U.S. officials responded this Monday that their country has not yet sent the invitations for the Summit of the Americas, to be held next June in the city of Los Angeles (California). The statements come after the accusations issued this same Monday from Havana that the Caribbean country has been excluded from the preparations for the meeting.
Contacted by EFE, spokesmen for the National Security Council of the White House and the State Department said that “for the moment no invitation has been issued” for the summit, but they did not give more details, according to the Spanish news agency.
In a press conference, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez had accused the United States on Monday morning of excluding the island’s government from the preparations for the meeting and “respectfully” urged Washington to clarify whether his country will be invited. Likewise, he affirmed that the United States is exerting “extreme” pressure on “numerous governments in the region” that oppose Havana’s exclusion.
Although Washington did not want to confirm this statement, last January a senior U.S. official said that any leader who has been “democratically elected” will be invited to the 9th Summit of the Americas.
The source, quoted by the Spanish news agency and who requested anonymity, did not want to confirm if this means that the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, whom Washington considers “dictators,” will be left out, and said that they had not yet made definitive decisions on the invitations
The Summit of the Americas is an event that brings together the heads of state and government of the countries of the American continent and is held every three or four years. Cuba has attended the last two editions in Panama (2015) and Peru (2018).
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This year it is scheduled to take place from June 6 to 10 in Los Angeles.
Last week, the United States and Cuba held a meeting in Washington to address migration issues, in what is the first high-level bilateral talks since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.
EFE/OnCuba
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OnCuba Staff 
