The Mexican president will not attend the Summit of the Americas because of the United States' refusal to invite dictatorships

After several days of intrigue, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has confirmed his absence from the Summit of the Americas following the United States' refusal to invite the countries he considers dictatorships: Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

"I am not going to the Summit because not all the countries of the Americas are invited, and I believe in the need to change the policy that has been imposed for centuries, the exclusion, the desire to dominate without any reason, the lack of respect for the sovereignty of countries, the independence of each country", declared López Obrador at the conference in which he confirmed that Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard will attend on his behalf and on behalf of his government. In addition, López Obrador confirmed that he will visit the President of the United States next July.

According to the Mexican president, "there can be no Summit of the Americas if all the countries of the continent do not participate". In the same vein, he affirmed that his administration does not agree with "the old policy of interventionism, of disrespect for nations and their peoples". Despite his disagreement with his US counterpart, López Obrador assured that he maintains a good relationship with Joe Biden, whom he described as "a good man", and confirmed that he will travel to visit him in July.

"In this case, I feel that there is a lot of pressure from the Republicans and, above all, from some leaders of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party who have to do with the Cuban community in Florida and in the United States. From my point of view, they are acting with hatred and do not want the brotherhood of peoples," the Mexican leader declared.

Countries considered dictatorships are left out of the ninth Summit of the Americas, the second to be held in the United States since the summit began in 1990. US officials have often repeated that the autocratic governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua would not be invited because of their extensive human rights records. The debate has leapt to the Senate, where summit coordinator Kevin O'Reilly declared that they do not recognise them as legitimate governments.

"The United States continues to maintain reservations about the lack of democratic space and the human rights situation in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. As a result, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela will not be invited to participate in this Summit," an administration official was quoted as saying by CNN news agency, noting that the host country has "broad discretion over invitations". The official added that "non-governmental representatives from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua are registered to participate in the three stakeholder forums". 

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel had previously warned that he would not attend the summit, in a statement in which he thanked some of the region's presidents who "have raised their voices against exclusions", including López Obrador.

"It is known that the United States government conceived from the beginning that the Summit of the Americas would not be inclusive. It was their intention to exclude several countries, including Cuba, despite the strong regional demand for an end to exclusions," said Díaz-Canel.

For his part, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro confirmed his absence in a message posted on Twitter. "In Venezuela we have a clear path: union, inclusion, diversity, democracy and the right to build our own destiny. We reject the attempts to exclude and discriminate against peoples at the Summit of the Americas," Maduro posted.

Nor was Nicaragua's resident Daniel Ortega silent about the exclusion from the summit, who declared in a speech that "that summit does not exalt anyone... that summit is dirty, muddy" and said that he was not interested in the meeting.

Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra.