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Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez assessed the controversy surrounding the upcoming US summit, saying dictatorships should not be welcome as chaos continues to swirl over the Biden administration’s planning of the forum.
The 9th America Summit is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, California, on Monday. The conference, which began in 1994, brings together Western Hemisphere countries within the Organization of American States and focuses on promoting pro-democracy values and coordination between heads of state and leading influential companies in the region.
Fox News spoke with President Duque about the upcoming summit during an exclusive interview on Thursday, and the leader was adamant that only democratic regimes should be allowed to participate.
“All members of the Organization of American States, we are all defending democracy. And if you want to be a member of the organization, you have to defend democracies. So I clearly believe that the American Summit will not be a tool for undemocratic regimes to participate in order to try to gain diplomatic legitimacy. “I don’t think any dictatorship will take part in the America’s summit,” he told Fox News.
Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez speaks at the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly at UN headquarters, Wednesday, September 26, 2018 (AP Photo / Richard Drew)
Controversy over this year’s summit has developed because the Biden administration has not yet released a final list of countries that have been invited or a final agenda. In addition, protests by Latin American immigrants are planned outside the event to protest autocratic rule in some countries, such as Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela and others.
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In addition, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has not yet said whether he will attend, has threatened to boycott the event if Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela do not receive invitations.
Asked about President Lopez, who said the forum should be open to all, Duque disagreed.
“I will not argue with President Lopez Obrador, I have good relations with him. But perhaps, if we do not agree on this, I respectfully disagree, because I believe that this forum is not a forum for the participation of dictatorships. “The value of democracy that united the hemisphere is clear,” Duque told Fox News.
“The Democratic Inter-American Charter, signed on September 11, 2001, is a major achievement in diplomacy, where we have rejected any form of autocracy in the hemisphere. So this was not a forum for autocrats. This is a forum for people who clearly accept the value of democracy. “
The Colombian president plans to focus on three main issues while at the summit: migration, climate change solutions and economic reactivation coming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duque cited a recent immigration incident during an interview with Fox News, saying Colombia had provided one million cards with temporary protection status to Venezuelans entering the country. The President also stressed the opportunity that Colombia has to pave the way for a solution to climate change.
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“I think there is a need for economic reactivation in the world after a pandemic. The United States can bring many assets from its companies that have been in Asia to be close to the American market, but at the same time open up employment opportunities for many people in Latin America. And I clearly believe that this will be a deterrent to further migration to the southern border of the United States. “
Sergio de la Peña, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Western Hemisphere at the Pentagon and a retired U.S. military officer, told Fox News that he agreed with Duque that the forum should welcome only democracies and Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela do not meet this criteria.
The summit usually deals with “security and prosperity” as core principles, de la Peña said, and is intended “to be an opportunity for the leadership of this whole hemisphere to come together to discuss issues of mutual interest”.
He said it was “the prerogative of the host” to extend invitations to world leaders, but it would generally be appropriate to send invitations to heads of state at least three months in advance. He also said it was not helpful that the Biden administration had not released an agenda and had to set some expectations for the outcome of the summit.
The former defense official said that although the role of the host country was to deliver the message of the forum, “the strengthening of democracy is enormous”.
“If you’ve seen the way the hemisphere is leveling off lately, they’re going further to the left, and in some cases that’s worrying,” he said, citing Bolivia and Chile as examples of countries following the pattern. Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. “
De la Peña continued: “I hope there is something positive that will come out of the summit. The United States is still the undisputed leader in this hemisphere. And the United States must project a level of confident leadership in holding these summits. And there must be a sense that the United States is controlling it well. “
Isaias Medina, one of Venezuela’s first diplomats to resign in June 2017 to protest against dictator Nicolas Maduro’s policies, also told Fox News that the meeting’s message should be “deterring anti-democratic fraudulent nations.”
Medina told Fox News: “To be unwelcome at the North and South American summits, you definitely need to include black balls from US oil companies. [that] continue to partner with Maduro’s drug kleptocracy. Allowing the United States of Chevron to circumvent the means of sanctions for a tyrannical dictatorship of gas lighting is no different than giving a blank check to Putin himself to use against Ukraine, because Maduro and Putin have common accounts that suck the country out.
“The message of the North and South American summit must be a clear, unwavering deterrence against anti-democratic fraudulent nations and their proxy militias, not only in words but also in deeds, as Venezuela speeds up oil production with Chevron-Hezbollah.” ELN and the FARC are celebrating as invisible guests at the summit to raise funds from Maduro’s criminal syndicate to gather terrorist organizations three hours from Miami. “Putting money in Maduro’s pocket in America’s best interest?” Continued Medina, who also serves as an adviser to Venezuela’s UN mission in New York.
White House spokeswoman Carin Jean-Pierre was asked this week during a weekly press briefing on the final list of invitations and the agenda for the summit, to which she replied that the administration “still gives our partners time to decide”. .
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She continued: “As you can see from press reports, there were many heads of state who confirmed through their own statement. But again, you know, I always give it back, because what’s really important for next week is that people from all over the region are coming together to tackle the major challenges facing people in the hemisphere. Exactly. Including economic prosperity, climate change, migration crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. So there are a number of issues for the region that we would like to discuss. These are priorities. They are extremely important. And that’s what you’ll see next week. Others will confirm whether they will be present. We will not do this until we have a final list and give our partners the opportunity to make a decision. “
The spokesman was also reportedly said on Wednesday when asked why the White House had not confirmed details less than a week before the summit: “I think if you have been following this administration for the last year and a half , a week is not the eleventh hour when it comes to how things are going. So this is a lifetime for us as the White House. “
Fox News also asked the State Department this week that the Biden administration may have invited a lower-level representative from Cuba and whether there is a plan to prevent a boycott from Mexico.
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State Department spokesman Ned Price said the administration was “confident” that there would be an active presence at the forum from Latin American and private countries.
Price said: “We have been in close contact with many of our partners across the region. Again, without reading these discussions. We are confident that the summit will represent – the countries will be representative of the opportunities and challenges we face together as partners in America. “
Fox News’ Nicholas Kalman contributed to this report.
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