Mexican president refuses to attend Joe Biden's 'Summit of the Americas'

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador during a trip to Guatemala on May 5, 2022. AP - Moises Castillo

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

This Monday begins the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles.

A summit to be held without the presence of Mexico as confirmed on Monday by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. 

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Mexico may be one of the main economic partners of the United States, a country with which it shares nearly 3,500 kilometers of land border, but it will not be present at the Summit of the Americas organized by American President Joe Biden.

“

I'm not going to the summit because we don't invite all the countries of America.

I believe in the need to change the policy that has been imposed for centuries: exclusion

,” said the Mexican president.

Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela not invited

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is referring to the absence of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, which were not invited by Washington.

The lack of democratic space in these countries and the question of respect for human rights justify these absences according to a White House official.

“

 I very much regret this situation, but I do not accept that anyone puts himself above other countries.

I do not accept hegemony, neither from China, nor from Russia, nor from any country 

”, detailed the Mexican president.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

does not want to turn his back on the United States.

During his meeting with the press on Monday morning, he announced a future trip to Washington next July.

The opportunity to meet Joe Biden at the White House and to discuss with him the question of the integration of all of America, like what has been done in Europe.

On the occasion of the summit, President Biden hopes to conclude a regional cooperation agreement on a politically explosive subject, and which has earned him violent criticism from the Republican opposition: immigration.

The number of people seeking to enter the United States after fleeing poverty and violence in Central America and Haiti is on the rise.

Thousands of migrants are concentrating on Mexico's northern border, hoping to cross into the United States.

The summit must also look at climate change, Covid-19, and “the fight for freedom and democracy,” the White House said.

►Also read: Summit of the Americas: Joe Biden will have to hit hard to make friends in the South

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  • United States

  • Mexico

  • Joe Biden

  • Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador