Before the upcoming Summit of the Americas in the United States, Foreign Minister Antonia Urrejola defended the possibility that Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela participate in the meeting.
The Chilean Foreign Minister Antonia Urrejolaaffirmed this Sunday that he is in favor of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela participate in the Summit of the Americas and added that in recent years “exclusion has not given results in terms of human rights.”
“Everyone knows what the position of the president is (Gabriel Boric) regarding the human rights situation in those countries, and mine as well. But what we have been insisting on in the bilateral talks (…) is that hopefully this would be a summit as wide as possible”said the chancellor in an interview with the newspaper Third.
The State Department of USAthe country that will host the continental event in June, confirmed last week that it ruled out inviting Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to the Summit of the Americas, considering that they “do not respect” democracy.
However, on Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the invitations have not yet been sent out because “there is no final decision”.
According to the Chilean foreign minister, regardless of the differences and even the convictions that may exist in the area of human rights, the “post-pandemic, with the economic crisis, is also a time to have a space for dialogue beyond the differences.”
Urrejola explained that the presence of Chile in the forum will not be subject to the participation of these countries, as stated Mexicoadding that he hopes that many other heads of state will not stop attending if that is the case.
“The region is super-fragmented, it has become polarized and, in some way, under the leadership of President (of the United States) Biden, it would be important to be able to talk beyond the differences,” he argued.
Boric’s role
At the summit, Boric, a former leftist student leader who has repeatedly denounced the human rights violations committed in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuelawill promote a new leadership, said the chancellor.
His speech, precisely, in terms of the value of democracy and human rights, is “a new speech on the Latin American left,” he specified.
The Summit of the Americas, the main diplomatic forum of the American continent, will be held in The Angels (California) from June 6 to 10 and it is the first time that it is organized by the United States since the first edition, in 1994.