angeles, and that it exerts extreme pressure on countries in the region opposed to that exclusion.

The head of Cuban diplomacy pointed out that a main axis of the event will be health care, but added that this subject "is negotiated opaquely including many neoliberal elements and shortcomings regarding the real needs of people, a so-called plan of action in health care and resilience of the Americas until 2030,” he pointed out.

The foreign minister warned that this text excludes Cuba and other member States of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) that participate in these processes. Rodriguez recalled that Cuba, in a modest but altruistic way, has provided international cooperation in healthcare matters that is recognized on a global scale.”

He pointed out that the migration issue will also be  at the center of the summit, on which another document is being negotiated behind the back of public opinion. The alleged document intends to force Latin American States to repress migration and absorb the migrants that the United States rejects, with a racist and xenophobic approach.

Rodriguez added that in Cuba’s case, the conduct of the United States has been to cut off regular and safe channels and prevent emigration through a policy that he described as selective and discriminatory.

He recalled that the United States has failed to comply with the agreement to grant 20,000 annual visas, has forced applicants for this document to travel to Guyana and has imposed third countries to establish transit visas for Cubans, while encouraging illegal emigration.

He described as positive the resumption of bilateral talks last week, the recognition by the U.S. delegation of the breaches and the expressed desire to resume consular services in Havana, although in a very limited way.

Rodriguez stressed that the intention to exclude Cuba from the meeting would be due to a politically motivated maneuver, as part of the double standard linked to the internal and electoral situation in the United States. He thanked the governments in the region for their the supportive position in favor of inviting Cuba.

He also considered that the United States lacks the moral authority to set itself up as a model of Human Rights and democracy, an issue that will also be discussed at the Los Angeles summit.

Rodriguez noted that Cuba supports the efforts to promote dialogue and cooperation between Latin America and the United States, and its exclusion would constitute a serious historical setback in relation to the two previous summits, which had its participation.

It would be surprising if US President Joe Biden departs from the policy of which he was vice president (under the administration of Barack Obama 2009-2017), and even that of Republican President Donald Trump (2017-2021), who invited Cuba to the Lima Summit, in Peru, he noted.

Finally, he stressed that the United States should understand that Latin America has changed forever and there is no room to impose the vision of the Monroe Doctrine, against which the heroes of the peoples’ independence fought.