Trinidad and Tobago criticizes Cuba's exclusion at the Summit of the Americas

Port of Spain, April 27 (RHC) -- Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley questioned the selective exclusion of Cuba and other countries from the 9th Summit of the Americas by the United States; a position shared today by several governments in the region.

The organizers of the meeting, to be held in June in Los Angeles, intend to deny participation to Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua and put pressure on the nations of the region that favor their presence, Havana denounced on Monday.

For Rowley, the decision to veto Cuban participation is an obstacle for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), given the excellent cooperation ties in different areas and the shared vision on priority issues for the region.

"That will pose a difficulty for CARICOM because our principles in dealing with Cuba are quite clear. We have no sanctions against Cuba, and we do not regard it as the devil incarnate," he said on his return from a meeting that organization in Barbados.

In the meeting, he related, they discussed the representations of the referred countries to the Summit in Los Angeles, which according to Washington, in the case of Venezuela, should fall on the self-proclaimed president Juan Guaidó.

"We do not recognize that there is a president Guaidó and the United Nations recognized that the legitimate government of Venezuela is the one presided by (Nicolás) Maduro, so the summit (...) for officials who do not belong to the government is a difficulty," Rowley said.

The local agency AZP News recalled that when Trinidad and Tobago assumed the pro tempore presidency of Caricom, it had to face a similar situation with Guaidó's representatives recognized as legitimate by countries to international bodies such as the Organization of American States.

Other countries of the continent questioned President Joe Biden's government's intention to exclude Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua from the IX Summit of the Americas.

For example, the Mexican Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said that his country will ask the United States for the participation of all the countries of the continent in the meeting.

"Mexico would like all countries to be invited, not some and not others. Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela are part of the Americas and should be there," Ebrard said at a press conference the day before.

The Trinidad and Tobago premier confirmed the Cuban Foreign Ministry's allegations about the pressures by sharing details of a meeting between the U.S. government's advisor for the Summit of the Americas, Chris Dodd, and CARICOM representatives.