The US accused Cuba of fueling the controversy over the US summit (Photo: Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
US President Joe Biden’s administration has accused Cuba of fueling controversy over a possible boycott from the US summit next month for painting Washington as a “villain” and diverting attention from its human rights record. will host. Havana.
Speaking at a conference on Latin America, Kerry Hannan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said countries that have threatened not to attend the regional meeting if Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua are not invited. must go or they will miss their opportunity to belong. to the United States.
A possible boycott of the summit, scheduled for June 6-10, by a growing number of countries, including Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador, risks embarrassing Biden, who will host the meeting in Los Angeles.
The White House said it had not yet sent out the invitation and declined to provide details. However, a high-ranking US State Department official said in April that Cuba, Nicaragua and the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro would be thrown out because they failed to show respect for democracy.
After weeks of criticism from Cuba, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel told lawmakers on Monday that “a country unable to accommodate everyone should be disqualified as a host.”
The Cuban embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
“The Cubans are loving it, drawing attention for not showing up and … continue to play the drums,” Hannan said.
“As much as they can point at us and call us villains, they are avoiding the fact of repression that they are actively imposing against their people,” he said, at street protests last July. citing action.
“They want the press to blame us for not inviting them to the meeting or not… Hypocrisy looks good on the media.”
