Havana, Jun 13 (Prensa Latina) The so-called IX Summit of the Americans was a victory for Cuba and the peoples of the region, and a defeat for the United States, assured Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez.
In a special interview granted to Cuban television, Rodríguez expressed that this meeting was born frustrated by the decision of the host country to exclude Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, which was rejected by the member nations of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador and other leaders.
He pointed out that despite these disagreements, the US government did not rectify its decision and even tried to negotiate discriminatory formulas through which Cuba would participate but not on an equal footing with the rest of the participants.
This motivated the energetic rejection of Cuba and the approach of President Miguel Díaz-Canel not to attend that event in any case, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He was shown that the United States did not have logical reasons to exclude Cuba from the summit, nor did it have the right to prevent such assistance by hosting the meeting, Rodríguez stressed.
He expressed that Washington with its positions of domination underestimates Our America, a region that has changed, because -he recalled- already before the summit held in Panama, faced with a similar situation, a group of countries also stated that they would not attend if the island did not I was invited.
The Cuban foreign minister later pointed out that the existence of a mechanism for dialogue between America and the US is convenient, but always on an equal footing among all States and with respect for the sovereignty of the countries.
The high-ranking Cuban official considered that the meeting in the city of Los Angeles evidenced the isolation and discredit of Washington.
There he stressed, the voice of twenty countries was heard rejecting the exclusion of Cuba, at least 11 spoke out against the blockade policy, the need to erase the island from the list of nations that sponsor terrorism was raised, and even the altruistic work of Cuban doctors was praised, all of which demonstrates Washington’s failure.
He also pointed out that the Organization of American States (OAS) was left in a very bad light due to the outright rejection of this mechanism, which has been discredited.
In the opinion of the Cuban foreign minister, these summits confirm the «vital importance» of the mechanisms of and for Our America, in which political coordination and integration are inseparable and of extraordinary validity.
He further pointed out that despite the exclusion, Cuba was present in the halls of the high-level meeting, in the local and international press, and in the activities of the People’s Summit, in which the voice of the representatives of civil society on the island despite the fact that they were also unable to attend.
Likewise, he assured that in the latter the recognition and admiration for Cuba from broad sectors of US society, many of whose organizations have offered their solidarity support to the Cuban people, was also made clear.
Finally, the foreign minister assured that in the presence of Cuba in all those events in the US, international media and on social networks, the people of the island are the ones who deserve the credit of that protagonism, for the international sympathy that it arouses. for his integrity in the midst of so many difficulties.
The battle we fought in Los Angeles, Rodríguez stressed, was a victory for Cuba and the peoples of the Americas, and a failure for Washington
"An Island on a Continent" 