Bolivian President Luis Arce. Photo: AFP/Aizar Raides.
This Tuesday, May 10, Bolivian President Luis Arce Catacora announced that he will not attend the Summit of the Americas if nations from the region are excluded from the event, in a post he wrote on his Twitter account.
“Consistent with the principles and values of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, I reaffirm that a Summit of the Americas that excludes American countries will not be a full Summit of the Americas, and if the exclusion of sister nations persists, then I will not participate in it,” stressed the president. Arce added that his nation bases its relations on diplomacy “with inclusion, solidarity, complementarity, respect for sovereignty, self-determination and collective construction of a culture of dialogue and peace.”
Several presidents and leaders of the region have made similar statements of rejection and non-participation in the summit in opposition to the idea of the United States excluding nations such as Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from the meeting.
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For its part, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and its leaders in particular, such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago, Amery Browne, and the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, rejected the exclusion of countries like Cuba and Venezuela.
El Grupo de Puebla, made up of more than fifty former presidents and leaders of the area, also showed its refusal of the exclusion promoted by Washington.
(Hilo) Consecuente con los principios y valores del Estado Plurinacional de #Bolivia, reafirmo que una Cumbre de las Américas que excluye a países americanos no será una Cumbre de las Américas plena, y de persistir la exclusión de pueblos hermanos, no participaré de la misma. pic.twitter.com/aicTZxYnWm
— Luis Alberto Arce Catacora (Lucho Arce) (@LuchoXBolivia) May 11, 2022
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The Ninth Summit of the Americas is scheduled for this June in Los Angeles, United States. It will be held for the first time in this nation since the first occasion took place in 1994.
Earlier on Tuesday, the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, also assured that he will not attend the meeting if all countries are not invited, and announced that Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard would go instead as a sign of protest.
The US Undersecretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, Brian Nichols, confirmed last Monday that Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela will not receive invitations.
Last week, the Bolivian president called for all the countries of the region to be invited to the Ninth Summit of the Americas, scheduled for June 8 and 10.
Featured image: Bolivian President Luis Arce. Photo: AFP/Aizar Raides.
(Alba Ciudad) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
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