Belize Prime Minister John Briceño told a plenary session on Thursday afternoon: “The future of the Western Hemisphere is a matter for all countries in the Western Hemisphere. our size, our GDP, our system of government … – We all have a shared interest in a sustainable, resilient and equitable future. ”
While Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris watched Briceño speak a few meters away, he added that “it is inexcusable that all the countries of America are not here and the power of the summit (s) is diminished by their absence.”
Briceño called the isolation of certain uninvited countries “incomprehensible” and specifically called on Biden to end his blockade on Cuba, calling it “anti-American” and “an affront to humanity.” . And he called Venezuela’s absence “unforgivable.”
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez said during a post-program speech that the rules for future summits should be changed to prevent nations from being excluded. He also criticized the measures taken against Cuba and Venezuela, such as the embargo.
“I’m sorry that we should all be here, that we shouldn’t have been here,” Fernandez said.
“We would definitely have liked a different Summit of the Americas. The silence of the absent calls us,” he added.
Direct criticism from some of Biden’s fellow heads of state contradicted days of administration statements that the summit would not be affected by the absences of leaders from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Bolivia, and the exclusion of three autocratic nations. . Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador boycotted the summit on the exclusion of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, all autocratic nations. Resentments from key leaders have been raised over the summit, despite attempts by the administration to downplay its importance.
Earlier, Biden opened the plenary by telling summit leaders and delegates that the conference has already produced “a lot of strong, constructive diplomacy.”
“(In the next few days, we have a chance to find ways to do better for all of our people by working together, and I stand out together, together. That’s what our people expect of us. And it is our duty to show them the power of democracies to deliver when democracies work together, ”Biden said.
But in a brief closing speech, Biden noted disapproval in the room by other leaders, but said there were more agreements on “substantive things.”
“I think we started strong,” Biden said, adding that he believed countries had a lot to agree on, “despite some of the disagreements over participation.”
Earlier on Thursday, Biden told executives he sees “no reason why” the region “should not become the most democratic hemisphere in the world” over the next decade.
“We have it all,” the president said in a statement at the Summit of the CEO of the Americas. “We have the people, we have the resources and we have more democracies in this hemisphere than in any other hemisphere. There are many things we can do.”
He also urged executives to “step up” and “play a more important role” in driving “inclusive, sustainable and equitable” economic growth in the 21st century, and called on both the private sector and government to work together to “provide real improvement for the population.” This growth, he argued, is in his “overwhelming economic interest.” He called for the construction of more resilient supply chains, a problem he said had affected everyone in the room. region was “full of dynamic energy” ready for the future.
Biden has said throughout his presidency that the world is at a historic turning point on whether nations will choose democracy or autocracy. On Thursday, he told executives in the courtroom that “our challenge is to shape the results so that the future reflects the democratic values of our region.”
The president showed a broadly optimistic tone throughout Thursday’s events, despite a difficult start to the Los Angeles summit, which has included nearly two dozen Latin American leaders.
Through new economic and migration announcements, Biden has sought to demonstrate a level of cohesion in the politics of the two continents, but boycotts by leaders of several nations, including Mexico and three Central American countries, have slowed the summit.
The four leaders refused to attend because Biden refused to extend invitations to the three autocratic leaders.
Following his address to the executives, Biden held a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and met with leaders of the Caribbean nations along with Vice President Kamala Harris.
In his meeting with Caribbean leaders, Biden told CNN that he was not concerned about boycotts by other heads of state who decide not to attend the summit.
Biden also held a bilateral meeting with Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday, during which the Brazilian president stressed the need for a reliable election in his country.
“In Brazil … we want to have honest, clean, transparent, auditable and reliable elections, so there will be no shadow of a doubt after the election,” said Bolsonaro sitting next to Biden.
“I am sure that the elections will be held in a very democratic spirit. I came to office by democracy, and I am sure that when I leave office it will also be by democratic means,” he added.
The White House had indicated that the two presidents would discuss “free, fair and transparent democratic elections” in their talks, after Bolsonaro, a far-right populist, made comments questioning Biden’s 2020 election victory. questioned the reliability of Brazil’s electoral systems.
Later Thursday, Biden will meet with other heads of state for dinner at Getty Villa.
Biden launched the summit on Wednesday, calling for cooperation and a renewed focus on democracy, an urgent call after his exclusion from autocratic leaders at the conference.
He said at the start of the three-day summit that it was now crucial to “demonstrate to our people the power of democracies to improve the lives of all.”
CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Allie Malloy and Sam Fossum contributed to this report.