Cuban Foreign Minister: Exclusion of countries from the US summit is a “setback”

Madrid, May 19. (Europe Press) –

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez stressed that the exclusion of Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba from the Summit of the Americas, which was held in June in Los Angeles, “constitutes a setback in relations between the hemisphere.”

The US administration said at the beginning of the month that Cuba, led by President Miguel Diaz-Canel, as well as Nicaragua, led by Daniel Ortega, and Venezuela, led by Nicolás Maduro, are hostile to democracy, so they will not do this. Receiving invitations to the American summit.

Bolivia’s President, Luis Arce, warned last week that he would not attend the Summit of the Americas if the United States did not invite all countries in the region, a warning also made by his Mexican counterpart, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. .

“The United States no longer has the excuse not to extend invitations to obscure the exclusions of hemisphere nations from the summit it is holding in the name of the ‘Americas.’ The Monroe Doctrine continues to guide U.S. behavior toward the region.”, on his official Twitter profile.

Thus, Rodriguez noted that “by gimmicks and last-minute maneuvers, ‘Washington is trying’ to justify this ‘arrogant decision.'” The Cuban Foreign Minister also referred in another letter to the recent measures announced by the United States to ease sanctions imposed on the island.

Regarding the measures announced by the Biden administration regarding the sanctions against Cuba, Rodriguez stressed that they “do not reflect (former US President Donald) Trump’s policy of applying maximum pressure.”

He noted on his official Twitter page, “The main decisions aimed at stifling the Cuban economy are still in force, with serious implications for our population. It is not proposed to ease the embargo.”

The United States announced this week that it will resume commercial flights from Havana and increase consular services and visa processing for Cuban citizens, as well as transfers, a measure that, according to Washington, “reflects some of the more than 240 sanctions imposed under the Trump administration.”

The Cuban Foreign Ministry had said in a statement that “these measures will not be reversed,” although they represent “a limited step in the right direction, in response to the condemnation of the Cuban people and government.”