Morales to Kuczynski: 'Re-Invite Maduro to Summit of Americas'

Bolivian President Evo Morales has written to Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski asking him to "recognize the right of … Venezuela to participate in VIII Summit of the Americas."

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Morales also reminds Kuczynski that on July 20 of last year, over 30 American heads of state – including Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro – all agreed to participate in the summit, due to be held in Lima April 13-14.

Morales says that being host to the gathering requires the Peruvian president to "organize the meeting and provide meeting logistics." It does not, Morales writes, "under any conditions, allow (you) to decide who the members are and who gets to participate."

Last month, Kuczynski rescinded Maduro's invitation to the summit, saying the Venezuelan administration's decision to hold presidential elections in May was "undemocratic."

The Lima Group, of which Peru is a member, has also criticized Maduro for calling the elections, claiming they will not be free and fair.

In his letter, Morales says that by uninviting Maduro, Kuczynski "is going against the fundamental legal and political norms that maintain the Summit of the Americas, based on equity and respect among the members States…

"To act otherwise will create a bad precedent that will normalize conduct that is arbitrary, intolerant and unilateral."

On Tuesday,  Morales criticized the Lima Group, of which he is not a member, for convincing Kuczynski to formally uninvite the Venezuelan head of state.

"I condemn, I repudiate a group called the Lima Group... (which) doesn't want Maduro to participate in the Summit of the Americas. I don't support (this). He is a democratically elected president," Morales told a press conference.

Morales said Maduro's "anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist" position has caused the United States and its junior partners to veto his presence at the summit.