The United States “understands” Mexico’s position on the Summit of the Americas, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Monday, after Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador made good on his threat to skip the event because not all countries in the Western Hemisphere were invited.
Price said US officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, had been in talks in recent hours with officials from countries neighboring the United States, including Mexico, about participating in the summit.
“There is certainly a diversity of opinion when it comes to who should be invited to the Summit of the Americas“, Price said. “We have done everything possible to incorporate the points of view of the hemisphere.”
Although President López Obrador will not attend, Mexico will participate and will be represented by Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, Price said.
The boycott of López Obrador and possibly some other leaders could diminish the relevance of the summit in Los Angeles, in which the United States intends to address migration and regional economic issues.
Price defended Washington’s decision to exclude Cuba, Venezuela Y Nicaragua of the meeting, which is being held this week in Los Angeles, saying the meeting’s convener has broad discretion over who participates.
“Unfortunately, it is notable that one of the key elements of this summit is democratic governance, and these countries are not examples, to put it mildly, of democratic governance,” Price said, citing the recent jailing of artists in Cuba, pressure on civil society in Nicaragua and the leadership of President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela that is not recognized by the United States.
Representatives of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, whom Washington recognizes as the country’s legitimate leader, as well as non-governmental delegates from the three banned countries, would attend the summit, Price said.
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