The dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, thanked this Friday (27) the support expressed by the presidents of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador; from Honduras, Xiomara Castro; and Argentina, Alberto Fernández, after the exclusion of his country – as well as Nicaragua and Cuba – from the Summit of the Americas.
Maduro spoke in Havana, during the summit of leaders of the Bolivarian Alliance of Peoples of Our America (Alba), with harsh words against the United States for its “erratic” call for the Summit of the Americas, which will take place in Los Angeles from June 6th to 10.
“We say erratic convening because it was intended, and is intended, to exclude the peoples of Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela from this meeting that calls itself the Summit of the Americas. This week it became clear the enormous power that the Latin American and Caribbean conscience has”, highlighted Maduro.
The Venezuelan dictator kept a special mention for López Obrador, whom he praised “for taking the lead in defense of truth, unity, fraternity, democratic debate and against exclusion.”
Mexico, Bolivia, Honduras and Guatemala have questioned their participation in the summit if there are excluded countries, while others criticized that Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua do not participate in the meeting. Likewise, Argentina protested against the possibility that not all countries in the region will be included.
In his speech, Maduro stressed that, almost 20 years after the foundation of ALBA, this regional forum managed to “show a unionist, Bolivarian, latin american and caribbean doctrine of countries and governments”.
“We had a previous day of intense, open and frank debate about the ways of our America at this stage. Always in the spirit of dialogue between equals. How is the spirit that moves us in Latin America and the Caribbean. The spirit between brothers and sisters, between equals, with which we are able to frankly debate all issues on the regional agenda”, he added.
Likewise, Maduro stated that in books published in recent years by former national security adviser to former US President Donald Trump (2017-2021), John Bolton, and former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, alleged plans by the White House to forcibly remove him from power and even to “get rid” of him were revealed.
“Today Venezuela is in the rhythm of recovery (…) and this Venezuela recovery pace is not excluded by anyone”, he pointed out.
The United States confirmed the day before that it did not invite Venezuela and Nicaragua to the next Summit of the Americas, while being ambiguous about a possible invitation to a representative of the Cuban government.
