Summit of the Americas: The U.S. Underestimated Regional Support for Cuba

The United States tried to impose its policy of hostility towards Cuba at the IX Summit of the Americas, which is taking place today in Los Angeles, but it underestimated regional support for the Caribbean nation.

The U.S. government, taking advantage of its status as host, excluded several countries prior to the event, which sparked an extensive debate and a genuine and spontaneous solidarity in the face of this discriminatory action.

As reflected a statement of the Cuban government on Monday, the exclusions from the IX Summit confirms that Washington uses these multilateral mechanisms as an instrument of its hegemonic system in the region, but can’t continue treating the Latin American peoples as it was the case in the 20^th century.

In the document, which had ample international repercussions, Havana thanked and respected the dignified, courageous and legitimate position of several governments in defense of the participation of all, under equal conditions.

The declaration especially recognizes the leadership of the Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and the clear and early attitude of the countries that make up Caricom and the leaders of Honduras and Bolivia.

It also includes that the position of Argentina, as president pro tempore of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, shows the opinion of the majority in the region, against a selective summit, as many governments of South and Central America have expressed in public and privately.

In the declaration, Havana ratifies its support for genuine efforts to promote integration based on civilized coexistence, peace, respect for diversity and solidarity, and recalls its widely recognized endorsement of supporting and contributing to solutions to problems most pressing in the region.

The Summit, which began this Monday, has high-level sessions scheduled for next Thursday and Friday, but there are still unknowns about which representatives will attend.

The program provides for meetings with representatives of civil society, a space in which the participation of genuine Cuban representatives was also hindered, while groups attached to subversion programs against the island were favored.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff