The failure of the U.S. to respect the sovereignty of nations in the region and its decision to exclude states from the Summit disqualifies it from being a credible host. The Black Alliance for Peace Haiti and the Americas Committee will provide analysis in their webinar “Defending Our Americas: Building Resistance to Imperialism and Militarism" on Wednesday, May 18 at 7pm ET.
This statement was originally published in Black Alliance for Peace.
For Immediate Release
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MAY 12, 2022—The arbitrary decision by the government of the United States to exclude Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela from participation in the regional Summit of the Americas - scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, June 6 to June 10—represents another example of imperial hubris and delusion.
Mexico’s President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador recently announced that he would boycott the Summit unless all countries in the region are invited. Some member states of CARICOM and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, including Antigua and Barbuda and St. Vincent and Grenadines, are also considering not attending the Summit. Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, stated that his country “does not believe in the policy of ostracising Cuba and Venezuela.”
The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP), however, believes that even if the U.S. reverses its decision and invites all countries of the region, the aggressive, illegal, and oppressive policies of the U.S. toward the region demands that these governments take a stand and reject the invitation to attend the Summit.
The Summit of the Americas, taking place every three years, promotes “economic growth and prosperity throughout the Americas based on shared democratic values.” However, this rhetorical hypocrisy is evident with the Biden-Harris administration's subversion in Haiti and sanctions and attacks on Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba. “From support for autocracy in Haiti, the embargo against Cuba, and deaths in Venezuela as a result of U.S. sanctions, the U.S. continues to prove that it has no regard or respect for the peoples and nations of our region and should not be given the honor of hosting this summit,” states Jemima Pierre, co-coordinator of BAP’s Haiti/Americas Team.
BAP understands the motivations and interests to expand U.S. hegemony across what the U.S. sees as its “backyard” are tied to a reassertion of the racist Monroe Doctrine. Democracy and human rights are no more than ideological props as the U.S. utilizes forces like OAS, CORE Group, and SOUTHCOM to ensure the interests of its capitalist oligarchy. Our call is, “U.S. out of the Americas,” and our goal is to work towards the establishment of the region as a “Zone of Peace.”
“As long as the U.S. operates as a hegemon instead of a partner in our region, the peoples and nations of Latin America and the Caribbean must consider the U.S. an enemy to national sovereignty and People(s)-Centered Human Rights. It is, therefore, an absurdity and a surrender of dignity to allow the U.S. to not only host this summit, but to determine who can attend,” said Erica Caines, co-coordinator of BAP’s Haiti/Americas Team.
BAP is committed to a democratic and independent “Americas” free from militarism and subversion. Toward that, we believe that rejecting the divisive and disrespectful politics of the U.S. is a moral and political imperative.
This article first appeared in The Guardian.
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