Mexico’s president says he would not attend next month’s Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles if the Biden administration excludes Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been saying in recent weeks that the U.S. government should not exclude anyone from the summit, but he had not previously threatened to stay home.
The Mexican president’s absence would be a blow to the summit expected to deal heavily with the issue of migration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Biden administration has worked for months to build regional consensus. Cabinet members have been visiting the region urging allies to shore up immigration controls and expand their asylum programs.
Such cooperation will be critical as the U.S. wrestles with the problem of high numbers of migrants arriving at its southern border and prepares to lift a restriction of asylum applications there later this month that is expected to draw even more migrants north.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols has previously said that the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua have shown that they do not respect democracy and would be unlikely to receive invitations. And the U.S. does not even recognize Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro as the country’s legal leader.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki was noncommittal when asked about the invitations on Tuesday, saying “a final decision has not been made.”
Leaders of Caribbean nations have also discussed a collective boycott of the summit if nations are excluded and criticized the U.S. plan to invite Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó.
The U.S. recognizes him as that country’s legitimate president, but many Caribbean nations do not.
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