Los Angeles Summit of the Americas at Risk of Failure

The Summit of the Americas to be held in June 2022 in Los Angeles may turn out to be a failure. The White House intends to exclude from the meeting some governments that are uncomfortable for it, such as Cuba and Venezuela. In this regard, nations such as Mexico, Bolivia, Honduras and governments belonging to the Community of Caribbean States (Caricom) have warned that, unless all the countries are summoned, their presidents will absent themselves from the meeting as a form of protest.

The sectarianism with which Joe Biden and his entourage intend to act breaks the purpose of the meeting: “rebuilding a better world”, according to the Summit’s motto. Thus, the exclusionary stance of the White House does not rebuild anything, but discriminates against some countries on ideological grounds, turning the world into something undesirable.

In the background is the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, which the United States has never renounced: “America for the Americans”; in other words, Washington considers the entire American continent as another territory under its authority. Joe Biden calls into question the communion between all the countries of the American continent.

The strongest proof that U.S. foreign policy is already obsolete is the economic and commercial blockade that Washington has maintained for more than sixty years against Cuba. An unjust measure that prevents the island from trading and attracting investments for the prosperity of the country. Even in the terrible times of the COVID pandemic, the White House tightened the screws of the “embargo” by enacting 243 measures to stifle the Cuban people. In spite of this, the Cuban economy is projecting a four percent growth of its Gross Domestic Product for 2022.

Therefore, the message of the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, must be considered: it is time for a new relationship between the countries of the Americas. A relationship without discrimination; one that puts understanding and dialogue first, where no country wants to impose itself over another. Is this possible? Joe Biden has in his hands the opportunity to change the history of this continent.