Close up of a family photo in the Ninth Summit of the Americas showing former president of the US empire, Joe Biden, surrounded by some regional presidents. Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—The Dominican Republic, under what many describe as pressure from the US empire, has excluded Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua from the 10th Summit of the Americas. The summit is scheduled for December 4-5 in Punta Cana, barring any regional uproar that prevents it from going ahead.
In a statement released this Tuesday, September 30, the Dominican Foreign Ministry said that the exclusion was due to “the current context of political polarization.” The government of President Luis Abinader said it decided to “prioritize the success of the meeting, extending the invitation to as many countries as possible.”
The statement read that Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela are “countries that, for various reasons, have decided not to join the OAS,” adding they “also did not participate in the last edition of the Summit of the Americas.” In reality, they were excluded by the government of the US settler entity—led by then-President Joe Biden—when the event was held in Los Angeles, California, in 2022.
The Summit of the Americas is a diplomatic gathering of Latin American and Caribbean heads of state. It bears a clear “made in the US empire” imprint, as most of its organization and logistics are handled by the US empire’s Department of State via the now almost defunct Organization of American States (OAS). The first summit was held in Miami, Florida, in 1994, and since its inception, it has been a US colonial tool to control the region it considers its backyard.
The Dominican Republic argued that excluding these three nations “is the decision that, given the hemispheric circumstances, favors the largest turnout and ensures the development of the forum.”
“In conclusion, the Dominican Republic has adopted the decision it considers most favorable to guaranteeing the broadest possible participation in the 10th Summit of the Americas,” the foreign ministry said. It refused to explain what it meant by “political dialogue.”
In 2022, when the three nations with progressive governments were excluded from the Ninth Summit of the Americas, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) rejected “the arbitrary, ideologically and politically motivated exclusion of several of our countries.”
Cuba’s reaction
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez condemned the decision in a statement expressing deep concern and rejection.
Cuba described the measure as a capitulation to unilateral pressure from the US empire’s secretary of state, which makes for a historic regression in the summit system of the hemisphere. Cuba further explained how the exclusion makes a respectful and productive exchange between Latin America, the Caribbean, and the US empire impossible.
It also noted the US colony-imposed decision reinforces the Monroe Doctrine and a “gunboat policy” that threatens regional peace, security, and stability. This decision challenges the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, which was adopted by the states of the region through CELAC to promote self-determination and unity in diversity.
ALBA-TCP rejection
The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America–People’s Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) condemned the Dominican Republic’s political capitulation to the US colony.
“ALBA-TCP takes note of the statement issued by the Government of the Dominican Republic, which demonstrates its decision to subordinate the organization of the Summit to instructions from Washington,” the regional organization said. “This act is a public confession of a political capitulation that degrades the status of the host.”
ALBA-TCP, created at the initiative of the late Cuban and Bolivarian revolutionary leaders Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez, emphasized that “recent events confirm that the so-called Summit of the Americas will go down as one of those sterile moments, doomed from the start,” serving as a notably prophetic statement.
The following is an unofficial translation of its full statement:
ALBA-TCP takes note of the statement issued by the government of the Dominican Republic, which highlights its decision to subordinate the organization of the Summit to instructions from Washington. This act is a public confession of a political capitulation that degrades the status of the host country.
For free, sovereign and independent peoples, non-participation in a space today clearly controlled by imperial interests constitutes a distinction. It confirms that our independence and sovereignty place us in a distinct dimension, characteristic of free peoples, marked by dignity and alienated from scenarios set up for obedience and submission.
The history of Latin America and the Caribbean is marked by both attempts at domination and liberating achievements. Recent episodes confirm that the so-called Summit of the Americas will go down as one of those sterile moments, doomed from the start.
Caracas, October 1, 2025
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Dominican grassroots response
Grassroots organizations in the Dominican Republic published a statement on Wednesday rejecting the Abinader government’s decision to exclude Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
The document, signed by multiple social movements, highlights the Dominican tradition of struggle “against colonialism, foreign interference, and for good coexistence among peoples.” It strongly condemned the decision of the Dominican government, which “does not respond to the principles of the Dominican Constitution, nor to International Law, nor to the spirit of brotherhood among peoples, but rather constitutes a servile submission to the dictates of the United States Department of State and the OAS.”
The organizations noted that the OAS, historically a servant of the US empire, endorsed the US colonial military invasion of the Dominican Republic in 1965.
They stated that “the Summit of the Americas is not a genuine space for dialogue, but rather an instrument of US imperialism to consolidate its hegemony, its interference, and its plundering of our countries.”
The statement criticizes Luis Abinader for acting as a mere “colonial governor” who bows to foreign interests and denies the Dominican Republic’s tradition of sovereignty and solidarity. This stance, they said, does not represent the Dominican people or the greater Latin American and Caribbean homeland.
It called on social, union, peasant, student, and community organizations throughout the Dominican Republic and Abya Yala to reject this “colonialist monstrosity” and to build a true “Summit of the Peoples of Abya Yala,” based on solidarity and the sovereignty of nations.
Additionally, they demand that the Caribbean be respected as a Zone of Peace, and that for this to be accomplished, the US empire must withdraw its troops, ships, and nuclear submarines from the region, condemning the unilateral attacks that have killed young Caribbean people.
The statement concludes that the unity of Our America “can only be built without exclusions, without impositions, and in defense of the sovereignty of each nation.”
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/AU
