Mexico, Brazil leaders snub Americas summit

MEXICO CITY/SAO PAULO－Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday that he will not attend the upcoming Summit of the Americas if the US persists with excluding some regional countries, while Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is also likely to skip the meeting, sources told Reuters.

The absence of leaders of Latin America's two biggest economies would be a blow for the get-together of regional heads of state, which is expected to tackle issues from migration to the environment.

Mexico's leader said he wants all countries in the region to be invited. It is unclear whether the United States will invite Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, which are governed by socialist administrations that have been at odds with Washington.

"If they are excluded, if not everyone is invited,… I personally will not attend. I will be represented by Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard," Lopez Obrador told journalists from the National Palace in Mexico City.

"We are not for confrontation, we are for unity. Even if we have differences, we can resolve them by listening to each other … but not by excluding anyone."

Lopez Obrador has directly conveyed to his US counterpart Joe Biden that he should organize a Summit of the Americas without exclusions, to which all countries of the region should be invited.

Meanwhile, Bolsonaro has told his aides he will not be going, but gave no reason why, reported Reuters citing two people familiar with the matter.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters that the White House, as summit host, would determine who would be invited and the official invitations had not yet been issued. "I expect those will go out soon," he said.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday that a final decision on who would be invited had not yet been made.

A person in Washington familiar with the matter told Reuters last week that Nicaragua had been informed that it would not be invited.

Lopez Obrador emphasized his wish for Cuba to be invited while visiting the country on Sunday, Reuters reported. The Mexican president criticized the US for not investing enough in Central America, which he argues is central to addressing the issue of mass migration from the region.

Respect urged

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular press briefing on Tuesday that the Summit of the Americas cannot simply serve US self-interest, urging the United States to respect the sovereignty and dignity of Latin American countries.

"The summit cannot solely apply American standards or serve US self-interest. It cannot be reduced to an American summit," Zhao said.

"Next year will mark the 200th year since the US proposed the Monroe Doctrine," Zhao added, saying that the United States has not been a supporter of Latin American countries and has bullied them at will.

Zhao said that not only has the United States failed to benefit Latin American countries, but it has also exploited them, imposed sanctions against them, exported inflation to them, engaged in political interference, regime subversion and political assassination in them, and launched armed aggression against them.

"We hope the US side will earnestly respect the sovereignty and dignity of Latin American countries, and earnestly abide by the basic norms governing international relations," Zhao said, adding that there is no market for the Monroe Doctrine in Latin America, or anywhere in the world.

The summit, scheduled to take place on June 6-10 in Los Angeles, is a periodic meeting of heads of state and government of the countries of the Americas. Diplomatic and commercial issues are discussed during the meeting.

The first summit was held in 1994 and since then it has been accused of excluding several countries, such as Cuba and Venezuela, that have political differences with the US.

Xinhua - Agencies