More alliance with US adversaries: Nicaragua and Venezuela respond to Summit of the Americas

The Ninth Summit of the Americas The United States did not serve to reassert its influence on the continent. The media highlighted the meeting with Washington’s decision Do not invite authoritarian regimes CubaAnd the Nicaragua s Venezuela; Only one Central American country was present and the host country was showered with general questions. The meeting in Los Angeles was not the face of a government’s diplomatic success Joe Biden.

Perhaps symbolizing the loss of power traditionally attributed to the United States, many presidents made diplomatic contempt by not attending despite their invitation, including three Central American nations that at various times depended heavily on the United States: Guatemala, Honduras, and the Savior. .

Another symbolic fact, Kind of a difficult situation, it was the decision of Nicaragua and Venezuelain order to strengthen military and energy relations specifically with Russia and Iran, respectively, When the summit was held in Los Angeles.

“The summit was not successful, as far as i know. This is evidence that the United States was not able to unite the hemispheres and, moreover, was left halfway with the aim of promoting democracy.” Meetings before the arrival of Heads of State and Government.

Biden’s government in the call emphasized the cause of democracy To justify its decision not to invite Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. According to analysts consulted at the time by DIARIO DE CUBA, There was diplomatic mismanagement by Washington About this issue, which ended up being the focus of much media attention, is above the agenda itself.

The White House, as is the norm in democratic governments, has tried to discuss the issue of immigration with its neighbors, but the absence of Latin American heads of state who have generated the largest number of immigration to the United States in recent years, such as Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Venezuela, gives less meaning to the agreements and discussions .

“If countries that are not exporting large numbers of immigrants are there, there is some silence that would hurt, and the scale of the nature of immigration achieved at the top may be insufficient,” says Hernandez of Los Angeles.

US Vice President Kamala Harris participated in several technical round tables with businessmen from the private sector from her country, with whom she announced various projects for Central America worth $3.2 billion. Only the newly elected president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, was the only Central American president.

president of mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obradorone from Bolivia, Louis ArsHonduras, Xiomara Castro de Zelaya openly expressed his distaste for the “exceptions” offered by the host country and decided not to attend despite receiving invitations.

Meanwhile, the Salvadoran president Neb BokelBecause of its own agenda of conflict with the United States and its own agenda Organization of American States (OAS), did not travel to the meeting. While the President of Guatemala, Alejandro Giamatti, was absent due to “schedule” problems, but in fact his response to questions posed by the United States could be his decision to renew Consuelo Porras as attorney general, accused of halting anti-corruption investigations in the Central American country .

In the presence of 23 leaders, out of a total of 35 possible, This was the Summit of the Americas, which recorded the worst attendance. Political scientist Xavier Rodríguez-Franco, who holds a master’s degree in Latin American studies from the University of Salamanca (Spain), asserts that this inter-American space is already declining, having been originally conceived in the mid-1990s as a social diplomacy aimed at promoting free trade in the Western Hemisphere.

“They don’t follow a strict cadence, and four years ago, when it was last held, it was already very lackluster due to the last-minute absence of President Donald Trump,” said this political analyst when consulted by Diario de Cuba. .

Besides the common space for discussions and exhibitions, American diplomacy has made an effort to ease tensions with strategic Latin American nations. In this direction, Biden’s bilateral meetings with Alberto Fernandez (Argentina), Jair Bolsonaro (Brazil) and Gabriel Boric (Chile) were recorded.

While the White House sought to hold a summit that would not spiral out of control, and to maintain an atmosphere of cordiality with its neighbors in Latin America and the Caribbean, Daniel Ortega’s regime in Nicaragua He announced his decision to lend this country of Russian military activity on its territoryAt a time of great tension between Moscow and Washington over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

together, Nicolas Maduro He arrived on tour in Tehran, after being in Turkey and Algeria, to present his “anti-imperialist diplomatic agenda”. The United States imposes sanctions on the oil industries of Iran and VenezuelaHowever, both countries have succeeded in continuing to produce and market the fuel in the face of the tacit acceptance of the White House. These two countries have also strengthened their relations of cooperation in this field.

Venezuela was a topic of discussion. Although Nicolas Maduro was not invited to the summit, he was not present either. Juan GuaidoWho is still considered by the White House as “acting president”. Biden had a more than 17-minute call with the opposition leader, in which he endorsed the United States’ recognition of him, but still expressed his displeasure.

In the case of Venezuela, according to what journalist Hernandez told DIARIO DE CUBA, the White House should have avoided Guaido’s presence. In Los Angeles to avoid further defections of heads of state, where several countries allied with the United States stopped granting the status of “interim president” to the Venezuelan opposition leader, who appeared at the forefront at the beginning of 2019 and received recognition from more than 60 countries.

And Cuba? Although the Castro regime avoided a diplomatic provocation such as that by Daniel Ortega and Nicolas Maduro, in response to not being invited to the summit, the Cuban issue involved many debates in Los Angeles. The Cuban activists meet with Foreign Minister Anthony BlinkenIt was the first high-profile contact since Joe Biden became president of the United States.

In other cases, numbers like Gabriel Borek who managed to avoid making a statement on Cuba in recent months, in the face of a question from a journalist in the framework of the summit He had no choice but to respond. Thus, the President of Chile ended up saying publicly that the presence of political prisoners in Cuba was unacceptable.