The Nations of Latin America and the Caribbean Unite in Boycott of Biden’s Summit of the Americas
Tanya Wadhwa
The United States is having trouble advancing its traditional imperialist agenda in Latin America. The Biden administration has been facing strong resistance from scores of Latin American and Caribbean countries with regard to the 9th Summit of the Americas, to be hosted by the US in Los Angeles, California. In recent days, leaders of over a dozen countries in the region have condemned the exclusion of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela from the Summit, and have announced that they would boycott the conference if all countries were not invited.
On May 18, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) met with a US delegation to dissuade his nation’s boycott, and to discuss his government’s proposal to invite all Latin American and Caribbean countries, without exception, to take part in the Summit of the Americas, scheduled for June 6-10. The meeting at the National Palace was attended by Mexican Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, the US ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, and the US Special Advisor for the Summit of the Americas, Christopher J. Dodd.
Following the meeting, Foreign Minister Ebrard told local media that the country hoped to receive a response from the US regarding Mexico’s proposal by Thursday, May 19. “Dodd said, ‘I’ll take (the proposal) and I’ll give you a response in the next few hours or tomorrow, President Biden’s response to everything President López Obrador proposed,’” said Ebrard. He also mentioned Mexico would not pressure the United States for a response. “It’s their decision,” he stated.
Wednesday’s meeting took place in the wake of President AMLO’s announcement that he would not attend the Summit if all countries in the region were not invited, provoking a series of boycotts from other Latin American leaders.
On May 2, the US Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols said that the government of Cuban President Miguel Díaz Canel, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro were unlikely to receive invitations. On May 10, after having criticized their exclusion for days, during his daily morning press conference, AMLO announced that “if not everyone is invited, a representation of the Mexican government will go. But I wouldn’t go. Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard would represent me.”
When asked if his absence would be a protest message, AMLO said “yes, because I don’t want the same policy to continue in America.” The Mexican President added that “we should unite, even if we have differences, we can resolve them by listening to each other and dialoguing.” He pointed out that “if a country does not want to attend, then that is its right. However, how can a summit be ‘of America’ without all the countries of America? From where are those who are not invited? Are they from another unknown continent, planet, or galaxy?”
AMLO particularly insisted that Cuba should be there. Earlier this month, AMLO visited Cuba as a part of his official tour of Central America and Cuba. On May 8, Mexico and Cuba signed an agreement to strengthen bilateral relations between the two nations, and promote development in the educational, cultural, commercial and economic areas, while ratifying cooperation to face the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and other disasters and pandemics. Following the visit, the Mexican President condemned the over 60-year-long US blockade on Cuba, calling on his American counterpart to end the blockade, “a genocidal policy.”
After AMLO, Bolivian President Luis Arce was the second leader to announce that he would not join the Summit if all countries were not invited. “A Summit of the Americas which excludes American countries will not be a full Summit of the Americas. If the exclusion of our brothers continues, I will not participate in it,” said President Arce.
Former Bolivian President Evo Morales acknowledged the decision of several Latin American leaders not to attend the Summit. “We highlight the brave decision of our President Luis Arce, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico and Caribbean countries that in protest against the exclusion of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela will not attend the Summit of the Americas, which will be a US Summit of subjugation, blackmail and chastisement,” Morales tweeted recently. Days ago, he had tweeted, “the Summit of the Americas is about to fail, not because of the lack of will for dialogue on the part of the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean, but because of the arrogance and contempt of the United States against our peoples.”
Likewise, leaders of the 14 Caribbean countries that make up the Community of Caribbean States (CARICOM) also announced a collective boycott of the Summit if any nations are excluded. CARICOM also rejected the US invitation to self-proclaimed president of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó. Sir Ronald Sanders, the current Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and to the Organization of American States (OAS), highlighted that in March, in the midst of the oil crisis due to the Russia–Ukraine war and subsequent sanctions on Russia, the Biden administration approached the Maduro administration to discuss energy security, not Guaidó. Sanders added that “it is about time that we get rid of the myth that Juan Guaidó is the president of Venezuela.”
Meanwhile, Honduran President Xiomara Castro, Argentine President Alberto Fernández, and Chilean Foreign Minister Antonia Urrejola also expressed their rejection and called for an inclusive summit.
On May 17, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei also said that he would not attend the Summit, but for different reasons. He rejected criticism from the Biden administration for reappointing an attorney general, whom the US had accused of protecting the corrupt. During an event at the Mexican Embassy, Giammattei said that “a country’s sovereignty must be respected.”
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil is also not expected to attend the Summit. Bolsonaro, who had admired former US President Donald Trump, has never spoken to Biden, and the diplomatic relations between the two countries have gone cold since Biden’s inauguration last year.
The event, which was supposed to be a key moment for the Biden administration’s diplomatic efforts in the region, now faces the challenge of ensuring that it is truly representative.
The Biden administration has made clear that invitations have not gone out and decisions about guests are still being finalized.
In a desperate attempt to meet López Obrador and other leaders halfway, recently, the Biden administration eased some restrictions on Cuban travel and family remittances, and some oil sanctions on Venezuela.
Concurrent to the Summit of the Americas, a coalition of over 100 organizations have organized the People’s Summit for Democracy that will take place in Los Angeles from June 8-10 and seeks to present counter-narrative and proposals: “As Biden’s Summit of the Americas is marked by exclusion and imposition of political agenda, our Summit will bring together diverse voices from across the Americas in order to create our shared vision of democracy and a dignified life for our people.”
(Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch, an international media organization with the mission of highlighting voices from people’s movements and organizations across the globe.)
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Mexico Leads in Opposing the Cuba Blockade and US Imperialism
W.T. Whitney
Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) visited Cuba on May 8-9. He began by highlighting regional unity as good for equal promotion of economic development for all states. AMLO addressed themes he had discussed previously when Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel visited Mexico City in 2021.
