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Mexico and Argentina line up and add pressure to Biden to include everyone in the Summit of the Americas

2022-05-27T04:00:45.283Z


López Obrador trusts to define this Friday the presence of his Government at the summit: "We are evaluating a series of factors"


Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and his Argentine counterpart, Santiago Andrés Cafiero, in Mexico City on May 26. Isaac Esquivel (EFE)

The ninth Summit of the Americas, convened from June 6 to 10 in Los Angeles, has anticipated a diagnosis of the balances and tensions of the continent even before its celebration.

From the demand for an invitation from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua to a broader reflection on the role of regional organizations such as the Organization of American States (OAS), the president of Mexico first generated a debate around his presence.

Later he settled in a pulse with the United States so that it includes all the governments.

And finally he looked for complicities for his last battle.

The Executive of Alberto Fernández, president of Argentina, has been advocating for the participation of the whole world for weeks, but this Thursday he has openly joined this pressure strategy.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and his Argentine counterpart, Santiago Cafiero, have met in Mexico City to review the bilateral agenda and strengthen their alliance in Latin America, already driven by close collaboration during the pandemic.

Both included in a joint declaration an "urgent call for the IX Summit of the Americas to be consolidated as a space for plural, open and inclusive dialogue, in which all the countries of the region have the opportunity to contribute to the construction of the consensus that the hemisphere needs”.

In this context, they also highlighted their commitment to the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) - now led by Argentina after receiving the baton from Mexico - as a framework for regional cooperation.

Added to this is the hardening of Fernández's own speech.

The president has not yet decided whether or not he will participate in the conclave in Los Angeles.

But he has given clues as to what his position is on the matter.

In a conversation with education ministers from the region held in Buenos Aires under the umbrella of CELAC, he criticized the blockades against Cuba and Venezuela.

“I won't shut up anymore, what I say here I say in the north”, he warned.

“In our continent we have a country that has been economically blocked for six decades and survives as best it can;

we should be very ashamed that this happens”, he said, in relation to the US embargo on Cuba.

“We also have a country that has been blocked for five years due to a political dispute and in the midst of a pandemic they blocked it, when solidarity was more necessary than ever,” he added, referring to Venezuela.

The White House has already sent the invitations to the leaders of the continent, but has not yet closed the participation.

And if the list of attendees is not yet known, it is also not known whether the representatives of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua would finally agree to travel to the United States.

To begin with, the main Chavista leaders are claimed by the justice of the North American country despite the fact that Joe Biden decided to send a message of relaxation with the relaxation of oil sanctions on Caracas and the recovery of a less restrictive policy towards Cuba.

In addition, the countries that make up the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), an anti-imperialist platform promoted by the late Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro, have chosen to meet in Havana in an alternative meeting.

“We are evaluating a series of factors,” López Obrador said during his morning press conference this Thursday.

The Mexican president has not yet defined the presence of his government at the summit, but he has clearly subordinated his attendance to the inclusion of the whole world.

“I want it to be on the record that tomorrow, it is probable, I am not sure, we are going to define the situation at the summit, tomorrow morning”, he stated at the end of his appearance.

The president, who has already received his invitation, defends that "whoever does not want to go should not go, but he should not exclude anyone."

Mexico's participation in the conclave is not in danger, since a delegation led by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs would attend in any case.

But the possible absence of the head of state sowed concern in diplomatic circles in Washington and triggered a response from the neighboring country.

The United States turned to a negotiation and former senator Chris Dodd, government envoy for the organization of the summit, met with López Obrador at the request of Biden to test the ground.

Last November, the US president, the Mexican and the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, agreed to speed up the integration of the three North American countries.

And the plans consisted in some way of launching that alliance in Los Angeles with the presentation of several joint agreements on economic, migration and security matters.

López Obrador, despite everything, has launched a message of equidistance.

“The only thing I can tell you is that 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 person”, he stated.

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.

Even so, he cannot live with his back to the United States, on which his economy depends.

With these premises, he prepares to define his uncertain participation in the summit.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-05-27

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