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Diaz-Canel accuses the United States and the Summit of the Americas

This content was published on Jun 08, 2022 – 14:18

John Palop

Havana, June 8 (EFE). Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel criticized the United States on Wednesday for excluding his country from the Summit of the Americas and writing off the appointment as a missed opportunity due to an outdated discriminatory policy and Washington’s interference.

In a speech at the Palace of the Revolution (the seat of government) about those excluded from this meeting in Los Angeles (USA), Diaz-Canel emphasized: “I am changing Cuba, I am changing America. But the empire has not changed.” That heads of state and government join this Wednesday.

In his view, the Summit of the Americas is reissuing the Monroe Doctrine – summed up in the phrase “America for Americans” – a “neo-colonial proposition” from which “substantive discussion” cannot be expected.

For this reason, he considered it worth not attending the meeting in Los Angeles: “We are honored to lead the (excluded) list with Nicaragua and Venezuela.”

Díaz-Canel also attacked the White House’s argument for excluding Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela for not being democratic and stated that “the United States lacks the moral authority to talk about democracy” when it does not promote it inside or outside the United States. … its limits.

He pointed out that Washington equates democracy and capitalism, while in his opinion they are “opposing concepts”, and stressed that “democracy and the promotion of human rights do not seem to be among the principles of its foreign policy.”

In his view, the meeting will not address “the most serious problems in Latin America and the Caribbean”, such as the causes of immigration, economic development, inequality, racism, discrimination and technology transfer, but rather is merely a “propaganda show” aimed at the “domestic politics” of the United States .

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On immigration, he said that it is linked to the backwardness caused by the economic system and neo-liberalism, and that the “oppressive formulas” proposed by the United States “are not the solution” to its causes.

In the particular case of Cuban immigration, which has grown significantly in recent months, he noted that the United States is applying the “perfect recipe” to encourage irregular immigration from his country by maintaining economic sanctions while providing facilities for Cubans arriving there. its lands.

The Cuban president lamented that the United States missed the opportunity to make a “super contribution” in the region. “It could have been otherwise,” Diaz-Canel said, noting that “humility,” “self-criticism,” “respect” and “solidarity” on the part of Washington were necessary for this.

He also used his speech to highlight the general “rejection” that Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua’s exceptions have created in the region.

At this point, he thanked the “notable absences” of leaders who did not attend the Summit of the Americas in protest of Washington’s veto, such as the Mexico Summit, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Civil society exceptions

Díaz-Canel deplored the exclusion of government representatives from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, but also highlighted that some members of Cuba’s pro-government civil society were unable to travel to the United States.

“They are not satisfied with defining who and how the Cuban government should be, and now they intend to define who the representatives of civil society are,” he criticized the president.

According to the Cuban authorities, 145 representatives of pro-government civil society were invited to the Peoples Summit, an alternative forum held in parallel in Los Angeles, but did not receive a visa.

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“We regret that there was no significant participation” in the People’s Summit, he added.

The Cuban government and some of these civil society representatives have individually accused the US Consulate in Havana of refusing to grant them visas on political grounds.

The diplomatic mission noted on Twitter that the nonimmigrant visas they requested have not been processed there since 2017 – as a result of health incidents that have yet to be clarified – but in Guyana. He denied refusing to grant visas.

For their part, at least three Cuban activists critical of the government denounced in recent days that their country’s authorities did not allow them to travel to the United States to participate in civil society forums at the Summit of the Americas.

One of them, Selye Gonzalez, explained to Efe that she had applied, received an invitation from the Summit of the Americas, and obtained a work visa to travel to Los Angeles at the US Consulate in Havana. Then State Security told him that they would not allow him to leave the country. EFE

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