US firm on summit snub for Cuba, Venezuela

Washington has doubled down on its decision to exclude several neighbouring states from next week’s Summit of the Americas, drawing on its position as host country to dictate attendance.

The decision to exclude Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua – countries with which the United States has had rocky relations – has vexed several states within the hemisphere, but the Biden administration has called the matter minor in the context of global issues.

The stance of the US has been denounced as divisive, with mounting concerns that it could cloud the goal of the 9th summit to build a sustainable, resilient, and equitable future for the hemisphere when leaders meet from June 6-10 in Los Angeles.

Those have been buttressed by suggestions that the Biden administration may invite Venezuela’s opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, who the US and at least 50 other countries have publicly recognised as the interim president of the South American country.

On Wednesday, Juan Gonzalez, the Unites States’ national security council senior director for the Western Hemisphere, insisted during a telephonic press briefing that the US considers itself a partner of countries of the region and respects different perspectives but reserves the right to decide who it invites into its country.

“Ultimately, it’s something that as host, we have the prerogative, and we’ll make our final decision, and we’ll announce that once a decision has been made,” Gonzalez asserted.

“Is it a distraction from the summit? I don’t think so. It’s hard to concentrate on something until it actually happens. We’re confident that the summit will be well attended ... . We’ll let the result speak for itself,” he added when pressed.

Mexico has protested Cuba’s exclusion and has insisted that the Miguel Díaz-Canel-headed government be invited.

Gonzalez said discussions have been had and will continue, but if Mexico boycotts the meeting, its relationship with the US is likely to remain positive.

In a five-page letter to CARICOM leaders, St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves blasted the Biden administration and urged the bloc to abandon the summit on principle if the leaders of the three countries remain on the periphery.

On Monday, Gonsalves said on state-owned NBC radio that the summit must be inclusive and that US President Joe Biden and the US government do not have the right to exclude anyone.

“That’s not his right to exclude anyone. That’s to be done in the whole of the Americas. He alone can’t make that decision,” Gonsalves argued.

But it appears that Gonsalves’ plea to regional heads of government has not found favour with a number of CARICOM states, including Belize.

The country’s prime minister, John Briceño, who is also the CARICOM chairman, told The Gleaner that “Belize will attend”.

The position is an about-turn from CARICOM’s previous stance months prior that member states would not attend the summit.

The bloc has now left the decision to individual countries.

Jamaica is also expected to participate in the summit, but Information Minister Robert Morgan deferred to Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson Smith when contacted by The Gleaner about the matter on Wednesday.

Johnson Smith could not be reached for comment.

US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Brian A Nichols, sought to divert from the concerns, arguing that “average people” are not focused on the invited countries of a summit.

“We’re coming together in an unprecedented way to talk about the issues of concern that affect people and their daily lives,” he said.

“Can they get access to healthcare? Can their kids get a good education? Do they have the economic opportunities that they need? Are they able to benefit from broadband Internet technology? What are we doing to mitigate the shocks caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? Do people have affordable, reliable access to food? What are we doing to reorient supply chains to make sure that the disruptions that we’ve seen for the past few years are not repeated?

“I think that’s what average people care about, and that’s what we’re focusing on,” said Nichols.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com