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López Obrador makes it clear that he will not attend the Summit of the Americas if Biden does not invite all the countries in the region

2022-05-27T19:00:23.059Z


The Mexican president insists that the United States not exclude anyone, but assures that he awaits a formal response to define his presence. "It's not about confronting each other," he says.


The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, during one of his morning press conferences. José Méndez (EFE)

First it was “next week”, then “Monday or Tuesday” and then “probably tomorrow”.

The pulse between Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the White House for the United States to invite all the governments of the region to the Summit of the Americas has become a tug-of-war in which the positions are increasingly clear, although no one dares to settle the discussion.

And the Mexican president has made it clear that he will not attend if Joe Biden does not also invite the representatives of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

However, he has resisted defining his presence at the conclave, which will be held from June 6 to 10 in Los Angeles, pending an official response from Washington.

"We are going to wait for them to formally respond to us and from there we are going to make a decision," he reiterated this Friday.

López Obrador insists that his US counterpart, Joe Biden, include representatives from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

“Mexico is going to participate, nothing more than if all the countries are not invited, I would not attend.

I am proposing that all countries be invited.

Some are already stating that they are not going to go, but that it be those countries, that the invitation be made to all.

Do not exclude.

Is it going to be the Summit of the Americas or is it going to be the Friends of America Summit?” the president stated this Friday at his morning press conference.

The pressure from the Mexican president, joined by the Argentine government of Alberto Fernández, has not subsided, but neither has the Biden Administration finished closing, at least officially, the list of guests.

The Cuban Miguel Díaz-Canel anticipated in any case that he would not attend and convened in Havana an alternative meeting of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), an anti-imperialist organization founded by the late Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez.

“I am still waiting for the invitations to arrive to all the countries of the Americas so that it will indeed be a Summit of the Americas,” said López Obrador, who in any case has expressed his desire to avoid tensions with Washington.

“This is not about confrontation.

President Biden is a respectful people, he always talks to me about respect for sovereignty, he always thinks that we must maintain a relationship on an equal footing and we are waiting for the principle that countries are free, independent, to be put into practice and sovereign and that no one can be excluded”, he added.

If the participation of Mexico is not in danger, since in any case a delegation headed by the Secretary of Foreign Relations, Marcelo Ebrard, would travel to Los Angeles, the probable absence of the head of state caused concern in diplomatic circles.

Washington tried to avoid it through negotiation.

A Biden confidant, former senator Chris Dodd, turned to a negotiation with López Obrador and the ambassador in Mexico City, Ken Salazar, has multiplied contacts with the president and his cabinet.

The purpose of the White House was to present several joint North American agreements on economic, health, migration and security issues at the summit.

López Obrador, however, came to launch an equidistant message on Thursday.

“We have a very good relationship with the United States government, with President Biden.

And we have a very good relationship with the Government of Cuba and I consider that President Miguel Díaz-Canel is a man of integrity, a person with principles, an honest people”, he advanced.

The Mexican government has recovered a policy of active support for Havana and three weeks ago the president traveled to Cuba after a tour of the northern triangle of Central America.

But the president knows that he can live with his back to the United States, on which the economy depends on him.

With these premises, his participation is still up in the air.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-05-27

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