There is no single reason that justifies the undemocratic and arbitrary exclusion of any country in the hemisphere from this continental meeting. This is something that Latin American and Caribbean nations have been warning of since the 6th Summit held in Cartagena de Indias in 2012.
The US government, abusing the privilege granted by its host country status, decided early on to exclude Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua from the 9th Summit of the Americas, to be held in Los Angeles in June this year. It refused to comply with the just demands of numerous governments to change this discriminatory and unacceptable position.
There is no single reason that justifies the undemocratic and arbitrary exclusion of any country in the hemisphere from this continental event. This is something that Latin American and Caribbean nations have been warning of since the 6th Summit held in Cartagena de Indias in 2012.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez announced on May 25 that he would not attend. It was a firm decision by Cuba if all countries in the hemisphere were not invited on an equal footing. Between its arrogance, its fear that uncomfortable truths might be heard, its determination to prevent the meeting from discussing the hemisphere's most pressing and complex issues, and the contradictions of its own weak and polarized political system, the US government has once again chosen by exclusion as a means of trying to achieve an event without concrete contributions, but which would be profitable for the image of imperialism.
The intense high-profile efforts undertaken by the US with governments in the region to contain the intention of many to be absent from the event if all were not invited are well known. These included immoral pressure, blackmail, threats, and dirty tricks. These are standard practices of imperialism that reflect its traditional contempt for our countries. They deserve the strongest rejection.
Cuba thanks and respects the dignified, courageous, and legitimate position of numerous governments in defense of the equal participation of all.
The leadership of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador deserves special recognition. We highlight the clear and early position of CARICOM member countries against exclusions, as well as the firm position of the President of Bolivia, Luis Arce Catacora, and the President of Honduras, Xiomara Castro. Argentina's position as president of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) expresses the region's majority opinion against a selective Summit, as many South and Central American governments have expressed in public and in private.
This genuine and spontaneous solidarity, in the face of the discriminatory action of the United States against the countries of the region, reflects the feelings of the peoples of Our America. The United States has underestimated support for Cuba in the region while trying to impose it's unilateral and universally rejected policy of hostility against Cuba as if it were a consensus position in the hemisphere, but the debate over the invitation process proved otherwise.
The 21st ALBA Summit held in Havana on May 27 unequivocally declared its rejection of exclusions and discriminatory and selective treatment.
Exclusions of this nature confirm that the United States conceived and uses this high-level dialogue mechanism as an instrument of its hegemonic system in the hemisphere, in the style of the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR) and others. bodies designed in the 20th century to restrict independence, limit the sovereignty of nations in the region, and impede Latin America and the Caribbean's aspirations for unity and integration.
They are part of the effort to apply the Monroe Doctrine and promote exclusion as a weapon of division, based on clear political, electoral and domination interests.
One cannot speak of “The Americas” without including all the countries that make up the hemisphere. What our region requires is cooperation, not exclusion; solidarity, not pettiness; respect, not arrogance; sovereignty and self-determination, not subordination.
It is known in advance that the documents to be adopted in Los Angeles are divorced from the real problems of the region and are in fact useless and omissive, in addition to the effort to grant the OAS a supranational prerogative to decide on the legitimacy or not of the electoral processes and the imposition on governments of Latin America and the Caribbean of repressive, discriminatory and exclusionary behavior against migrants.
We know that the voice of Latin America and the Caribbean, as in the past, will resonate in these days in Los Angeles, with the admirable and vertical absence of fundamental leaders who have enormous political and moral authority and recognition of their people and the world. We also have full confidence that the leaders of the region who choose to participate will be able to dignify the fact that the United States cannot treat our people the way it did in the 20th century.
Cuba supports genuine efforts to promote integration based on civilized coexistence, peace, respect for diversity, and solidarity throughout the hemisphere. It has a widely recognized endorsement of supporting and contributing unreservedly to any legitimate proposal for real and concrete solutions to the most pressing problems facing our people. Today's reality is a far cry from these aspirations.
Havana, June 6, 2022. Internet@granma.cu
