Cuba denounces U.S. government exclusion of Cuba from preparations for Ninth Summit of the Americas
Excerpts from statement to the press by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla
Author: Granma | internet@granma.cu
april 26, 2022 10:04:24
Photo: Twitter @CubaMINREX
I am obliged to denounce the fact that the U.S. government has decided to exclude the Republic of Cuba from preparations for the Ninth Summit of the Americas set to take place in Los Angeles, June 8-10; and is currently exerting extreme pressure on numerous governments in the region that have privately and respectfully opposed this exclusion.
The U.S. government is misleading the public and governments of the hemisphere by saying that it has not yet made decisions regarding invitations.
I respectfully urge Secretary of State (Anthony) Blinken to say honestly whether or not Cuba will be invited to the Ninth Summit of the Americas.
A central axis, according to preparations for the event, will be health. And I must inform our people and international public opinion that there are currently negotiations underway, conducted in an unclear manner, with quite a few neoliberal elements, and many shortcomings, in relation to the real needs of the peoples regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the structural causes of precarious health systems that have led to tragic consequences and caused an extremely high number of deaths in our hemisphere, including the United States of America, and have avoided substantial cooperation and basic financing to address these consequences, and are now negotiating in an opaque manner a so-called Health and Resilience Action Plan for the Americas through the year 2030.
I must note that these negotiations are being held, in an obscure manner, with the exclusion of Cuba and other member states of the Pan American Health Organization, which are participating in these processes, in violation of their own mandates.