Argentina's president focuses on excluded nations in speech at Summit of Americas

By Bala Chambers​​​​​​​

LONDON (AA) - Argentina’s president spoke Thursday at the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California on a range of topics, focusing particularly on the exclusion of several countries in the region from the event.

In a speech lasting around 12 minutes, Alberto Fernandez questioned the decision by the US to exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua amid concerns about a lack of democracy and human rights allegations in the three countries, insisting "we definitely would have wanted another Summit of the Americas" as "all of us who should have been present were not present in this environment that is so propitious for debate."

Fernandez also made a direct reference to the impact that sanctions have had in Cuba and Venezuela.

"Latin America and the Caribbean look with pain at the suffering that brother nations endure. Cuba withstands a blockade of more than six decades imposed during the Cold War years and Venezuela tolerates another one while a pandemic that devastates humanity sweeps away millions of lives with it,” he said, noting that such measures "only harm the people."

Fernandez also referred to the US role in hosting the summit, insisting that "being the host country of the summit does not grant the ability to impose a 'right of admission' on the member countries of the continent. Dialogue in diversity is the best instrument to promote democracy, modernization and the fight against inequality.”

Fernandez told US President Joe Biden that the years under former President Donald Trump "were marked by an immensely damaging policy for our region deployed by the administration that preceded him. It is time for those policies to change and the damage to be repaired” as he invited Biden to attend the next meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

He added that “the intervention of the government of Donald Trump before the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was decisive in facilitating unsustainable indebtedness in favor of an Argentine government in decline" before discussing the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the poor, noting that Latin America and the Caribbean need "integration as a basic condition to achieve development.”

Fernandez also pushed for the "creative reconstruction of multilateralism” in the region.

He also advocated the need for more progressive tax policies amid what he described as widespread inequality.

Fernandez hit out at the Organization of American States (OAS), arguing "if it wants to be respected and return to being the regional political platform for which it was created, it must be restructured by immediately removing those who run it."

The Argentine leader also touched on the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war and its impact on food security, calling for "two major objectives: Let us organize the production of food and protein continentally and develop our enormous potential for energy and critical minerals for the ecological transition."

Fernandez also acknowledged the threat posed by climate change, insisting that "we must face the ecological transition with sufficient financial aid to mobilize innovation with social justice.”

He took the time to underscore Argentina's diplomatic position concerning the Malvinas or Falkland islands, insisting “we continue to claim through diplomatic channels the legitimate rights that we have over our Malvinas Islands. We continue to rely on dialogue.”

The president did leave some room for optimism and unity between the Americas, saying: “I dream that in a fraternally united America, we commit ourselves to the fact that all human beings who inhabit our continent have the right to bread, land, a roof over their heads and a decent job.”

"President Biden: I am sure that it is time to open up in a fraternal way in order to favor common interests," he added.