Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves announces that the government formally decided at Cabinet on Wednesday 1 June not to attend the Summit of the Americas. Neither at the level of the Prime Minister nor at the level of a minister or ambassador.
“Exclusiveness and exclusivity are incompatible. All issues in our hemisphere should be discussed, let’s talk about them”.
“Do you mean to tell me that we are still fighting old battles from the 20th century in the third decade of the 21st century? That doesn’t make any sense. Across the Americas, governments and people say, Make it inclusive”.
“Now, some countries say, ‘Well, we will go at the level of heads and make our point then.’ Many others say we will send someone else if we don’t go in at the level of heads. Other countries, like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, maybe in the minority, say, “We are not going.”.
As Prime Minister, Gonsalves said he received an invitation from President Biden, but if the summit isn’t inclusive, he won’t attend, and won’t send someone else.
“I believe there are a lot of principles at stake here. Look at this sixty-year embargo against Cuba, it’s an absolute disgrace. Israel and the Marshall Islands support the United States of America every year at the United Nations. Of the 193 other countries, 193 say the blockade is unfair”.
“American officials are very interested in discussing migration, but Cuba, Mexico and Honduras are the three countries with the highest levels of migration. Mexico’s President says he won’t go because of the lack of inclusiveness. Similar words coming out of Honduras, and you didn’t invite Cuba, what kind of discussions will they have about migration?”
On Thursday, Gonsalves met with the American ambassador to the Eastern Caribbean to reiterate SVG’s position.
“We discussed the situation calmly, respectfully, and agreed to disagree, which is OK”.
The Summit of the Americas is an international summit meeting of the leaders of the countries in the Organization of American States. The summit will be held in Los Angeles from June 6 – 10.
