Bolivia and Venezuela reject US withdrawal from US summit – News

Bolivian and Venezuelan foreign ministers in La Paz on Thursday rejected a US decision to exclude Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua from the US summit in Los Angeles in June.

“What we are condemning or insisting on here is that all countries should refrain from participating in a summit from all over the United States,” said Felix Placencia, head of Venezuelan diplomacy. Same Bolivian portfolio, Rogelio Maida.

“It seems timeless to think about the possibility of hosting a US summit where the participation of some members of the region is excluded,” Maida said.

The United States will not invite Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to its next summitBrian Nichols, head of US diplomacy for the region, said in Washington on Monday (2).

“Cuba, Nicaragua and [Nicolás] Maduro does not respect the American Constitution, so I do not expect their presence, “said Nichols.

Mayta said the summit would affect multilateralism on the continent “with a few exceptions”.

The Venezuelan Foreign Minister has thanked Bolivian President Luis Ars for criticizing the US decision against the three countries with left-wing governments allied with Bolivia.

Ars wrote Wednesday (4) that all nations of the United States should be invited to the summit in Los Angeles, and Ars wrote that “there is no reason to justify the exclusion of people and voices in our United States.”

Last week, Cuba denounced the US for excluding it from preparations for the summit and described it as a “historic setback” for Joe Biden’s government.

At the 2015 US Summit in Panama, the island participated for the first time as part of the goodwill process between the United States and Cuba, enhanced by then-Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro.