U.S. to exclude Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from key regional summit

The State Department announced on Wednesday that the Cuban, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan regimes will likely be excluded from the Summit of the Americas – a regional summit set to be held in Los Angeles in June.

At the summit, leaders from across the region are expected to discuss irregular migration, supply chain problems, rising energy, fuel and commodities costs, and the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

Speaking to a small group of reporters, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols said “they are unlikely to be there,” adding that the summit was open to the Western Hemisphere’s democracies.

Although the White House has yet to release the official invitation list, the exclusion of the region’s three dictatorships will send a clear message to Cuba’s Miguel Diaz-Canel, Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega and Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro – all of whom have been accused by the United States of authoritarian practices including election fraud and the jailing of opposition voices.

Furthermore, the three socialist leaders have also failed to support international efforts to help end the Russian war against Ukraine.

Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Monday that the United States’ decision to exclude Cuba from summit preparations amounts to a setback for relations, just days after officials from both countries held high-level meetings for the first time in four years.

Tensions between Washington and Havana have remained high under President Biden and the administration has repeatedly alleged that the Cuban regime has systematically violated the rights of those who took to the streets to protest the regime last July.

Nichols also said that Maduro’s government would not likely be invited, but added that it was up to the White House to decide whether Venezuela’s interim-President Juan Guaido would be invited instead.   

The U.S. official expressed "deep respect" for Guaido's "interim government" and said the political and economic situation in Venezuela would be discussed at the summit. Maduro has held on to power since 2014 despite U.S. sanctions thanks to the financial, military and political support for countries like Russia, China and Iran.

It is also unsurprising that Nicaragua is set to be excluded as the United States has been at odds with dictator Daniel Ortega – a former Marxist guerrilla – who won a fourth consecutive term in November after jailing political rivals and cracking down on press freedom.

"It's clear Nicaragua has ceased any semblance of democracy in the wake of the sham election," Nichols said.

When asked if El Salvador might also be excluded, Nichols declined to respond, simply saying, “we are very much concerned by the erosion of democratic institutions."