CARICOM | Gonsalves Urges CARICOM Heads not to attend Summit of the Americas...Unless...

KINGSTON, Jamaica, May 31, 2022.   Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, has suggested to Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders that they “not to attend” next month's Summit of the Americas to be held in the United States unless Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua are invited.

The United States, which will play host to the Summit of The Americas in Los Angeles from June 6-10, has opted not to invite Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua citing issues relating to human rights and democracy.

In a letter to CARICOM heads and copied to CARICOM Secretary General Dr. Carla Barnett, Dr. Gonsalves said following discussions with various people, including representatives of the United States government and leaders of civil society across the Caribbean, he has “arrived at the conclusion that CARICOM leaders ought not to attend the summit in Los Angeles…unless the US government alters its position” regarding Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Gonsalves said “the basic reasons” driving his conclusion, was that CARICOM leaders at their inter-sessional summit in Belize in March had “declared publicly that CARICOM will not attend the summit if Cuba were excluded and /or if a Mr Guaidó was invited, preposterously, to represent Venezuela.

“This stance was repeated by the Belize Foreign Minister in a meeting last month between CARICOM's Foreign Ministers and the Foreign Minister of Canada. If CARICOM, or part thereof, now attends, I fear that irreparable damage would be done to CARICOM, at least in the immediate future. I feel certain that our people, with justification, are likely to damn us,” Gonsalves pointed out.

“I realise it is a difficult decision, but our American friends have left us with no other credible, principled, and practical choice. We may yet persuade them to alter their posture,” Gonsalves wrote in his  five page missive to his colleagues.

Gonsalves, said he is “very aware that CARICOM governments' good relations with the USA are of paramount importance.

“However, are our relations too close, and our self-interests too tightly interconnected for there to be any lasting rapture, certainly not more than a temporary dissonance. Our friendship has to be grounded elementally in respect, and the truth be told, we have been profoundly disrespected and disregarded by our American friends on this matter.

“Certainly, they are pulling out all the stops to persuade us to accept their ignoble stance; it is not a genuine dialogue as to what is best for our Americas,” Gonsalves wrote in his letter to the regional leaders.

He warned that CARICOM is in danger of finding itself in an uneasy position given the public declarations of several Latin American governments of their non-attendance to the summit whether at the presidential level or at all.

Gonsalves said he had held out hope that Cuba “may endorse CARICOM's attendance even in its absence,” but that “is more unlikely to happen.

“The Cubans have principle and practicality on their side. We are at this sorry pass because of the decision of the US government,” Gonsalves wrote, adding “so the option of attending the summit and protest strongly in our own language regarding the non-invitation to Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua is, in my view, not viable in both principle and practice”.

Click button below to read Original letter:

Dr. Gonsalves told ‘Good Marnin’ show hosted by the Agency for Public Information (API) yesterday morning, that “There was an agreement on core principles regarding that the summit must be inclusive, no one must be excluded and that the president of the United States government doesn’t have the right to exclude anyone.” 

Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves said it was still “up in the air” as to whether St Vincent and the Grenadines will be represented at any lower level.

“As presently advised, I don’t see how we should go, but I’ll have further discussion with my cabinet colleagues and also my colleague Heads. I find it just a terrible idea to exclude people. We should be having conversations with one another and we shouldn’t be so — sometimes we’re still so preoccupied with 20th century conflicts and battles in the 21st century. We have now entered the third decade of the 21st century. We have to resolve these problems,” the prime minister said.

Gonsalves noted that some leaders from Latin American and Caribbean countries have decided to attend at the leadership level, while other countries have opted to attend at lower levels.

He added that Argentina's president, Alberto Fernández, who is also president of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) has opted to attend the Summit principally to protest the US’ decision to exclude the three countries and speak on why the Summit should be inclusive rather than exclusive.

In the meantime, Caribbean leaders are still undecided as to whether they will boycott the June 6-10 summit if Washington goes ahead with its plans not to invite the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua to the event.

Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said he was hoping in the “not too distant future” CARICOM leaders would adopt a position on attending the Summit of the Americas.

The regional leaders met by teleconference on the issue but failed to reach a consensus on the matter.

“We discussed this matter and we are still discussing it and people have different views and we are trying to come to a consensus position because we would like to have a CARICOM position, but sometimes it is difficult for all of us to see eye to eye on everything all the time,” Rowley told a news conference.

The US State Department in a statement announcing the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles from June 6-10,  had indicated that “as Chair and Host, the United States will work with the region's stakeholders toward securing leader-level commitments.

 In addition, the US will work towards concrete actions that dramatically improve pandemic response and resilience, promote a green and equitable recovery, build strong and inclusive democracies, and address the root causes of irregular migration.