(Trends Wide) –– The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said on Monday that the United States is “very willing” to invite all the countries of the continent to the Summit of the Americas, which will be held in June in Los Angeles, while Washington has not yet announced whether he will invite Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela because of their human rights record.
Previously, US officials said Cuba would not be invited and suggested that the governments of Venezuela and Nicaragua would also likely be excluded. But López Obrador’s threats to boycott the summit if there is no room for all countries seem to have caused Washington to back down, at least a little.
“We are dialoguing, with the purpose of inviting everyone,” López Obrador said in his morning press conference on Monday. “At least they [Estados Unidos] They have acted in a respectful manner, there has not been a total, blunt rejection,” he added.
“There are still a few days left, I hope that this week we can inform, so as not to speculate, or with conjecture, leaks. Once we have all the elements, we will establish our position here,” López Obrador added.
López Obrador’s warning about the Summit of the Americas
Earlier this month, the president said that no country should be excluded from the Summit of the Americas. And he warned that Mexico’s participation will not be confirmed until the host United States invites all the countries of the continent.
US administration officials previously confirmed that the governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela would not be invited to the summit due to their human rights record. However, the White House said on May 10 that no decisions have been made on invitations to the Summit of the Americas after Mexico announced it would not attend if Venezuela and Cuba are excluded.
Meanwhile, the US sent out the first set of invitations to the Summit of the Americas on May 18, a State Department official told Trends Wide on Friday. The same official added that “as with previous summits, the administration is still considering sending out additional invitations.” And he commented that he will publish “the final list once all the invitations have been sent”.
From Jorge Engels in London, Patrick Oppmann in Havana and Juan Carlos López from Trends Wide en Español, with previous reporting by Karol Suarez and Stefano Pozzebon.
