President Alberto Fernández of Argentina during his speech at the 9th Summit of the Americas, on June 9, 2022. Photo: Twitter/@Joseescorcia_19
The President of Argentina, Alberto Fernández strongly criticized the US’s exclusion of countries and its blockade policy during his speech at the 9th Summit of the Americas on Thursday, June 9.
“Being a host does not grant the authority to impose a right of admission on the member countries of the continent,” said Fernández, alluding to the decision by the United States not to invite Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua to the ninth edition of the Summit of the Americas, held in Los Angeles, California, during June 6-10.
“We definitely would have wanted a different Summit of the Americas,” President Fernández stated. “The silence of the absent [countries] is an interpellation. In order that this does not happen again, I would like to make it clear, for the sake of the future, that the fact that [a country] is the host of the Summit does not grant it the authority to impose a ‘right of admission’ on the member countries of the continent.”
The Argentine president spoke in his role as pro tempore president of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). He stressed that in CELAC all its members coexist within a criteria of diversity and mutual respect, and although points of view can vary, the concerns of the members are similar.
RELATED CONTENT: Summit of the Americas Marked by Brutal Police Repression
#ENVIDEO| El presidente de #Argentina🇦🇷 y actual presidente de la CELAC @alferdez: "Lamento que no hayamos podido estar presentes todos los que deberíamos estar, en este ámbito tan propicio para el debate"
→ https://t.co/tqMKHfl0b4 pic.twitter.com/kRZvj4GTAQ
— teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) June 9, 2022
He added that all countries should have been invited, since the Summit should be a space for debate.
Fernández condemnes blockades imposed on Cuba and Venezuela
In his speech Fernández also condemned US-imposed economic blockades in the continent. “Latin America looks with pain at the suffering endured by two of our sister nations,” the Argentine president remarked. “Cuba is enduring a blockade of more than six decades imposed during the Cold War, and Venezuela is enduring another one. Such measures have the aim of hurting governments, but, in fact, it is the people who are harmed.”
#Argentina: #Cuba soporta bloqueo desde hace 6 décadas impuesto en tiempos de guerra fría. #Venezuela tolera otro… con medidas de este tipo se busca condicionar a los gobiernos, pero en los hechos sólo se lastima a los pueblos. Pdte Biden es momento de abrirse de modo fraterno” pic.twitter.com/nIYatc5vHu
— Rolando Segura (@rolandoteleSUR) June 9, 2022
Fernández urged US President Joe Biden to launch a regional, fraternal, respectful, open policy in favor of the region’s common interests. “The years prior to your arrival to the United Sates government were marked by an immensely damaging policy for our region exercised by the previous administration,” said Fernández, addressing Biden. “It is time to change such policies and repair the damage.”
Biden invited to CELAC summit
President Fernández also invited Biden to participate in the next CELAC summit. “President Biden, I’m here to try to build bridges and tear down walls,” he continued. “As the president of CELAC, I want to invite you to join us in our next plenary meeting.”
He also expressed his desire for the region to enjoy a future without divisions, in pursuit of prosperity and equality. “I dream that in a fraternally united America, we all can commit our efforts so that all human beings who inhabit our continent have a right to bread, to land, to a roof over their heads and a decent job,” Fernández stressed.
OAS functioning should change
As for the OAS, Fernández considered, “If the Organization of American States wants to command respect and regain credibility as the regional political platform for which it was created, it must be restructured by immediately removing those who are leading it.”
📣 "Estamos frente a la oportunidad de plantearnos el desarrollo de una verdadera Asociación Estratégica Común", dijo el presidente Alberto Fernández (@alferdez) al instar por una América sin exclusiones en la XI #CumbreDeLasAméricas.#AméricaEsConTodoshttps://t.co/ch95Zjirt2 pic.twitter.com/uzxkjtY8Lo
— Casa Rosada (@CasaRosada) June 9, 2022
The Argentine president criticized the use of the OAS to promote destabilization in the region, such as when it backed the coup d’état in Bolivia in 2019. “The OAS has been used as an agent that facilitated the coup in Bolivia,” he decried. “The leadership of the Inter-American Development Bank, which was historically in Latin American hands, has been appropriated. [US] Rapprochement with Cuba was disrupted.”
He also made reference to former US President Donald Trump’s meddling in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which led to the granting of an unpayable loan to Argentina, in order to try to prevent Fernández’s party from coming to power.
“In this Summit we must analyze the present and think about tomorrow, in the pursuit of a creative reconstruction of multilateralism,” underlined Fernández. “A single point of view cannot be imposed in a world that demands symphonic harmony in the face of common problems.”
(Telesur) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/GMS/SC
