Biden Faces Backlash At Summit Of Americas For Excluding Countries

By David DeCamp, Antiwar.com

President Biden tried to bring a message of unity to the Sumit of the Americas in Los Angeles on Thursday, but he faced criticism from Latin American leaders for not inviting certain countries.

The US didn’t invite Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, prompting Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to boycott the summit, although he did send his foreign minister to represent Mexico. The leaders of Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Guatemala, and Honduras followed López Obrador in not attending the event.

Shortly after Biden delivered remarks on Thursday, Belize’s Prime Minister John Briceno harshly criticized the US for not inviting some countries. “This summit belongs to all of the Americas — it is therefore inexcusable that there are countries of the Americas that are not here, and the power of the summit is diminished by their absence,” he said.

Briceno also slammed the US blockade on Cuba as an “affront to humanity” and called for it to be lifted. “In fact, it is un-American. The time has come, Mr. President, to lift the blockade,” he said to Biden.

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez joined Briceno in criticizing the summit. “We definitely would have wished for a different Summit of the Americas,” he said. “The silence of those who are absent is calling to us.”