At that time AMLO, by virtue of Mexico serving as president pro tempore, presided over a summit meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean states (CELAC). He proposed building “in the Western Hemisphere something similar to what was the economic community that gave rise to the current European Union.”
Two days later, AMLO included Diaz-Canel in a celebration of the 200th anniversary of Mexican independence. Praising Cuba’s dignity in resisting U.S. aggression, he called for an end to the blockade.
Months later in Havana, on May 8, 2022, AMLO, speaking before Cuban leaders and others, recalled “times when the United States wanted to own the continent …. They were at their peak in annexations, deciding on independence wherever, creating new countries, freely associated states, protectorates, military bases, and … invasions.”
U.S. leaders, he declared, need to be convinced “that a new relationship among the peoples of America … is possible.” He called for “replacing the OAS with a truly autonomous organism.” CELAC presumably would be that alternative alliance. Formed in 2011, CELAC includes all Western Hemisphere nations except for the United States and Canada.
The United States in 1948 established the Organization of American States (OAS) for Cold War purposes. When the OAS expelled Cuba in 1962, only Mexico’s government opposed that action and later Mexico was one of two nations rejecting an OAS demand to break off diplomatic relations with Cuba.
AMLO predicted that “by 2051, China will exert domination over 64.8% of the world market and the United States only 25%, or even 10%.” He suggested that, “Washington, finding this unacceptable,” would be tempted “to resolve that disparity through force.”
AMLO rejected “growing competition and disunity that will inevitably lead to decline in all the Americas.” He called for “Integration with respect to sovereignties and forms of government and effective application of a treaty of economic-commercial development suiting everybody.” The “first step” would be for the United States “to lift its blockade of this sister nation.”
AMLO’s visit prompted agreements on practicalities. The two presidents determined that Cuba would supply Mexico with medications and vaccines – particularly Cuba’s anti-Covid-19 Abdala vaccine for children. Mexico’s government will send almost 200 Mexican youths to Cuba to study medicine; 500 Cuban physicians will go to Mexico to work in underserved areas. The two presidents signed a general agreement providing for expanded cooperation in other areas.
Before arriving in Cuba, AMLO had visited Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Belize. Along the way he reportedly complained that, “The United States may have awarded $40 billion in aid to Ukraine but doesn’t fulfill its promise of years ago of helping out Central America.”
The two presidents’ encounter in Havana raises the question of a long-term Mexican role in mobilizing collective resistance to U.S. domination and the U.S. blockade of Cuba. Mexico is well-positioned to lead that effort, what with strong economic and commercial connections with the United States. The United States, leaning on Mexico as an economic partner, may well be receptive to certain demands.
According to the White House-based Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, “Mexico is currently our largest goods trading partner with $614.5 billion in total (two way) goods trade during 2019.”
Beyond that, and in relation to Cuba, Mexico has its own revolutionary tradition and longstanding ties with Cuba. She is well-placed to lead a strong international campaign to undo the U.S. blockade.
In his major speech, AMLO cited support from Mexico in Cuba’s first War for Independence. He mentioned Cubans’ collaboration with Mexico’s much-admired president Benito Juárez and pointed out that Mexico in1956 hosted Cuban revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro as they prepared for their uprising against Batista. AMLO cited former Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas’s solidarity visit to Cuba in 1961 after the CIA -organized Bay of Pigs invasion. In token of cultural ties between the two peoples, Mexico was the guest of honor at Havana’s recently concluded International Book Fair.
José Martí warrants special attention. In exile, Martí lived, taught and wrote in Mexico City from 1875 to 1875. Afterwards he stayed connected with Mexican friends. Martí would later write admiringly about the liberal reforms of Indian-descended president Juarez, whom he regarded as the “impenetrable guardian of America.”
That “America” would be “Our America,” which became the title of a Martí essay with deep meaning for unity and for separation from the United States. “Our America” proclaimed that the culture and history of lands south of the Rio Bravo (Rio Grande) originated autonomously, quite apart from European and U.S. influences. The essay appeared first in January 1891, in two journals simultaneously. One was El Partido Liberal, published in Mexico, the other being a New York periodical.
Unity among Latin American and Caribbean nations appears to be precarious as the U.S. government prepares to host the 9th Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, on June 6-10. The Summit is an offshoot of the OAS which, according to its website, “serves as the technical secretariat of the Summits process.”
The United States has indicated that the leftist governments of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua won’t be receiving invitations. AMLO, speaking in Havana, reiterated his objection and once more stated that if nations are left out, he will not attend. Nor will the presidents of Bolivia and Honduras, Luis Arce and Xiomara Castro, respectively.
The presidents of several Caribbean nations will also be staying away. They point to the hypocrisy of U.S.-appointed Venezuelan president Juan Guaidó being invited, but not Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel. Unhappy with U.S. advice on transparency of elections and Russia-Brazil relations, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro will not attend.
The conclusion here is that the old system of regional alliances is unstable and that the timing may be right for renewed resistance to U.S domination and the blockade. Now would be the occasion for U.S. anti-imperialists and blockade opponents to align their strategizing and efforts with actions, trends, and flux in Latin America and the Caribbean. And, most certainly, they would be paying attention to actions and policies of Mexico’s government.
Martí had often corresponded with his Mexican friend Manuel Mercado. His letter of May 18, 1895, the day before he died in battle, stated that, “The Cuban war … has come to America in time to prevent Cuba’s annexation to the United States. … And Mexico, will it not find a wise, effective and immediate way of helping, in due time, its own defender?”
(W.T. Whitney Jr. is a retired pediatrician and political journalist living in Maine. Courtesy: CounterPunch.)
