Mexico, Brazil leaders suggest they may snub Biden's Americas summit
Mexico and Brazil might snub Biden's Americas summit because of the absence of some states.
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Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador stated on Tuesday that if all countries in the region are not invited to the US-hosted Summit of the Americas next month, he will not go, while Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is also expected to skip the gathering, according to Reuters.
The absence of the leaders of Latin America's two largest economies would be a setback for the regional summit, which is intended to address issues ranging from migration to the environment while also showcasing democracy in the area.
Mexico's president has stated that all of the region's countries should be invited. It's uncertain whether the US will invite Cuba, Nicaragua, or Venezuela, which are all led by socialist governments that have been unilaterally sanctioned by Washington.
"If they're excluded, if not all are invited, a representative from the Mexican government would go, but I wouldn't," Lopez Obrador said during his regular news conference on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Bolsonaro has informed his staff that he will not be attending, but has given no reason, according to two people familiar with the situation.
The White House, as summit host, would choose who would be invited, according to US State Department spokesman Ned Price, who added that official invitations had not yet been sent.
"I expect those will go out soon," he said. Price described the summit as "an opportunity for countries throughout the hemisphere to come together to speak to our shared values."
Read next: US trying to exclude Cuba from regional summit: Havana
On Tuesday, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki informed reporters that no final decision had been made on who will be invited.
Nicaragua has been advised that it would not be invited, according to a source in Washington familiar with the situation.
While visiting the country on Sunday, Lopez Obrador expressed his desire for Cuba to be welcomed, adding that he would continue to press the US to relax its blockade on the island.
For the first time since the original summit in Miami in 1994, the United States will host the Ninth Summit of the Americas from June 6 to 10. Every three years, it takes place.
